Nihongo Notes

Telephone Conversation -- Aizuchi

When Mr. Lerner was talking with Mr. Oakda on the phone yesterday afternoon, he noticed that Mr. Okada often repeated moshi moshi during the conversation. He thought moshi moshi (hello) was used only when starting a conversation on the phone, and wondered why Mr. Okada used it so much during the conversation.
Mr. Okada said moshi moshi because Mr. Lerner did not give aizuchi when expected. The Japanese often give aizuchi, or reply words, in personal conversation, as in
    A.) Kinoo no ohanashi no koto desu ga…
      (Concerning what we talked about yesterday)
    B.) Hai.

    A.) Shanai de soodan shite mimashitara…

      (When I discussed it with my colleagues)
    B.) Hai.

    A.) Mada chotto jiki ga hayai ja nai ka…

      (Isn’t it a bit too early?)
    B.) Hai.

    A.) To yuu iken ga kanari arimashite…

      (Many said this, and)
    B.) Hai.
Speaker A could say the whole thing as in Kinoo no ohanashi no koto desu ga, shiani de soodan shite mimashitara, mada chotto jiki ga hayai n ja nai ka to yuu iken ga kanari arimashita. But it is more customary to pause frequently and continue after having heard the listener’s response.
This kind of response is given more frequently in telephone conversation than in face- to-face conversation because the speakers cannot see the facial expression of the other person. Some foreigners feel that Japanese listeners are impolite when they give aizuchi before a sentence is finished. But the Japanese are used to conversation with frequent aizuchi, and if the other person does not give aizuchi when expected, they feel uneasy and say moshi moshi to confirm the other person’s attention.
It is advised that you try to give a short reply when a Japanese speaker on the phone pauses, and when the Japanese speaker has said moshi moshi, reply "hai" without feeling irritated.
Follow this link for an index of Nihongo Notes
Nihongo Notes is taken from a series of columns that appeared in The Japan Times
written by Osamu and Nobuko Mizutani They are not designed to teach Japanese, so much
as they are to better one's Japanese.

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