Page 38 - Makino,Tsutusi.DictionaryOfIntermediateJGrammar

SPECIAL TOPICS IN INTERMEDIATE JAPANESE GRAMMAR
Although much less frequent than formal-to-informal switching there are
cases of informal-to-formal switching as shown in (5).
(5) A: 842 F.74 7C:rl'ilS172~.1?
(Don't you want to come for a drive with me?)
B: %?jh%, ??JLki&L1;,
(Mm, I wonder what I should do.)
A: F.74-/C:fiL?Jk, h,
(You must come with me.)
B: &MZ, $ @ & & i ! 9 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .
(You are a reckless driver, aren't you?)
A: fh2L2i2&ll3*ho~kI.'747d-&@G2, %L<B%L~
-90
-
(Not at all. When I go for a drive with you, I will drive consider-
ately .)
In this example, a couple is talking very informally. The speaker A wants to
persuade B to come for a drive with him, but the persuasion has not been suc-
cessful, so by switching the style he wants to teasingly indicate that their rela-
tionship does not deserve intimate, informal style. Therefore, he intentionally
switches his style from informal to formal.
The Principle of Formality Switching
Formal style may be switched to informal style when the speaker I writer wants
to express hislher feeling, knowledge or conviction in a straightforward
manner.