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The current study explores the question of how people are referred to in everyday Korean conversation. As Enfield and Stivers (2007) put it, no matter the language or culture, we must choose from a range of options: full name ('Robert Smith'), reduced name ('Bob'), description ('tall guy'), kin term ('my son'), etc. However, in accordance with social norms or any linguistic constraints the language has, the way of using particular terms may vary among languages. The current study examines the use of first and second personal reference terms in Modern Korean, and demonstrates special features of Korean in the use of these terms, in comparison with those in Japanese. The study will investigate personal reference terms that are used in three Japanese drama series and their Korean remake versions, and show that Korean has a more distinguished 'kinship term system' compared to Japanese, and is further characterised as 'social-relationship-oriented' language.

This study explores the interrelationship between language and the biographical characteristics of the speaker, including gender, age and social status, by examining the interactional functions of two Japanese sentence-final particles ne and na. A major claim in the literature is that although these particles share some similar functions, they differ markedly in terms of gender, age and social status of the speaker: for example, na is used by male speakers only while ne does not have such a restriction. To date, however, little research has systematically examined their differences, and consequently the use of na including its connection with the speaker's gender, age and social status has also been neglected. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the functions of ne and na by exploring not only their similarities, but also their differences, and sheds light on some aspects of the nature of the identity-language interface. The study will claim that the use of na does not directly indicate the speaker's biographical characteristics. Rather, its special tone of 'camaraderie' is closely linked to sociocultural values on gender and formality in the Japanese language, and consequently its use manifests the particular gender, age and social status of the speaker.