Abstract
There are two types of propositional honorifics in Japanese, sonkeigo and kenjogo. Sonkeigo indicates deference from the speaker to the person who is the subject of the sentence, while kenjogo indicates deference in the form of "humbleness" by the speaker to the person to whom or for whom an action is being done. At Japanese wedding receptions, masters of ceremonies (MC) use these two different types of honorifics when talking about the bride and groom. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how and for what purpose sonkeigo and kenjogo are used in reference to the bride and groom by MCs at wedding receptions and describes how an MC may use sonkeigo or kenjogo depending the footing-or standpoint-he/she is taking. MCs use sonkeigo when they want to express deference to the bride and groom, while they use kenjogo when they want to show deference to the guests from standpoint of the bride and groom.
