Professional Documents
Culture Documents
(Lecture on Language Education
and Linguistic Information I)
Politeness
D. Y. Oshima
Second Semester, AY 2012‐2013
DICOM‐GSID‐Nagoya University
Politeness in language
• Theoretical models of linguistic politeness:
i. the ‘social norm’ model
ii. the ‘conversational maxim’ model
iii. the ‘face‐saving’ model
iv. the ‘conversational contract’ model
Leech’s
conversational maxim model
• Leech (1983) proposes a theory of “implicatures of
politeness”.
• Politeness Principle: Minimize the expression of
impolite beliefs. (cf. Co‐operative Principle)
• Or: Choose expressions which minimally belittle the
hearer’s status. (Cruse 2011)
Leech’s
conversational maxim model
• Means through which the speaker may belittle the
hearer’s status.
i. Treating H as subservient to S’s will, by desiring H to do
something which will cost effort, or restrict freedom.
ii. Say bad things about H, or people or things related to H.
iii. Express pleasure at H’s misfortunes.
iv. Disagree with H, thus denigrating H’s thoughts.
v. Praise S, or dwell on S’s good fortune or superiority.
Leech’s
conversational maxim model
• Expressions such as please and thank you can
be taken to conventionally implicate
politeness.
• Politeness can be expressed in less
conventionalized ways, too.
Politeness maxims
• the Tact/Generosity Maxims
• the Praise/Modesty Maxims
• the Agreement Maxim
• the Sympathy Maxim
• the Consideration Maxim (the Pollyanna
Principle)
The Tact Maxim
• The Tact Maxim
i. Minimize cost to the hearer.
ii. Maximize benefit the hearer.
The Tact Maxim
• the cost‐benefit scale:
a. Give me your wallet.
b. Wash the dishes.
c. Pass the salt.
d. Say Ah.
e. Have another sandwich.
f. Have a nice weekend.
The Tact Maxim
• The speaker can weaken (soften) an
imposition by making it easier for the hearer
to refuse it.
• It is more polite to weaken cost‐incurring
impositives.
1. Wash the dishes.
2. Could you wash the dishes?
3. I was wondering if you could possibly wash the
dishes.
The Tact Maxim
• It is more polite to strengthen beneficial
impositives.
1. Enjoy your vacation.
2. I was wondering if you could possibly enjoy your
vacation.
The Generosity Maxim
• The Generosity Maxim
i. Minimize benefit to self.
ii. Maximize cost to self.
• forms a pair with the Tact Maxim
The Generosity Maxim
(offer)
1. Let me wash the dishes.
2. ?Could I wash the dishes?
(request)
3. I want to borrow your car.
4. Could I borrow your car?
The Praise Maxim
• The Praise Maxim
i. Maximize praise of the hearer.
ii. Minimize dispraise of the hearer.
The Praise Maxim
1. Do you like my new dress? –
a. No.
b. Well, yes, but it’s not my favorite.
2. Oh, I’ve been so thoughtless. –
a. Yes, you have.
b. Not at all – think nothing of it.
The Modesty Maxim
• The Modesty Maxim
i. Minimize praise of oneself.
ii. Maximize dispraise of oneself.
• forms a pair with the Praise Maxim
The Modesty Maxim
1. You did brilliantly. –
a. Yes, I did.
b. Well, I thought I didn’t do too badly.
2. Your majesty, I am a mere worm.
The Agreement Maxim
• The Agreement Maxim
i. Maximize agreement with the hearer.
ii. Minimize disagreement with the hearer.
The Agreement Maxim
1. She should be fired immediately. We can’t tolerate
unpunctuality.
a. I disagree.
b. I agree with the general principle, but in this
case there are mitigating circumstances.
The Sympathy Maxim
• The Sympathy Maxim
i. Maximize sympathy (expression of positive
feelings) towards the hearer.
ii. Minimize antipathy (expressions of negative
feelings) towards the hearer.
• congratulations, comiserations, etc.
The Consideration Maxim
• The Consideration Maxim
i. Maximize the hearer’s comfort/pleasure.
ii. Minimize the hearer’s discomfort/displeasure.
The Consideration Maxim
1. a. I was sorry to hear about your husband’s death.
b. I was sorry to hear about your husband.
2. a. Hang on a minute, I need to piss.
b. Hang on a minute, I need to use the bathroom.
3. a. She has a lovely figure.
b. She has beautiful breasts.
Flouting of the Principle of
Politeness
(irony)
1. That’s nice of you.
2. Help yourself.
(banter)
1. Look who’s there.
2. How are you, you old bastard?
Brown & Levinson’s
face‐saving model
• face: the public self‐image that every member wants
to claim for himself, consisting of negative and
positive aspects.
• derived from a sociological notion used by
Goffman.
• ‘lose one’s face’, mianzi
Brown & Levinson’s
face‐saving model
• negative face: the basic claim to territories, personal
preserves, rights to non‐distraction
• negative politeness: strategies to save others’ negative
face
• positive face: the positive (accepted/liked) self‐
image or ‘personality’
• positive politeness: strategies to save others’ positive face
Brown & Levinson’s
face‐saving model
• face‐threatening act (FTA): those verbal (and
non‐verbal) acts that threaten face.
• potential threats for Hearer’s negative face:
orders, warning, threats; offers, promises;
expressions of envy, hatred, lust
• potential threats for Hearer’s positive face:
expressions of disapproval, complaints, criticism,
ridicule, disagreements; expressions of violent
emotions, bringing of inappropriate topics, non‐
cooperation in an activity
Brown & Levinson’s
face‐saving model
• face‐threatening act (FTA): (cont.)
• potential threats for Speaker’s negative face:
thanks, acceptance of thanks or apology, excuses,
acceptance of offers
• potential threats for Speaker’s positive face:
apologies, acceptance of a compliment,
confessions, admissions of guilt or responsibility,
emotion leakage
Weightiness of FTAs
• Wx = D (S, H) + P (H, S) + Rx
• Wx: weight (seriousness) of FTA x
• D (S, H): social distance between Speaker and
Hearer
• P (H, S): relative power of Hearer over Speaker
• Rx: the degree to which FTA x is ranked in the
relevant culture
Strategies to minimize threat
to Hearer’s face
Don’t do the FTA (5)
Do the FTA
off record (4)
on record
with redressive action
using negative politeness (3)
using positive politeness (2)
without redressive action, baldly (1)
• The more threatening an FTA is, the more polite (higher‐
numbered) strategy is chosen.
Strategies to minimize threat
to Hearer’s face
• The more polite is not necessarily the better.
• loss of effectiveness
• risk of misunderstanding
• overestimation of the threat
Strategies to minimize threat
to Hearer’s face
1. ‘Lend me your lecture notes.’
(On record, without redress)
2. ‘You don’t mind letting me have a look at your lecture notes, do
you?’
(On record, with positive politeness)
3. ‘Could you please lend me your lecture notes?’
(On record, with negative politeness)
4. ‘I missed the last lecture.’
(Off record)
5. ‘...’
(Do not perform the FTA)
Bald on record
• motivated by the mildness of the threat, urgency,
communicative efficiency, or consideration to H’s
anxieties of impinging on S’s negative face.
1. Help!
2. Watch out!
3. Come in (please).
4. (You must) have some more cake.
5. Give me the nails.
6. I need another $1,000 (on the phone with a bad
connection).
Ways to express positive
politeness
I. Claim ‘common ground’
II. Convey that S and H are cooperators
III. Fulfill H’s want
Ways to express positive
politeness
1. Notice, attend to H (his interests, wants, needs,
goods)
Goodness, you cut your hair! (…) By the way, I
came to borrow some flour.
You must be hungry – why don’t we go get some
snack.
What a beautiful vase. Where did it come from?
Ways to express positive
politeness
2. Exaggerate (interest, approval, sympathy with H)
What a fantastic garden you have!
Yeah, it’s killing me.
3. Intensify interest to H (‘make a good story’)
I come down the stairs, and what do you think I
see? – a huge mess all over the place, the
phone’s off the hook and clothes are scattered
all over …
Ways to express positive
politeness
4. Use in‐group identity markers
Here mate, I was keeping that seat for a friend of
mine.
Lend us two bucks, wouldja?
5. Seek agreement
(raise safe topics) Did you see the game last
night?
(repetition) I had a flat tire on the way home –
Oh no, a flat tire!
Ways to express positive
politeness
6. Avoid disagreement
(token agreement)
You hate him. – Oh, sometimes.
Is she small? – Yes, she’s small. Well, not really
small but certainly not big.
(pseudo‐agreement)
I’ll see you later then.
(hedges)
I sort of want Florin to win, since I’ve bet on him.
Ways to express positive
politeness
7. Presuppose/raise/assert common ground
I really had a hard time learning to drive, you
know.
8. Joke
Mind letting me use this heap of junk?
Ways to express positive
politeness
9. Assert or presuppose S’s knowledge of and
concern for H’s wants
I know you don’t like parties, but this one will
really be good – do come!
I know you love strawberries but they didn’t
have any – so I brought grapes instead.
10. Offer, promise
I can lend it to you if you like.
Ways to express positive
politeness
11. Be optimistic
I’ve come to borrow a cup of flour.
You won’t mind if I borrow your car, will you?
12. Include both S and H in the activity
Let’s just go into the back room and see if we
have any.
Ways to express positive
politeness
13. Give (or ask for) reasons
Can you close the door? The wind is coming in.
14. Assume or assert reciprocity
I’ll pay this time, as you paid the last time.
Ways to express positive
politeness
15. Give gifts to H (goods, sympathy, understanding,
cooperation)
I’ll give you a hand.
Ways to express negative
politeness
I. Be direct
II. Don’t presume/assume
III. Don’t coerce H
IV. Communicate S’s want to not impinge on H
V. Redress other wants of H’s, derivative from
negative face
Ways to express negative
politeness
1. Be conventionally indirect
Can you please pass the salt?
I would appreciate it if you send us the form by
the end of next week.
2. Question, hedge
It was amazing, wasn’t it?
Do me a favor, will you?
I’m afraid so, sir.
Ways to express negative
politeness
3. Be pessimistic
Do you by any chance have any envelopes?
You aren’t available tonight, right?
4. Minimize the imposition
Can I have a taste of that cake?
Just a second. / Can I have it for a second?
Ways to express negative
politeness
5. Give deference
Excuse me, sir, but would you mind if I close the
window?
(cf. Goodness, sir, the sunset is amazing.)
6. Apologize
I’m sorry to bother you, but …
Excuse me, but …
Ways to express negative
politeness
7. Impersonalize S and H
It broke. (cf. You broke it.)
Take it out. (cf. You take it out.)
It would be nice if {I/you} can …
8. State the FTA as a general rule
I am sorry, but late‐comers cannot be seated till
the next interval.
Ways to express negative
politeness
9. Nominalize
I am surprised at your failure to reply (cf. that
you failed to reply).
It is my pleasure to be able to inform you …
(cf. I am pleased to … / It is pleasing to me to … )
10. Go on record as incurring a debt, or as not
indebting H
I’d be very grateful if you would …
I could easily do it for you.
Off record
1. Violence of Quality Maxim
Are you upset about that? – Well, yes and no.
2. Violence of Manner Maxim
He’s peculiar.
Looks like someone may have had too much to
drink.
Off record
3. Violence of Relevance Maxim
It’s cold in here.
I need more nails to finish the work.
Are you going to the city tomorrow?
4. Violence of Quantity Maxim
What do you think of Harry? – Nothing wrong
with him.