289-291

Norms of Western address usage have changed over time to place more emphasis on solidarity and
less on status. But this is not the case universally. In many Eastern societies, such as Japan, Korea
and Indonesia, the emphasis remains on status differences. Being polite involves using language
which recognises relative status very explicitly.

The choice of an appropriate level of politeness depends on the speaker's assessment of the relative
status of the two people involved. The Javanese example (20) discussed in chapter 10 illustrated this,
with the speaker choosing between low style (ngoko or 1), middle style (krama madya or 2) and high
style(krama or 3). The higher the addressee's status, the more complex the level of language used to
convey politeness.

Finally, it is important to remember that interaction is not static. What is considered polite at the
beginning of an interaction may be considered stuffy and formal as the interaction proceeds. On the
other hand, an interaction that starts politely may deteriorate as it progresses if the participants
disagree. In this example, a telephone conversation between two women whose husbands work
together and who do not particularly like each other.

Example 21

June : Hi. June speaking.

Frances : Hi June. Happy New Year. Just ringing to check if you and Ricky are coming

to our barbecue tomorrow.

June : Oh, sorry erm didn’t Ricky tell you, we’re busy tomorrow.

Frances : No he didn’t. Would have been useful to know a little earlier. We were

expecting to be able to use your barbecue as well as ours.

June : Well too bad I guess since we won’t be there.

Frances : Ok. Thanks for letting us know ( sarcastically ).

June : Bye ( puts phone down

In example 21, the participants used language in ways intended to convey dissatisfaction.
Sometimes, however, people unintentionally offend others as a result of different norms and
expectations about how to express friendliness or respect. Though the relevant dimensions
(solidarity and status) may be universal, the ways in which they are realised tend to differ in different
communities. People from culturally different speech communities often express particular speech
acts differently, and use different rules of interaction. As a result, misunderstandings may arise and
they may unwittingly offend one another, as we shall see in the next section.