Seminar 12. Politeness Revisiting indirect speech acts” Task Kdentify both the direct and the indirect speech act for each ofthe folowing examples: 9, sen promised never todo t again. = thereby fulfil my promise and pain the fence. cAUDLCI b. I promise Ill never doit again. Cet Pan’t you dare look at my daughter again! fh « Don't worry, be happy! 2x peurynr OE d. __ Shedeclared the meeting closed. () aki ‘Task 2. Identify for each of the following exchanges: a) the shared background assumptions of A and B; b) the conversational implicature ® wants A to draw; ¢) the relevant maxim(s) of the Cooperative ‘2. A:Did you bring the baby? (& \ | Jrod radep’ ~ pepe re ae eames Aa a i ! b. A; Have you cleaned the kitchen and done the shopping? he 8: Well ve done the shopping. @ and wlotn. c. _AiHave you seen George recenth? vB $l a Rn Someta ls sp is) ond ible 4 Abeer yourdogike bones? Coy Wak" Cthoworec a C) sinks ( mor B: Do cats chase mice? } Ze ‘A: There's a good movie on BBC 2 tonight. Qs ee ‘fun Jar 10- B: Good for you. | still have to finish this 252%" ow &) feo “e) ting ¢ j Task 3. Which of the responses is more adequate in the ee sitation of a buat Speal to another in a university classroom? Explain your answer. a. Excuse me, Hellen, I'm afraid | must interrupt you for a second... Could you please give me a ‘sheet of paper by any chance? b. Hellen, could you give me a sheet of paper? Ay . Drm adele ‘Task 4, Here are three possible requests for the same action. Assume that each one would be spoken by the host to a guest and rearrange them in order of politeness, starting with the least polite. Think about what made some of these utterances seem more polite than others. a. Could | possibly ask you to set the table? 3 b.Set the table. €.Can you set the table?.2, ‘Task 5. Imagine that a speaker utters the linguistic stretches a), b) or c) with the intention of ordering the addressee to clean the kitchen; explain the similarities and differences between these utterances in terms of politeness: Teteontnetchent Qypuc- Aenleh 2 sutorol b. Could you ms Oo kitchen? I've already cleaned the bathroom and tidied the living- room. c. The kitchen 1s very dirty. I'm tired now because I've already cleaned the bathroom and tidied the living room. - ‘Task 6. Describe the following utterances in terms of politeness. In each case, specify whether a positive or negative politeness strategy is used; a 2) I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I'm afraid you must stay inside. : +b) We regret to tell you that your essay is very badly written. 7 ) I'm going to tell you the most unbelievable story ever told. Lvottae d) | know you're very busy now, but I need your help desperately! [ok / Scanned with CamScannerThere are four types of politeness strategies (ace. to Brown and Levinson, 1987) that sum up human “politeness” behavior: ‘With FTA © Qnrecord: (© (Bald) On-Record ~ no effort to minimize threats to the interlocutor’s face. * Positive Politeness~ admission of the fact that the interlocutor has desire/right to be respected; it also confirms that the relationship is friendly and expresses group reciprocity, + Negative Politeness ~ the speaker recognizes the interlocutor’s desire to be respected, but also their wish for autonomy if he/she Is imposed on. + Off-Record indirect strategy No performance of the FTA Imagine the following situation: You are in a room with another person called Sam. The window is open and you are beginning to freeze. You are involved in some activity that does not allow you to stop and close the window yourself at the moment. Moreover, you are not sure if Sam likes the window to be closed. There are several ways of dealing with this situation. Task 7. Look at the following opportunities and match them with the correct levels of politeness strategies a'isn't it gold in here?! 4 QD b ‘Shut the window, Sam." 1 Positive Politeness c''m sorry. Could you do mea favor and shut 2 (Bald) On record the window?" 3 Don't perform the FTA "You look cold, Sam. Should we shut the 4 Off record (hint) window?" _4 5S Negative Politeness e Say nothing and keep on freezing. 2) ‘Task 8. Negative and positive politeness Decide which of the following utterances contain a negative politeness strategy, and which cont politeness strategy, and explain; also, check any unknown item of vocabulary, if necessary: a. Arthur, | wonder if | could pick your brains for a moment. ( '’'m sorry to trouble you, but have you got a moment? b. Please keep coming to congress ~ you're valued. d. I think it would be advisable to take up the matter with the general editor. ‘ea e f. 8. Could you let me have the typed script by Monday? ‘As an expert in the field, what’s your opinion? 'd appreciated it if you didn’t do it again. Hedging is a pragmatic phenomenon by which the speakér communicates that he/she has limited convictions to a proposition communicated by his/her utterance. It weakens the speaker's commitment to some aspect of an assertion: ‘A: Will you live in London then? : 1 guess | will. Other ways of hedging: He's sort of nice. She was wearing a sort of turban. "ve more or less finished the job. As for as | can see, the plan will never succeed. She’s quite shy, in a way. an example such as All / know is that smoking is harmful to your health. the phrase All / know indicates that he speaker is saying that the proposition is true only as far as he/she can judge, not in any absolute sense. ‘Speakers often exploit the maxims by flouting them, but they may also indicate that they are opting out fa maxim by using hedges, i.e. words or phrases telling hearers to disregard one of the maxims. Scanned with CamScannerQuantity: Maybe | don’t need to say this but | will say it anyway (the speaker is aware he may be disregarding the quantity maxim) Quality: It’s probably at least fifty years old / would imagine. (it may not be that old, the speaker guessing) Relation: These process descriptors may not necessarily be relevant. (the speaker may be disregarding the maxim of relation) Manner: I guess | may not be uh very clear, | don’t know much about this history (the speaker is aware of flouting the maxim of manner in discussing the issue) only ‘Task 9. What sort of hedges are used in the following examples (a hedge on quantity, quality, relevance, or manner): 3. As far as ican see, this argument is gtally specious. of b. _Inshort, he ended up in jail. 4 d ff c. All /know is that my purse was on the table this motni d. The banks are only open in the morning, | suppose. d Q e. This may sound strange, but there was something métng ind the ins! Magny vee out! (ak @ yady “You're out!” (said by a fan in the stands) itt Scanned with CamScanner