LEECH’S

POLITENESS

FERRY HADRIYAN
RINASA INTAN
JAJANG NOOR ALAM
 Based on Gricean of cooperative principles, 2 major model
adapt:
1. Lakoff’s Politeness Rules
2. Leech’s Politeness principless
Leech’s Politeness

 (Leech (1996: 82) states that his general politeness principle

is basically used to maintain social equilibrium which may
be harm by some speech acts.
Leech’s (1983) Maxims of
Politeness
 Tact Maxim
is minimizing cost to other and maximizing
benefit to other.
Example:
 “Won‘t you sit down?”
 “Could I interrupt you for half a second – what
was the website address?”
 Could I interrupt you for a second? If I could
just clarify this then.
Varieties of illocutionary function
(a) COMPETITIVE: The illocutionary goal competes with the
social goal; eg ordering, asking, demanding, begging, etc.
Ex: I ask your cookies.
(b) CONVIVIAL: The illocutionary goal coincides with the social .'
goal; eg offering, inviting, greeting, thanking, congratulating.
Ex: Do you want these cookies
(c) COLABORATIVE: The illocutionary goal is indifferent to the
social goal; eg asserting, reporting, announcing, instructing.
Ex: I like this book
(d) CONFLICTIVE: The illocutionary goal conflicts with the social
goal; eg threatening, accusing, cursing, reprimanding.
Ex: I will say to your father
Searle’s Categories of Illocutionary Acts
1. Assertive: commits to the truth of the expressed proposition. Ex: stating,

suggesting, boasting, complaining, reporting.

(No one makes a better cake than me)

2. Directive: are intended to produce some effect through action by the hearer.

Example: ordering, commanding, requesting, advising, and recommending.

(Could you close the window?)

3. Commisive: commits (to a greater or lesser degree) to some future action.

Ex: promising, vowing, offering.

(I‘m going to Paris tomorrow)

 4. Expressive: Express how the speaker feels about
the situation.
Ex: thanking, congratulating, pardoning, blaming,
praising, etc.
(I’m sorry that I lied to you)
 5. Declarations : Act that makes a propositional
content corresponds with the reality.
Ex: Resigning, dismissing, naming, appointing,
sentencing.
(I pronounce you as husband and wife)
 An analysis of tact and approbation maxims based on
leech’s politeness principles in the movie “maid in
manhattan” (a pragmatics study)
Eka Nurdianingsih
Sebelas Maret University

Introduction
Leech (1983) defines politeness as forms of behaviour that
establish and maintain comity, it is the ability of the participants
in a social interaction to engage in interaction in an atmosphere of
relative harmony. Politeness is a system of interpersonal relations
designed to facilitate interaction by minimizing the potential for
conflict and confrontation inherent in all human interchange.
Method

descriptive qualitative method.

Data

the dialogues containing tact and approbation maxims,

rom the source of data, “Maid in Manhattan” movie and
the script of the movie.
Finding and Discussion

This research focused on the tact and approbation

maxims employed in the conversations of the movie “ Maid
in Manhattan” to clarify the aspects that make the utterances
of the participants less or more polite in relation to Leech’s
politeness principles.
Tact Maxim
Caroline : “Could I ask you an enormous favor? I mean, I know this
isn’t your job, and I’d never normally ask, but I’m so….”
Marissa : “It’s okay.”

Approbation Maxim
Stephanie : “Who’s she?”
Marissa : “She is the goddess. She’s staying in the Park Suite.”

Conclusion
it is influenced by the scales of social relationships between the
participants including the social status / authority scale and the
social distance scale, the degree of language used and the way they
are speaking by seeing the context of situation.
Semantic Representation
of Declaratives,
Interrogatives, and
Imperatives
The distinguish terms on three
levels
The interpretation of Impositive

 Directives/ impositives are expressions that influence the

hearer to do action.
Example: “Won‘t you sit down?”
A Survey of the Interpersonal Rhetoric
 In describing the interpersonal rhetoric I have so far
concentrated on the cooperative principle and one maxim of the
politeness principle, viz the tact maxim. By restricting the range
of discussion in this way, I have tried to show, trough
illustration, the explanatory value of a rhetoric of which Grice’s
cooperative principle is one component.
Maxim of Politeness
 
- The Generosity Maxim

- The Approbation Maxim

- The Modesty Maxim

- Other maxim of Politeness

The Generosity Maxim

Minimize Benefit to Self : Maximize Cost to Self

There is little need to distinguish the ‘other-centred’ maxim of tact from the ‘self-centred’
maxim of generosity.

Example:
- You can lend me your car (Impolite)
- I can lend you my car
- You must come and have dinner with us
- We must come and have dinner with you (Impolite)
The Approbation Maxim

Minimize Dispraise of Other ; Maximize Praise of Other

In its more important negative aspect, the maxim says ‘ avoid saying unpleasant things about other.
Example:
A: Her performance was outstanding!
B: Yes, wasn’t it!

A: Your performance was outstanding!

B: Yes, wasn’t it!
The Modesty Maxim

Minimize Praise of Self : Maximize Dispraise of Self

The modesty maxim, like the other maxims of politeness, shows itself in asymmetries.
Example:
- How stupid of me
- How clever of me
- How stupid of you
- How clever of you
Other maxim of Politeness

Although there is less evidence for other maxims, it is worth noting, for
example, that there a tendency to exaggerate agreement with other people, and
to mitigate disagreement by expressing regret, partial agreement, and other.
Example:
A: It was a interesting exhibition, wasn’t it?
B: No, it was very uninteresting.
A: English is a difficult language to learn.
B: True, but the grammar is quite easy.
Metalinguistic aspects of politeness

Politeness is manifested not only in the content of conversation, but also in the way
conversation is managed and structured by its participant. For example conversational
behavior such as speaking at the wrong time (interrupting) or being silent at the wrong
time as impolite implication.
Example:
- Could you tell me what time the bus leaves, please?
- May I ask if you are married?
- It must warn you not to discuss this in public.
Irony and Banter

We are ironic at someone's expense, scoring of other by politeness that is

obviously insincere, as a substitute for impoliteness.
Example:
- That’s all I wanted.
- With friends like him, who needs enemies?
- Jack wanted that news like he wanted a hole in the head.
Hyperbole and Litotes
Two ways of violating the cooperative principle which deserve separate consider action are
HYPERBOLE (Over statement) and Litotes (Understatement).
Hyperbole Example:
- I am so hungry I could eat a unicorn.
- She is my guardian angle.
- Your skin like a porcelain in wonderland.
Litotes Example:
- She is not a beauty queen (She is ugly)
- I am not as young as I used to be (I am old)
- I accept your decision to end this relationship