POLITENESS

POLITENESS

1. ROBIN LAKOFF

   • is a professor of linguistics at the University of California. Her 1975 book Language and Woman's Place is often credited with establishing language and gender as an object of study in linguistics and other disciplines. The ‘Politeness Principle’ was developed by Lakoff in 1973.
   • known as negative politeness, this can be demonstrated through hedging. It would include saying things like “Could you maybe” or “Could I perhaps…” or “Might it be possible to…? Also apologetic phrases are common, such as “I’m sorry to bother you” or “I apologise that this is such short notice” 1. THOU SHALT NOT IMPOSE
   • complete control and letting the person have a choice. For example: “It’s up to you”, “Do you want to go first?” or “What would you rather do?” It could make the other person feel that they and their opinion are valued in the situation. 2. THOU SHALT GIVE OPTIONS
   • This is positive politeness to an extent This is about making sure that the receiver feels appreciated for who they are and that the conversation is balanced For example: “I would really appreciate your opinion” or “what would I do without you?” 3. THOU SHALT MAKE THE RECEIVER FEEL GOOD esearch Center's Internet & American Life Project

2. GEOFFREY LEECH

   • there is a politeness principle with conversational maxims similar to those formulated by Paul Grice. He lists six maxims: tact, generosity, approbation, modesty, agreement, and sympathy. The first and second form a pair, as do the third and the fourth. These maxims vary from culture to culture: what may be considered polite in one culture may be strange or downright rude in another.

3. PENELOPE BROWN AND STEPHEN LEVINSON

   • A major framework that combines these differing politeness strategies has been developed by the two linguists Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson. They distinguish between negative politeness strategies: strategies that are performed to avoid offense through deference and positive politeness strategies: strategies that are performed to avoid offense by emphasizing friendliness.
   • Their theory leads back to the term of “face” introduced by the sociologist Ervin Goffman. Face in the context of politeness describes the wish of every member of a community to guard his or her face from possible damage through social interferences (Compare: “To loose one’s face” etc.). There are two kinds of politeness strategies because there are two kinds of different faces that have to be distinguished:
   • negative face: the wish to be unimpeded by others in one’s actions. positive face: the wish or desire to gain approval of others.
   • Speech Acts become acts of negative politeness when they match the negative face want of either the speaker or the addressee. These include emphasis of social distance, use of apologies, formal language, deference etc. Those speech acts attending to the positive face want of a member are considered to be acts of positive politeness, including offer of friendship, compliments, showing direct interest, heartily expressions etc.