Chapter 11 - Solidarity and Politeness Flashcards
What are the aspects of communication discussed in class
o Pronominal choice (tu/vous)
o Naming and address terms
o Politeness markers
what was the pronominal choice distinction that used to exist in english?
Thee/thou (now highly marked)
what is most important about naming practices?
- Must be appropriate for both parties
Who are the Nuer?
Pastoral people living in Southern Sudan with a very complicated naming system
- special names for twins
- women have an ox name
- once married they change it to a cow name
• Choice of name used depends on your knowledge of
- who the other person is
- What the circumstances are
What did a 1960s study about terms of address demonstrate?
o Asymemetrical Title Last Name /First Name = inequality in power
o Mutual TLN = inequality & unfamiliarity
o Mutual FN = equality & familiarity
what is the least intimate form of address?
By title alone (rank or occupation)
what can using first name indicate?
o A sign of considerable intimacy
o A desire for intimacy
what’s an example of a false claim to solidarity?
Car salesperson using your first name
What are the Dangers in cross-cultural communication
different relationships are expressed through what appears to be the same address system
e.g. an immigrant using TLN to colleagues = too formal
what does asymmetrical use of names indicate? ex.
Power differential
ex. Teacher and student
How has naming distinguished races in southern states?
• Southern States:
- boy to address black males : “what’s your name boy”
• E.g. FN toward blacks, TLN toward whites
in what example did a manager chose ‘good business’ over ‘reinforcing social inequality’
• In a restaurant a black woman wanted to be called by last name
What are our choices in addressing people?
no title = good morning
familiar = good morning May
Polite = Good morning Ms/ White
give 2 examples of languages that employs kinship terms as address terms
ex. 1 Japanese has two terms for relationships, one within the family and another outside
ex. 2 vietnamese use generational/ age based kinship terms as forms of adress
what are the social factors influencing our address decisions?
o The particular occasion o Social status o Age o Family relationship o Occupation hierarchy o transactional status
How do we choose the correct term of address in the military
Hierarchical strcuture
ex. Military must maintain chain of command while also showing solidarity
choosing the term of address difficult in the business world?
Hierarchical structure
o Relative rank = the key factor
o Status usually overrides age difference
why is choosing the term of address difficult in hierarchical structures?
o Those at the bottom seek to minimize their difference in status
o Those at the top seek to maximize that difference
= power struggle (top want formal address, bottom want familiar address)
Give example of how social change can change terms of address
ex. Modern China
• Communist party promotes Tongzhi ‘comrade’ = to replace titles for owners/ employers/honorific titles - to unite people
• Some titles are still used ‘teachers’ ‘doctor’
• Tonghi is used - In neutral situations or to keep another at arm’s length
What’s the difference in terms of address for achieved vs. inherited status? example?
Achieved: Status derives from his or her achievements = few distinctions in address
-Basic forms of address
-other means for signalling relationships
Ex. English in NA
Inherited: Status is ascribed = sets of finely graded address terms that reflect the social structures
Ex. Java
What can our choice of pronominal forms and address terms show?
o Solidarity, power, distance, respect, intimacy etc.
o Awareness of social circumstances (politeness)
Is politeness socially prescribed?
YES, We could not be impolite if there weren’t rules of politeness
Being polite is…
- taking account for feelings of others
- making others feels comfortable
- speaking to people appropriately to the light of their relationship to you
What is considered rude?
• Inappropriate linguistic choices = rude
-e.g. saying stop talking to a superior
being polite involves assessing what?
social relations
o Social distance/solidarity
o Relative power/status
Who proposed the term ‘Face’
Goffman
What is ‘Face’
o In social interaction we present a face to others and must Protect our own face and faces of others
o Each time we interact
-Mini-drama
-a ritual
-each party recognizes the identity of the other
o no faceless communication
Who proposed the Politeness theory?
• Brown and Levinson
What is the politeness theory?
model of politeness based on the notion of face
how did Brown and Levinson define face?
the public self image that every member wants to claim for himself
What are the 2 aspects of face described by the politeness theory (brown and levinson)?
- positive face: desire for appreciation and approval by others
- negative face: the desire not to be imposed upon by others, or have your desires impeded by others
What are the 2 kinds of politeness described by the politeness theory?
1) Positive politeness: moves to achieve solidarity
- offers of friendship, use of compliments, informal language use
ex. symmetrical T/V use
2) Negative politeness: leads to difference, apologizing, indirectness and formality in language use
ex. Asymmetrical T/V use
What are Face threatening acts?
- Acts that ‘impinge on the hearer’s need to maintain their self-esteem and be respected”
Example of negative politeness?
◦ Being indirect: “I’m looking for a pen.”
◦ Requesting forgiveness:
“You must forgive me but, I really need you to get this
done.”
◦ Minimizing imposition:
“I just want to ask you if I could use your computer.”
◦ Pluralize the person responsible:
“We forgot to tell you that you needed to buy your ticket
by yesterday to have the discount.”
Examples of positive politeness?
◦ Attending to the hearer: “You must be hungry, it’s a long time since breakfast. How about some lunch?” ◦ Avoiding disagreement: “Yes, yes, she’s small, smallish, um, not really small but certainly not very big.” ◦ Assume agreement: “So when are you coming to see us?”
Describe the characteristics of positive politeness
- The speaker recognizes the hearer’s need to be respected
- Shows that that relationship is friendly
- Shows group reciprocity
Describe the characteristics of negative politeness
- Recognizes the hearer’s face +
* The speaker is aware that they are imposing
Explain the complicated politeness in Javanese
• Two socially ranked Dialects with 3 styles: High, middle and low
• For many words there are 3 distinct variants according to which style you are using
• High/low honourifics
> you must first decide which dialect, then choose a style (6 choices for each word)
•French politeness formula has 3 components:
1) An initial mitigating component (short/long/ Ø)
ex. Est-ce-que
2) The central request
3) A final component / Ø
ex. S’il vous plait
How does utterance length relate to politeness? What is the problem?
The longer the utterance the more polite it is. It could come of as sarcastic
Which french formulas are power-loaded/rude and which is overdone?
Ø - request - Ø = RUDE
Long mitigator - request - final = Overdone or sarcastic
