Politeness and pragmatics and Grice

Question 1

Types of face

Answer 1

Face: in a linguistic sense = a speaker’s self-esteem ​

Positive face: our need to maintain self-esteem. You can appeal to somebody’s positive face through giving people compliments. You can also threaten it through using criticising/offending language. ​

Negative face: our desire to avoid doing something we don’t want to do, such as being late to an important event. ​

Bald-on-record: where the speaker is blunt and direct e.g. “Get out!”

Off-record: where the speaker doesn’t threaten the other’s face at all: “Anyway…”​

Question 2

who created the face theory

Answer 2

Brown and Levinson in 1987

Question 3

pragmatic acts

Answer 3

Locutionary act: the act of saying something e.g. ‘There’s a fly in my soup.’​

Illocutionary act: what is implied or meant beyond that statement e.g. ‘Please get me another soup and apologise.’​

Perlocutionary act: an effect is brought on by the illocutionary act e.g. The waiter removes the soup. ​

Question 4

Grices 4 maxims

Answer 4

1. Quantity maxim: Make your contribution as informative and not too informative as is required (for the purposes of the exchange)​
2. Quality maxim: Do not say what you believe to be false. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.​
3. Relation maxim: Be relevant. ​
4. Manner maxim: Avoid obscurity of expression. Avoid ambiguity. Be orderly. ​