WEEK 7: pragmemes and politeness Flashcards
What is a ritual?
= prescribed sequence of verbal & nonverbal acts + have highly formalized and predictable strucures
- they help is to understand the world around us
What are characteristics of rituals?
- cultural construction
- typicality if physical and verbal behaviour
- space
What is a pragmeme? What is it dependent on?
“general situation prototype”
= speech act in context
Motivated by: extra-linguistic context, goal to achieve certain pragmatic effect
Dependent on: cultural context & rules in society
What is a formulaic language? What does it include?
= verbal expressions fixed in form, have often non-literal meaning and is closely related to pragmatic context
It includes:
1) Fixed phrases
2) Clichés
3) Idioms
4) Complex word forms
5) Social routines
6) Narratives
7) Proverbs
What is formulaic sequence?
Discontinuous/continuous sequence of words which appears to be prefabricated
How can you spot formulaic language in rituals?
There is an internal agreement of meaning and attitudes of certain sets of words within a community (overlaps with imagery, decorum,…)
What is face in linguistics?
It is a public self-image that people have of themselves
Can be maintained/threatened by other participants in conversation
What type of faces do we have? What is the face challenge for them?
1) Negative face
- no one can tell me what to do
- challenge: tell him what to do
2) Positive face
- i want my contributions to be appreciated
- challenge: disagree or dont appreciate someone’s values/beliefs
What is FTA (face-threatning activity)?
= any utterance/action (however mild) which might upset the delicate balance of face maintenance
What forms can FTA take? Examples?
1) Verbal
-challenging opinion
- taboo topics
- interruption
- change of topic
2) Non-verbal
- invading physical space
- accidental eye-contact
- failing to recognize someone
- burping
What is facework?
= process of managing one’s own and others’ face
What are the 5 linguistic strategies when engaged in FTA?
1) don’t perform FTA
2) bald on record politeness
3) positive politeness (Would you like some help?)
4) negative politess (I’m sorry for troubling you)
5) off-record (irony)
What is politeness?
= the way in which language is used in conversation to show consideration for feelings/desires of other participants to create uphold interpersonal relationships
What are the maxims of politeness?
1) TACT maxim - maximize benefit to other
2) GENEROSITY maxim - maximize cost to self
3) APPROBATION maxim - maximize praise of other
4) MODESTY maxim - maximize dispraise of self
5) AGREEMENT maxim - maximize agreement btw self and other
6) SYMPATHY maxim - maximize sympathy btw self and other
What types of politeness do we have?
1) Positive politeness
- being complimentary gracious to the addressee
- being “matey”
2) Negative politeness
- mitigating an imposition
- social distancing
