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Week 14 Semantics

The document discusses the concept of politeness in sociolinguistic interactions, emphasizing that communication often conveys more than the spoken words. It introduces Brown and Levinson's theory of 'face', which refers to an individual's public self-image and the importance of respecting others' face wants to maintain social relationships. Additionally, it distinguishes between negative face, which relates to independence, and positive face, which pertains to the need for acceptance and connection with others.

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48 views2 pages

Week 14 Semantics

The document discusses the concept of politeness in sociolinguistic interactions, emphasizing that communication often conveys more than the spoken words. It introduces Brown and Levinson's theory of 'face', which refers to an individual's public self-image and the importance of respecting others' face wants to maintain social relationships. Additionally, it distinguishes between negative face, which relates to independence, and positive face, which pertains to the need for acceptance and connection with others.

Uploaded by

ajop399
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Week 14

Politeness
The interpretation of what is uttered usually goes beyond what was intended to be expressed, and
includes evaluations in terms of politeness. Therefore, one can clearly observe that much more is
communicated than is said during a sociolinguistic interaction (Yule, 1996). Brown and Levinson (1978)
suggest that a need to be polite is common to all cultures. In a common sense being polite -showing
good manners and consideration for other people (e.g. open the door for a lady, give your seat to an
elderly person in public transport).

Linguistic politeness: the way people choose to speak and how the hearers react to their speech.

THE CONCEPT OF FACE

Brown and Levinson (1978) have concluded that, in order to enter into social relationships, all people
must acknowledge the face of other people. As a technical term, face means the public self-image of a
person. It refers to that emotional and social sense of self that every one has and expects everyone else
to recognize.

FACE WANTS

People generally behave as if their expectations concerning their public self-image, or their face wants,
will be respected. if a speaker says something that represents a threat to another individual's
expectations regarding self-image, it is described as a face threatening act.

Face Threatening Act

PEOPLE HAVE TWO FACES


1. Negative face: the need to be independent, to have freedom of action, and not to be imposed
on by others.
2. Positive face: is the need to be accepted, even liked others, to be treated as a member of the
same group, and to know that his or her wants are shared by others

Negative Face: The need to be independent and free.

For example: I'm sorry to bother you. I know you're busy.

Positive Face: The need to be connected and a member of the group.

For example: Let's do it together. You and I have the same problems.

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