语用学—礼貌原则讲义.doc

Handout 6 Politeness TheoryLeechs politeness principleLeech (1983) sees politeness as crucial in explaining why people are often so indirect in conveying what they mean” and as “rescuing the Cooperative Principle” (1983:80) in the sense that politeness can satisfactorily explain exceptions to and apparent deviations from the CP. Leech introduces the Politeness Principle (PP) which runs as follows:Other things being equal, minimize the expression of beliefs which are unfavorable to the hearer and at the same time maximize the expression of beliefs which are favorable to the hearer.The tact maxim (in impositives and commissives) The generosity maxim (in impositives and commissives) The approbation maxim (in expressives and assertives) The modesty maxim (in expressives and assertives) The Agreement maxim (in assertives) The sympathy maxim (in assertives)Brown and Levinsons politeness as management of face “face” ， best understood as every individuals self-esteem or self-image; this image can be damaged, maintained, or enhanced, and any threat to face must be continually monitored during an interaction. positive face ：reflected in his or her desire to be accepted, liked, respected or appreciated by others. negative face ： reflected in the desire not to be impeded or put upon, to have the freedom to act as one chooses. FTAs ： “face-threatening acts” , which include: Positive face: e.g., complaining, criticizing, a. acts threatening hearers disagreeing, raising taboo topics; Negative face: e.g., ordering, advising, threatening, warning; Positive face: e.g. apologizing, accepting b. acts threatening speakers compliments, confessing; Negative face: e.g., accepting an offer, accepting thanks, promising unwillinglyPositive politeness orients to preserving the positive face of other people. When we use positive politeness we use speech strategies that emphasize our solidarity with the hearer, such as informal pronunciation, shared dialect or slang expressions, nicknames, more frequent reference to speaker and hearer as we, and requests which are less indirect. Negative politeness orients to preserving the negative face of other people. This is much more likely if there is a social distance between the speaker and hearer. When we use negative politeness, we use speech strategies that emphasize our deference for the hearer. Nicknames, slang and informal pronunciation tend to be avoided and requests tend to be more indirect Also involves mitigation devices to soften the blow, like please, possibly, Im sorry but Redressive actions: In order to main the speakers own face and reduce threats to the hearers face, a speaker resorts to various redressive actions to counter-balance the disruptive effect of the FTAS. The redressive actions are most often the possible politeness strategies employed for performing FTAs and these strategies can be summarized as follows: Baldly Without Redress On Record Pos. Politeness Do FTA With Redress Off Record Neg. Politeness “On record”, a term used but not defined by Brown and Levinson, can be understood as the way in which an illocution is performed in the most direct way (baldly) or with observable politeness markers (with redress). The redressive strategies include Positive Politeness (which appeals to ones desire to be liked or approved of, e.g., “Since both of us have agreed”) and Negative Politeness (which appeals to ones desire not to be impeded or put upon, e.g. “If it wouldnt be too much trouble”). References: Leech,