Politeness In Language
By: Eini Alnooroo, Jordiina ROCK!!!!
And Vilmus Metsovaaraa!
(Eini Alanärä, Jordi Rocha and Vilma Mettovaara)
Explanation
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Politeness can be best
explained by showing consideration for
others and observance of accepted
social usage.
It is a very cultural thing, and
therefore what is considered polite in
one culture can sometimes be
considered rude or simply
inappropriate in another culture.
English is either a very formal or a very
rude language, this is due because in
English there is only one "you" for
everybody. For some people it can be
quite a tricky situation to seem polite
when meeting a new person. As in
Spanish, German and French there are
the words "Usted", "Sie" and "Vous".
Politeness Strategies
Positive politeness
• Usually in groups of friends
or with people who know
each other
• It tries to take away the
distance between people
• Expresses friendliness
• Intends to bring people
closer
• Respects interests
Negative politeness
• Try to impose the impose
the hearer
• Intrude their personal space
• Creates social distance and
awkwardness into the
situation.
Examples of politeness strategies
Positive politeness
Negative politeness
• Attend to the hearer:
"You must be hungry, it's a long
time since breakfast. How about
some lunch?"
• Avoid disagreement:
A: " What is she, small?"
B: "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?"
• Hedge opinion:
"You really should sort of try
harder."
• Be indirect:
"I'm looking for a comb.“
• Forgiveness:
"You must forgive me but...."
• Minimize 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 by your plane ticket by
yesterday."
Source: Brown and Levinson's
Politeness strategies
Greetings:
Politenes in greetings
Two friends meeting:
•Hi!
•What’s up?
•’Sup dude!
Meeting someone you don’t know:
• Hello
• Good morning/afternoon/evening
How does it affect people?
• In our opinion oliteness can basically give a
certain image of someone to someone else,
because manners can tell a lot about a person.
For example if you've seen someone do
something rude once, you might picture them
to be rude all the time. And then again, if
someone is nice once you might straight away
assume they're a very nice and fair person.
Video:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VTRHr8x
cT8
Picture Sources
• http://www.randomblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Takingpoliteness-to-a-whole-other-level..jpg
• http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/8049/20060518.gif
• http://1.bp.blogspot.com/LwSRuFgm1aA/TuNf6YaN9MI/AAAAAAAAAYo/u4LTQv80kGc/s1600/politen
ess9.jpg
• http://www.jazzyintellectual.com/wpcontent/uploads/2011/08/shakinghands.jpg
• http://bornagainredneck.blogspot.fi/2008/10/nyc-most-polite-city-inworld.html
• http://www.english-at-home.com/speaking/english-greetings/
• http://www.problogger.net/wpcontent/uploads/2008/09/conversation.gif
• http://www.funelf.net/photos/Don%60t-forget-to-smile.jpg
• http://memecrunch.com/meme/R0M/polite-room-mate-dog/image.png
Sources cited:
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Brown, and Levinson. "Politeness Strategy Examples." Politeness Strategy Examples. N.p., 25
Feb. 1997. Web. 13 Nov. 2012. <http://logos.uoregon.edu/explore/socioling/strat.html>.
Patenttranslator's Blog." Patenttranslators Blog. N.p., 3 Dec. 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2012.
<http://patenttranslator.wordpress.com/2011/12/03/the-different-levels-of-politeness-indifferent-cultures-and-languages/>.
"Born Again Redneck's Daily Duh!" Born Again Redneck's Daily Duh! N.p., 15 Oct. 2008. Web.
12 Nov. 2012. <http://bornagainredneck.blogspot.fi/2008/10/nyc-most-polite-city-inworld.html>.
"Politeness." Explore Linguistics! N.p., 25 Feb. 1997. Web. 12 Nov. 2012.
"English Greetings." English Greetings. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.englishat-home.com/speaking/english-greetings/>.