Abstract The aim of this article is to explore how politeness is conceptualized in modern Russia. The study adopts a bottom-up approach and gathers conceptualizations of different aspects of politeness by lay native Russian speakers. This study uses an open-ended questionnaire to elicit the concepts people generally associate with politeness, descriptive labels for polite people, as well as individual experiences of polite and impolite behavior. The data for the research was gathered through 50 questionnaires composed of five questions. In total, 217 metapragmatic comments and 155 recollections of past experiences were obtained. The results of this study suggest that politeness is understood mostly in terms of expectable social behavior and serves a regulatory function. It indicates that culturally-specific concepts can fit into the framework of personal, relational and social underpinnings of politeness. This vision embraces a holistic view on politeness as a social tool of efficient interaction.
{"title":"Conceptualization of first-order politeness in Russia: an exploratory study","authors":"V. Trubnikova","doi":"10.1515/pr-2021-0042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2021-0042","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The aim of this article is to explore how politeness is conceptualized in modern Russia. The study adopts a bottom-up approach and gathers conceptualizations of different aspects of politeness by lay native Russian speakers. This study uses an open-ended questionnaire to elicit the concepts people generally associate with politeness, descriptive labels for polite people, as well as individual experiences of polite and impolite behavior. The data for the research was gathered through 50 questionnaires composed of five questions. In total, 217 metapragmatic comments and 155 recollections of past experiences were obtained. The results of this study suggest that politeness is understood mostly in terms of expectable social behavior and serves a regulatory function. It indicates that culturally-specific concepts can fit into the framework of personal, relational and social underpinnings of politeness. This vision embraces a holistic view on politeness as a social tool of efficient interaction.","PeriodicalId":45897,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politeness Research-Language Behaviour Culture","volume":"19 1","pages":"391 - 414"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44594786","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Iris Hübscher, Cristina Sánchez-Conde, Joan Borràs-Comes, L. Vincze, P. Prieto
Abstract Recent cross-linguistic research has demonstrated that speakers use a prosodic mitigation strategy when addressing higher status interlocutors by talking more slowly, reducing the intensity and lowering the overall fundamental frequency (F0). Much less is known, however, about how politeness-related meaning is expressed multimodally (i.e., combining verbal and multimodal channels). The present study investigates how Catalan native speakers encode politeness-related meanings through facial and body cues. We test whether speakers apply a gestural mitigation strategy and use specific hedging devices in socially distant situations (e.g., when asking an older person of higher status for a favor). Twenty Catalan speakers were video-recorded while participating in a discourse elicitation task where they were required to produce requests in polite and non-polite contexts. In the resulting recordings, a set of 21 facial and body cues associated with speech were coded and analyzed. The results show that politeness-related meanings are expressed through gestural mitigation strategies that go hand-in-hand with previously reported prosodic mitigation strategies.
{"title":"Multimodal mitigation: how facial and body cues index politeness in Catalan requests","authors":"Iris Hübscher, Cristina Sánchez-Conde, Joan Borràs-Comes, L. Vincze, P. Prieto","doi":"10.1515/pr-2020-0033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2020-0033","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Recent cross-linguistic research has demonstrated that speakers use a prosodic mitigation strategy when addressing higher status interlocutors by talking more slowly, reducing the intensity and lowering the overall fundamental frequency (F0). Much less is known, however, about how politeness-related meaning is expressed multimodally (i.e., combining verbal and multimodal channels). The present study investigates how Catalan native speakers encode politeness-related meanings through facial and body cues. We test whether speakers apply a gestural mitigation strategy and use specific hedging devices in socially distant situations (e.g., when asking an older person of higher status for a favor). Twenty Catalan speakers were video-recorded while participating in a discourse elicitation task where they were required to produce requests in polite and non-polite contexts. In the resulting recordings, a set of 21 facial and body cues associated with speech were coded and analyzed. The results show that politeness-related meanings are expressed through gestural mitigation strategies that go hand-in-hand with previously reported prosodic mitigation strategies.","PeriodicalId":45897,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politeness Research-Language Behaviour Culture","volume":"19 1","pages":"1 - 29"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45006304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Recently, communicating admiration and appreciation in public discourse has become a subject of study since these acts play a very important role in shaping positive social relations not only on a micro scale, but also on a macro one. My goal in this study is to understand how public officials implement their intention to please addressees in an international arena, in contacts between different religious and national communities. In order to do this, 120 papal speeches delivered to representatives of different churches, religions and societies were analysed, identifying individual topics, functions and patterns of these speech acts, as well as their dependence on such parameters as the specifics of the sender, the addressee, the situation, and the discourse. The work demonstrates that the perlocutionary potential of praising and complimenting contained in papal speeches is strengthened by the linguistic exhibiting by the sender of his knowledge about the addressees and focussing attention on them. Furthermore, it becomes more powerful because of the use of lexical and stylistic measures to intensify positive evaluative expressions. The paper is concluded with the postulate of opening linguistic studies on politeness to other public discourses.
{"title":"“I look with deep gratitude and admiration…” – praising and complimenting in papal speeches","authors":"Marzena Makuchowska","doi":"10.1515/pr-2020-0048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2020-0048","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Recently, communicating admiration and appreciation in public discourse has become a subject of study since these acts play a very important role in shaping positive social relations not only on a micro scale, but also on a macro one. My goal in this study is to understand how public officials implement their intention to please addressees in an international arena, in contacts between different religious and national communities. In order to do this, 120 papal speeches delivered to representatives of different churches, religions and societies were analysed, identifying individual topics, functions and patterns of these speech acts, as well as their dependence on such parameters as the specifics of the sender, the addressee, the situation, and the discourse. The work demonstrates that the perlocutionary potential of praising and complimenting contained in papal speeches is strengthened by the linguistic exhibiting by the sender of his knowledge about the addressees and focussing attention on them. Furthermore, it becomes more powerful because of the use of lexical and stylistic measures to intensify positive evaluative expressions. The paper is concluded with the postulate of opening linguistic studies on politeness to other public discourses.","PeriodicalId":45897,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politeness Research-Language Behaviour Culture","volume":"19 1","pages":"31 - 57"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49195264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This paper addresses how the realizations of different constitutive components of Twitter complaints shape the perception of these complaints by other customers. We present three experiments on French language in which we test how customer complaint perception is impacted by the realization of the complainable (Exp. 1), of the entity responsible for the complainable (Exp. 2), and of the customer’s wish for the complainable to be remedied (Exp. 3). The results of Exp. 1 indicate that the perceived likelihood that the complaint will be responded to by the company is highest when the complainable is realized as a combination of an assertion + question + picture. In Exp. 2, we found that, in comparison with the use of the discourse marker dites to refer to the entity responsible for the complainable, the use of a noun phrase or the absence of this component increases perceived politeness. Finally, our data from Exp. 3 reveal that, compared to the use of an imperative to voice the customer’s wish for the complainable to be remedied, “indirect” request forms, and preparatory interrogatives, in particular, are perceived as more polite, as expressing lower dissatisfaction, and as decreasing the likelihood of a response from the company.
{"title":"The impact of linguistic choices and (para-)linguistic markers on the perception of Twitter complaints by other customers: an experimental approach","authors":"Nicolas Ruytenbeek, S. Decock, I. Depraetere","doi":"10.1515/pr-2021-0031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2021-0031","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper addresses how the realizations of different constitutive components of Twitter complaints shape the perception of these complaints by other customers. We present three experiments on French language in which we test how customer complaint perception is impacted by the realization of the complainable (Exp. 1), of the entity responsible for the complainable (Exp. 2), and of the customer’s wish for the complainable to be remedied (Exp. 3). The results of Exp. 1 indicate that the perceived likelihood that the complaint will be responded to by the company is highest when the complainable is realized as a combination of an assertion + question + picture. In Exp. 2, we found that, in comparison with the use of the discourse marker dites to refer to the entity responsible for the complainable, the use of a noun phrase or the absence of this component increases perceived politeness. Finally, our data from Exp. 3 reveal that, compared to the use of an imperative to voice the customer’s wish for the complainable to be remedied, “indirect” request forms, and preparatory interrogatives, in particular, are perceived as more polite, as expressing lower dissatisfaction, and as decreasing the likelihood of a response from the company.","PeriodicalId":45897,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politeness Research-Language Behaviour Culture","volume":"19 1","pages":"87 - 122"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41920910","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Grundtvig, A. 2021. English is context: Practical pragmatics for clear communication. Stuttgart: DELTA Publishing, Ernst Klett Sprachen GmbH, 144 pp., ISBN 978-3-125-01742-9. Price: € 28,50.","authors":"Gerrard Mugford","doi":"10.1515/pr-2021-0039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2021-0039","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45897,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politeness Research-Language Behaviour Culture","volume":"19 1","pages":"557 - 559"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48518576","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Little research has related DMs to (im)politeness, and none in Jordanian Arabic (JA). This study provides evidence that (im)politeness can categorize interactive DMs into polite DMs and impolite DMs in JA. It aims to explore the use of DMs in JA in relation to (im)politeness dichotomy. Twenty-two episodes of three different Jordanian radio shows which use vernacular JA were recorded and transcribed. With the help of prosodic cues and native speakers’ judgement and comprehension of the relevant utterances, this study finds that DMs can be categorized into polite DMs and impolite DMs. For instance, ʕafwan عفوا ‘excuse me’ and ja:si:di: يا سيدي ‘sir’ are exclusively used as mitigating polite DMs whilst wbaʕdi:n maʕak وبعدين معك ‘hey stop!’ and eṯlaʕ min ra:si: اطلع من راسي ‘get out of my head’ are impolite DMs which are primarily used in complaints and expressions of state of anger. This is all interpreted as evidence that interactive DMs can be strongly flavored by politeness which regulates their distribution and manifestation. The study contributes to research on DMs by presenting a categorization based on (im)politeness and thus strengthening the link between discourse and pragmatics.
很少有研究将dm与(im)礼貌联系起来,在约旦阿拉伯语(JA)中没有。本研究提供了证据,证明在JA中(im)礼貌可以将互动dm分为礼貌dm和不礼貌dm。它的目的是探讨在(im)礼貌二分法相关的JA中使用dm。记录和转录了三种不同的约旦广播节目的22集,这些节目使用方言JA。根据韵律线索和母语使用者对相关话语的判断和理解,本研究发现,话语可以分为礼貌话语和不礼貌话语。例如,@ afwan عفوا“excuse me”和@ si:di: يا سيدي“sir”是专门用于缓和礼貌的dm,而@ wba @ di:n ma @ ak وبعدين معك“hey stop!”'和eṯla @ min ra:si: اطلع من راسي ' get out of my head '是不礼貌的dm,主要用于抱怨和表达愤怒的状态。这些都被解释为交互式dm可以被礼貌所强化的证据,礼貌可以调节它们的分布和表现。本研究提出了一种基于礼貌的分类方法,从而加强了语篇与语用之间的联系,从而促进了对言外之意的研究。
{"title":"(Im)politeness as a tool to categorize interactive discourse markers of Arabic in radio shows","authors":"Marwan Jarrah, Sharif Alghazo, A. Asad","doi":"10.1515/pr-2021-0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2021-0012","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Little research has related DMs to (im)politeness, and none in Jordanian Arabic (JA). This study provides evidence that (im)politeness can categorize interactive DMs into polite DMs and impolite DMs in JA. It aims to explore the use of DMs in JA in relation to (im)politeness dichotomy. Twenty-two episodes of three different Jordanian radio shows which use vernacular JA were recorded and transcribed. With the help of prosodic cues and native speakers’ judgement and comprehension of the relevant utterances, this study finds that DMs can be categorized into polite DMs and impolite DMs. For instance, ʕafwan عفوا ‘excuse me’ and ja:si:di: يا سيدي ‘sir’ are exclusively used as mitigating polite DMs whilst wbaʕdi:n maʕak وبعدين معك ‘hey stop!’ and eṯlaʕ min ra:si: اطلع من راسي ‘get out of my head’ are impolite DMs which are primarily used in complaints and expressions of state of anger. This is all interpreted as evidence that interactive DMs can be strongly flavored by politeness which regulates their distribution and manifestation. The study contributes to research on DMs by presenting a categorization based on (im)politeness and thus strengthening the link between discourse and pragmatics.","PeriodicalId":45897,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politeness Research-Language Behaviour Culture","volume":"19 1","pages":"123 - 148"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48226690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Whereas previous research on metapragmatic talk has tended to focus on what people say about politeness, the current paper additionally explores how people talk about politeness. More specifically, we extend our analysis to the embodied resources, including gestures and nonverbal behaviour, that people use when enacting politeness talk. The data comes from two semi-structured interviews that we conducted with South Korean participants, both of whom were middle-aged university professors. We subjected the data to three rounds of analysis. First, we thematically coded the content of the narratives, revealing important differences in how these two participants from the same language background conceived of politeness. Second, we analyzed the appearance of verbal and non-verbal markers of deferential politeness. This analysis revealed that the overall bodily comportment of the two participants closely matched the different politeness narratives that they inhabited. Third and finally, we examined how the participants used bodily movements when evoking specific embodied practices related to politeness, and used embodied behaviours to represent abstract politeness-related concepts and map them onto spatial locations. Overall, the analysis shows that metapragmatic talk about politeness is an embodied achievement and thus needs to be treated within the remit of the multimodal turn in politeness research.
{"title":"The embodied enactment of politeness metapragmatics","authors":"L. Brown, Soung-U Kim, Hyunji Kim","doi":"10.1515/pr-2021-0033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2021-0033","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Whereas previous research on metapragmatic talk has tended to focus on what people say about politeness, the current paper additionally explores how people talk about politeness. More specifically, we extend our analysis to the embodied resources, including gestures and nonverbal behaviour, that people use when enacting politeness talk. The data comes from two semi-structured interviews that we conducted with South Korean participants, both of whom were middle-aged university professors. We subjected the data to three rounds of analysis. First, we thematically coded the content of the narratives, revealing important differences in how these two participants from the same language background conceived of politeness. Second, we analyzed the appearance of verbal and non-verbal markers of deferential politeness. This analysis revealed that the overall bodily comportment of the two participants closely matched the different politeness narratives that they inhabited. Third and finally, we examined how the participants used bodily movements when evoking specific embodied practices related to politeness, and used embodied behaviours to represent abstract politeness-related concepts and map them onto spatial locations. Overall, the analysis shows that metapragmatic talk about politeness is an embodied achievement and thus needs to be treated within the remit of the multimodal turn in politeness research.","PeriodicalId":45897,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Politeness Research-Language Behaviour Culture","volume":"19 1","pages":"149 - 183"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42424020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}