Ilham Ngabdussalam (190110101056)

Zufar Alfian Firdaus (190110101082)

Sociolinguistic C

Speech Functions, Politeness and Cross-cultural Communication

The Functions of Speech

1. Expressive utterances express the speaker’s feelings, e.g. I’m feeling great today.
2. Directive utterances attempt to get someone to do something, e.g. Clear the table.
3. Referential utterances provide information, e.g. At the third stroke it will be three o’clock
precisely.
4. Metalinguistic utterances comment on language itself, e.g. ‘Hegemony’ is not a common
word.
5. Poetic utterances focus on aesthetic features of language, e.g. a poem, an ear-catching
motto, a rhyme, Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
6. Phatic utterances express solidarity and empathy with others, e.g. Hi, how are you, lovely
day isn’t it!

Expressive, Directive and Referential are the fundamental functions of language. They are
the basic components of any interactions. Some sentences may conduct more than 1 function,
just like the example 2 for advertising. Some also ambiguous to attract people's attention.

Directives

Directives is a speech function to make person or people do the things the speaker wants.
The style (politeness) may vary according to the speaker's power. For example in the book, to get
people sit there are so many ways to do that. The form can be suggestions, invitation, order or
command.
 People whose have higher power, they can use all form, no one would resist. For those
whose have lower power can also use all form, but people with higher power may resist that.
Instead, they will refer to use suggestion and invitation rather than order or command.

Politeness and Address Forms

Being a polite person in any language is a hard task to do. Adding "please" in English
does not automatically classified a person as a polite person. The fact, to be polite person, we
have to deal with many aspects. Intonation and tone of voice for example.

This raises the bigger question of what exactly is ‘politeness’. Generally speaking,
politeness involves contributing to social harmony and avoiding social conflict. More
specifically, linguistic politeness involves discourse strategies or linguistic devices which are
perceived or evaluated by others as having been used to maintain harmonious relations and avoid
causing trouble. In many cases, being polite involves adapting sensitively to evolving social
relationships.

Being linguistically polite involves speaking to people appropriately in the light of their
relationship to you. Inappropriate linguistic choices may be considered rude. Using an imperative
such as stop talking or shut that door to a superior at work is likely to earn the office junior a
reprimand. Calling the managing director Sally when you do not know her well and have only
just started work as a stores assistant in the department is likely to be considered impolite.
Making decisions about what is or is not considered polite in any community of practice
therefore involves assessing social relationships along the dimensions of social distance or
solidarity, and relative power or status. We need to understand the social values of a community
in order to speak politely.

Being polite may also involve the dimension of formality. In a formal situation, the
appropriate way of talking to family members will depend on your roles in the context. If they
are acting as the judge in a law court then calling them by names, it will be considered
disrespectful, while at the dinner table calling them Your honor will be perceived as
inappropriate or humorous.
 That is why, to be a polite person is a hard task to do. We have to learn the culture of
each language we speak in.

Linguistic Politeness in Different Cultures

There are sociolinguistic norms for polite acceptance and refusal which differ cross-
culturally. Refusing an invitation appropriately in Western culture can be a challenging task.
How do you refuse a lift home from someone you don’t like? How do you refuse an invitation to
a meal from someone who is your social superior? An excuse is mandatory, and it needs to be
plausible and reasonably specific.

In some cultures, there are very general vague formulas such as I’m busy that night I’m
afraid, which are perfectly acceptable. But in many Western communities people expect to be
provided with a more specific reason for a refusal. Where solidarity is the dominant social
dimension, privacy is reduced and vagueness about one’s activities is seen as evasive. Being
polite in such contexts involves knowing how to express a range of speech functions in a
culturally appropriate way.

Then there is the problem of how you get enough to eat. In some parts of India and Taiwan, as
well as in parts of the Arabic-speaking world, it is considered impolite to accept food when it is
first offered. Only on the third offer is it appropriate to accept and, correspondingly, only a third
refusal is considered definitive by the offerer.

There are many stories of over-replete Western visitors who had not worked out this
cultural norm. On the other hand, overseas visitors who operate with such norms are likely to
perceive their English hosts as ungenerous, because a second helping is offered only once. Once
again, the sociolinguistic norms express cultural values. Playing someone with food is regarded
as positively polite behavior, especially in cultures with sharp economic differences between
social groups.

In Western society, on the other hand, fatness is not regarded as a sign of wealth. Indeed
thinness is highly valued and sociolinguistic dinner norms tend to take account of the possibility
that guests are dieting. Being forced to repeatedly refuse offers of food may be experienced as
embarrassing.

Greetings

In different cultures, each of these questions is perfectly acceptable as part of a normal

greeting routine. They are formulas, and the expected answer is ritualistic. Just as a detailed
blow-by-blow description of the state of your cold would be unexpected and inappropriate in
response to How are you?, so the South-East Asian questioner does not expect a minute and
specific account of your intended journey and destination. Just as "fine" is enough of an answer
to the first question, so along the way or just a short distance is an appropriate and polite
response to the second. Greeting formulas universally serve an affective function of establishing
non-threatening contact and rapport, but their precise content is clearly culture specific.

The sociolinguistic rules governing more formal meetings are usually equally culturally
prescribed. Also, the gender, age and status of appropriate participants is pre-determined for the
way someone greetings. For example, The Maori ritual of encounter have a complex procedure.