POST-MID ASSIGNMENT 2

POLITENESS

SUBMITTED BY: FATIMA ZAKIR

SUBMITTED TO: DR. SHAZIA AYYAZ

PRAGMATICS

SECTION A

SEMESTER 4

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 3RD MAY, 2023

SESSION: 2021-2025

KINNAIRD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN

 What is politeness?

Definitions:
According to Brown and Levinson (1987) everyone has self-public image which has relation to
emotional and social sense of self and expects everyone else to recognize .

Politeness in interaction can be defined as the means employed to show awareness of another
person face

Goffman (1955) defines face in the concept of face theory as “The positive public image [we]
seek to establish in social interactions.”

It’s also useful to consider the face as one’s “self-image.” Naturally, the majority of us desire to
preserve our self-image and present a favourable self-image to others.

EXAMPLE
1) A student to teacher

。 Student: Excuse me Mam Rida, but can I talk to you for a minute?

Within their everyday social interactions, people generally behave as if their expectations
concerning their public self-image, or their face wants, will be respected. Politeness allows
people to perform many inter-personally sensitive actions in a nonthreatening or less threatening
manner.

Face saving act

If one’s activities could be perceived as a threat to another person’s face, one can use a face-
saving act (FSA) to soften the blow.

e.g

could you ....

please....

Face threatening act

A face-threatening act (FTA) is when a speaker says anything that threatens another person’s
expectations of their own self-image.

e.g
you have to ...

give me ....right now...

Example
Situation: Young brother is playing loud music late at night. You have a test tomorrow and you
can’t sleep.

A: I’m going to tell him to stop that awful noise right now!

B: Perhaps you could just ask him if he’s going to stop soon because it’s getting a bit late and
you need to get to sleep.

Positive face strategies

Positive face is the want to be acknowledged, even liked, by others, to be recognised as a group
member, and to understand that others share one’s desires. In positive politeness one need to be
connected . Example

Let’s do it together.

You and I have the same problems.

Appeal with positive face.

Negetive face strategies

Negative political strategies are intended to avoid giving offense by showing deference. These
strategies include questioning, hedging, and presenting disagreements as opinions.

Example

Shut the door

Would you mind to come with me .

When we appeal to a person's negative face, we want to make them feel like they haven't been
taken advantage of.

Example

"I know it's a real pain, and I hope you don't mind, but could you please print these off for me?"
Conclusion
Politeness is a communication strategy that people use to maintain and develop relation.
Politeness is the way we communicate our relationship in interaction

References
Brown P. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage / P. Brown, S. Levinson. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1987. 345 p.

Goffman E. On Face Work: an Analysis of Ritual Elements in Social Interaction //

Communication in Face-to Face Interaction. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972. P.319-346..

http://scodis.com/for-students/glossary/politeness-theory/