Solidarity and Politeness

Mega Nur Indah

M. Pasha P. P
Nafilla Ulfah
Nisa Fitra Nur Idzani
Tu and Vous
In French, the word ”tu and vous” to refers “you” is a bit
more complex. The usage is to symbolized the power of
relationship.
There is tu as ‘singular you’ and vous as ‘plural you’.
T form are described as ‘familiar form’, V form are
described as ‘polite’ one.
Other language which similar to T/V :
 Latin : tu/vos
 Russian : ty/vy
 Italian : tu/lei
 German : du/sie.
Symmetrical usage
Symmetrical V ussage became “polite” usage in society. It
should be between those who have no ties any kind and between
inferior and superior.
- In IV century, the word Vous used to adress the emperor.
- Upper classes began to use V-forms among each other
- Upper class used T to address the lower classes, but they received V
addressing.
-V-forms used the way talking to adults"
Symmetrical T ussage showed intimacy. People using this
for had strong common interests, showed solidarity.
- The lower classes used T-forms among each other.
- Lower class used V to address the Upper classes, but they received T
addressing.
How to use “Tu & Vous” ?
The forms is more likely to be used to address somebody in
social situation.
The similar social situation includes :
 Age
 Your role in the current "speech context"
 By extension, job status
 Where the person you're speaking to fits in your "social
network"
 How well you know the person you're speaking to
 Your attitude towards the person you're speaking to
Tu And Vous
Lambert and Tucker (1976) pointed out that all french
communities and all groups within a community are not alike in
their T/V usage.
Example
 In rural of Laval and Saint-Pierre, children use tu with kin
and godparents
 In Quebec, they still use vous within the family. There was
particularly distance in age and relationship increases.
Address Terms
According to Fasold (1990), "address forms are the words
speakers use to designate the person they are talking to while
they are talking to them.”

A term of address may be friendly, unfriendly, neutral,

respectful, disrespectful, or comradely. Although a term of
address commonly appears at the beginning of a sentence, it
may also be used between phrases or clauses.
Related terms include direct address, vocative, and honorific.
Direct address is just what it sounds like. The speaker is talking
directly to the person mentioned. A vocative is the term of
address used. An honorific is a term used to show respect and
comes before a name.
The Forms of Address Terms
The use of different forms for addressing people is
sociolinguistically bound. The way in which people address one
another usually depends on their age, sex, social group, and
personal relationship (The Longman Dictionary of Applied
Linguistics and Language Teaching 1992). According to Fasold
(1990), "address forms are really part of a complete semantic
system having to do with social relationships.”
Politeness
According by Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson (1987),
Politeness can be define as showing awareness and consideration
of another person’s face.
Brown and Levinson also say that everyone has self-public
image which has relation to emotional and social sense of self
and expects everyone else to recognize.
The most relevant concept of politeness is the concept of ‘face’.
In this case, face refers to someone’s public self-image.
Every person has a negative and positive face .There are 2
different acts that come with it:
1) Face-Threatening Act (FTA) is threat to a person’s self-
image.
2) Face saving act is to lessen the possibility to threat a person’s
self-image.
Negative (-) and Positive (+) Face

Negative face is the need to be independent to have a freedom

of action and not to be imposed by others. Meanwhile the
Positive face is the need to be accepted, even liked by others, to
be treated as a member of the group and to know that his or
her wants are shared by others.
Example of Negative Face
Face-Threatening Act Face saving act
 Clean the bathroom!  Would you mind cleaning the
 Do your homework! bathroom?
 Wash the dishes!  Please do your homework
 Do you mind washing the
dishes?
Example of Positive Face
Face-Threatening Act
 A : How are you?
B : You know, actually , I am
not that well
Face saving act
 A : How are you?
B : Good, How are you?
THANK YOU~