Politeness in language By Aleksi and Samppa

General info on politeness in language. If you don’t mind. Make some small jokes. Keep your distance from the person. Small compliments. Facial expressions. Tone of speaking. (Not too aggressive). When asking for something being humble. Not swearing. There is positive, negative, off record and bald on record politeness. (Brown/Levinson). Positive politeness is more nice way of talking. Negative politeness is not respecting or not really noticing other people (common in Finland) Off record politeness is a little bit like negative but shows little hints of positive politeness Bald on record politeness is being very strict with what you are saying.

Politeness Peedo says that politeness is ’’defined by the concern for the feelings of others’’. Polite manners can be used to come across nicely, but they can also be used to get something you want . (Levison- Brown, 1987)

The face According to Brown and Levinson, politeness is used in coversation to maintain/save the hearers ’’face’’. They say that the face is the self respect in private or public situations. According to Peedo, Face Threatening Acts are things ’’that violate on the hearers’ need to maintain his/her self-esteem, and be respected. ’’

Types of politeness Politeness can be divided to 4 different categories: positive politeness, negative politeness, bald on record politeness and off record politeness Positive politeness is when you notice the other persons needs or wants or say for instance ’’What a brilliant house!’’. Negative politeness is more distancing. You can ask things indirectly e.g ’’Would you know where Aleksi lives?’’. You can also use plural pronouns e.g ’’We are happy to inform you…’’. Off record politeness is using a statement to be indirect, while trying to get the other person to do something for you. Saying ’’It sure is getting cold here’’ to get your friend to close the window is off record politeness. Bald on record politeness is simple. It is bald and straight forward e.g ’’Pass me the drink’’, and ’’Come in’’ are both in the region of bald on record politeness. (Levison- Brown, 1987)

Works Cited Brown, P., Levison, S., (1987) Politeness, Cambridge University Press Peedo, M., (2002) Politeness, Oulu University