1. Linguistic Politeness
Learning objectives
To know…
What is politeness?
Positive and Negative Face
Positive and Negative Politeness
Politeness Strategies

2. Scenario
Young man knocks on a stranger’s front door and says to the elderly man who opens the door:
“I’m very sorry to bother you, but our car has broken down. Could I possibly use your phone to call RACV?”
The young man in this example expresses himself very politely. He apologises for his intrusion and his request for assistance is couched in very polite terms.

3. What is Politeness?
In general terms, politeness is an expression of concern for the feelings of others. People can express concern in many ways, both linguistically and non-linguistically. Apologising for an intrusion, opening a door for another, inviting a new neighbour for a cup of tea, using courtesy titles like sir and madam, and avoiding swear words are examples of polite behaviour.

4. Politeness and Linguistic Politeness
In everyday usage, the term politeness describes behaviour which is somewhat formal and distancing, where the intention is not to intrude or impose as illustrated with the ‘call to the RACV’ example. Being polite means expressing respect towards the person you are talking to and avoiding offending them. But it also refers to behaviour which expresses positive concern for others as well as non imposing, distancing behaviour. Linguistic Politeness includes a broader definition which will draws on the research of Goffman, Brown and Levinson. Politeness is defined as showing concern for people’s face. The term ‘face’ is a technical term in this approach and while it is based on the colloquial ‘losing face’ and ‘saving face’, in the linguistic context, it includes positive and negative face.

5. In everyday usage, politeness describes behaviour which is somewhat formal and distancing, where the intention is not to intrude or impose as illustrated with the ‘call to the RACV’ example. Being polite means expressing respect towards the person you are talking to and avoiding offending them. But it also refers to behaviour which expresses positive concern for others as well as non imposing, distancing behaviour.

6. FACE
Everybody has face needs or basic wants, and people generally cooperate in maintaining each other’s face, and partially satisfying each other’s face needs. Politeness involves showing concern for two different kinds of face needs: first, negative face needs or the need not to be imposed upon and secondly, positive face needs, the need to be liked and admired. Behaviour which avoids imposing on others (or avoids ‘threatening their face’) is described as evidence of negative politeness, while sociable behaviour expressing warmth towards an addressee is positive politeness behaviour (Brown and Levinson 1987).

7. FACE
According to this approach, any utterance which could be interpreted as making a demand or intruding on another person’s autonomy can be regarded as face-threatening acts, since they potentially impede on the other person’s freedom of action. Polite people avoid obvious face-threatening acts, such as insults and orders; they generally attempt to avoid the threat of unavoidable face-threatening acts such as requests or warnings by softening them, or expressing them indirectly; and they use positive polite utterances such as greetings and compliments where possible.

8. Positive Face Negative Face
Aims to strengthen new or established relationships Positive Politeness
Aims to protect (avoid offending) new or established relationships Negative Politeness

9. What does it look like?
Avoiding a telephoning a colleague early on a Sunday morning or apologising for interrupting a speaker are expressions of negative politeness, while sending a birthday card to a friends or calling a child ‘sweetie’ are expressions of positive politeness.

10. Linguistic means of politeness
The linguistic means by which politeness is appropriately conveyed in English are very varied. Lexical choice among different words can be important in some contexts (slang vs. more formal vocabulary). An appropriate intonation can reduce the apparent peremptoriness of a criticism, or convey sincerity in a compliment. Selecting the appropriate grammatical construction may convey greater or lesser politeness, Modal verbs such as would and could, for instance, generally soften directives. Do you think it would be possible for you to contact Jean today? Would it be a terrible imposition if I asked you to wash the dishes?

11. The meaning of the specific linguistic features used in both these utterances can only be interpreted accurately in the light of the relationship between the participants, and the particular context in which they were produced. In other words, analysing linguistic politeness involves attention to social context.

12. Are these examples of Positive or Negative Politeness?
Could you make a cup of tea.
Make a cup of tea.
Make a cup of tea, eh?
Make a cup of tea would you.
Wife to husband viewing flood on the kitchen floor: Well that wasn’t the best bit of plumbing you’ve ever done was it?
Electrician to customer enquiring about repair: I think it’s not quite ready yet
One colleague to another: Um, unfortunately, I don’t see it that way.

13. Are these examples of Positive or Negative Politeness?
One colleague to another following a meeting: You handled that brilliantly / I was so impressed.
Two friends are chatting about A’s fears about her son’s performance in an exam.
A: but look, there’s absolutely no point in worry about it/
worry won’t change anything.
B: you’re quite right of course.
Teacher reassuring child that her mother will be attending their concert:
Child: my mum’s not here yet / she might not come.
Teacher: don’t worry Liz. Of course, she’ll come / she promised
To the winner of scrabble
A: Shit, you’re incredibly good at this.

14. Is swearing considered rude?

15. Swearing
Different social groups use language differently, and ways of being polite often contrast markedly. The use of slang among a group of young friends, for instance, reflect in-group membership, and so slang can express positive politeness. It is an inclusive linguistic device. Swear words and insults may serve a similar purpose. For example bastard and wanker to express solidarity.