politness principle.ppt

the Politeness Principle Introduction Background Definition Maxims of the Politeness Principle Pragmatic Scales of Politeness Social Variables Involved in Politeness Decision Social Constraint and Cross-culturally Different Strategies of Politeness Background Leech bases PP on CP. He agrees the Gricean CP in principle saying that there exists a set of maxim and sub-maxims that guide and constrain the conversation between people,but he suggests that CP should be expanded because Gricean CP in itself can not sufficiently explain why people so often convey meaning indirectly. “It is for this reason that PP can be seen not just as another principle to be added to CP, but as its necessary complement”(Leech 1983: 80).For example: Parent: Someone’s eaten the icing off the cake. Child: It wasn’t me. Definition The Politeness Principle may be formulated in a general way from two aspects:other things being equal,to minimize the expression of impolite beliefs and maximize the expression of polite beliefs. Leech concerns a relationship between two participants, self and other(Leech refers to self as the speaker and other as the hearer or a third party (H)). For example: A: We’ll miss Bill and Agatha, won’t we? B: Well, we’ll all miss Bill. Maxims of the Politeness Principle Leech patterns PP on Grice’s CP and divides PP into a number of maxims: Tact Maxim, Generosity Maxim, Approbation Maxim, Modesty Maxim, Agreement Maxim and Sympathy Maxim (Leech, 1983:132). 1) Tact Maxim (in impositives and commissives) a. Minimize cost to other; b. Maximize benefit to other. 2) Generosity Maxim(in impositives and commissives) a. Minimize benefit to self; b. Maximize cost to self. For example, in the following sentences 3) Approbation Maxim (in expressives and assertives)