Chapter 11 Sociolinguistic Donya Nouri

SPEECH
FUNCTIONS, POLITENESS AND CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Donya nouri
The function of speech
• Serves both an affective (or social) function and referential (or informative) function:
ØSocial function– Initial greetings and comments on the weather.
ØReferential function – information-oriented.
• To distinguish a great variety of different functions which languages serves.
• Use it to interact and negotiate with others.
Number of ways of categorizing the functions of speech
1. Expressive, utterances express the speaker’s feelings, e.g. I’m feeling great today.
2. Directive, utterances attempt to get someone to do something, e.g. Clear the tape.
3. Referential, utterances provide information, e.g. At the third stroke it will be three o’clock precisely.
4. Metalinguistic, utterance comment on language itself, e.g. ‘hegemony’ is not a common word.
5. Poetic, utterances focus on aesthetic features of language, e.g. a poem, an ear-catching motto, a rhyme, peter piper
picked a peck of pickled peppers.
6. Phatic, utterances express solidarity and empathy with others, e.g. Hi, how are you, lovely day isn’t it
Directives
ØDirectives are concerned with getting people to do things. The speech acts which express directive force vary in
strength. Polite attempts to get people to do something tend to use interrogatives or declaratives.
ØPeople decide which form (imperatives or directives) to use because a number of factors:
1.The social distance between participants
2.Their relative status
3.The formality of the context
4.Age
5.Reasonableness of the task
6.Gender
ØImperatives are used between people who knows each other well or to subordinates
ØInterrogatives and declaratives, including hints, tend to used between those who are less familiar with each
other, or where there is some reason to feel the task being requested is not routine
Sit down IMPERATIVE

You sit down YOU IMPERATIVE
Could you sit down? INTERROGATIVE WITH MODAL VERB
Sit down will you? INTERROGATIVE WITH TAG
Won’t you sit down? INTERROGATIVE WITH NEGATIVE MODAL
I want you to sit down. DECLARATIVE
I’d like you to sit down. DECLARATIVE
You’d be more comfortable siting down. DECLARATIVE
• There are many ways of expressing this directive. We can say in general the interrogatives
and declaratives are more polite than the imperatives, a great deal depends on intonation,
tone of voice and context.
People who are close friends or intimates use more imperatives, for instance. Example below
were all produced within a family, were (almost!) all said without rancor, and caused no
offense.
(a) Roll over.
(b) Shut up you fool.
(c) Set the table, Robbie.
(d) Wash your hands for tea, children.
(e) Turn that blessed radio down.
• Where status differences are clearly marked and accepted, superiors tend to use imperatives
to subordinates. Teachers often use imperatives to pupils. Teachers can use very direct
expressions of their meaning because of their high status relative to their pupils.
(a) Open your books at page 32
(b) Shut the door
(c) Stop talking please.
Politeness and Address Forms
◦ It is difficult to learn because it involves understanding not just the language, but also the
social and cultural values of the community. We often don’t appreciate just how
complicated it is, because we tend to think of politeness simply as a matter of saying
please and thank you in the right places.
These two dimensions also provide the basis for a distinction between two different types
of politeness.
◦ Positive politeness is solidarity oriented it emphasizes shared attitudes and values. When
the boss suggests that a subordinate should use first name (FN) to her, this is a positive
politeness move, expressing solidarity and minimizing status differences.
◦ Negative politeness pays people respect and avoids intruding on them. Negative politeness
involves expressing oneself appropriately in terms of social distance and respecting status
difference. Using title
◦ last name (TLN) to your superiors, and to older people that you don’t know well, are
further examples of the expression of negative politeness.
Being polite may also involve the dimensions of formality. In a formal situation the
appropriate way of talking to your brother will depend on your roles in the context.
◦ Elements contributing to politeness

a) Form ( modal interrogative, declarative, imperative)
b) Politeness routines or formulas ( please, thank you)
c) Intonation
d) Tone of voice
Linguistic Politeness in Different Cultures
◦ Anyone who has travelled outside their own speech community is likely to have had some experience
of miscommunication based on cultural differences. Often these related to different assumptions
deriving from different ‘normal’ environments.
Example: A Thai student in Britain, for example, reported not being able to understand what her hostess
meant when she asked on which day the week would you like to have your bath? Coming from a very hot
country with a ‘water-oriented culture’, the notion that she might have a bath only once a week was very
difficult to grasp
◦ Learning another language usually involves a great deal more that learning the literal meaning of
the words, how to put them together, and how to pronounce them. We need to know what they
mean in the cultural context in which they are normally used. And that involves some
understanding of the cultural and social norms of their user.
◦ We talk automatically make many unconscious sociolinguistic assumptions about what people
mean when they ask a particular question or make a statement. When we ask someone to dinner,
we expect something more elaborate than This is Dr Kennedy. When we ask someone to dinner we
assume they will know the norms concerning appropriate dress, time of arrival, and possible
topics for discussion during the evening.
Greeting
Example:
-How are you?
-Where are you going?
-Where do you come from?
◦ In different cultures each of these questions is perfectly acceptable as part of a normal greeting routine.
They are formulas, and the expected answer is ritualistic.
◦ So, when responding to “how are you?” by explaining that I’m feeling tired or I have cold would be
unexpected.
◦ In the Polynesian culture, welcoming people is very important. That is why Polynesian parents would not be
satisfied when the principal (in good intensions) dispenses with the formalities and does not use
introductions. Moving to business before welcoming people is not acceptable to the Polynesian speaking
people. Also, sharing food is a sign that the occasion was concluded appropriately.
◦ Greeting formulas universally serve an affective function of establishing non-threatening contact and rapport,
but their precise content is clearly culture specific.
◦ The sociolinguistic rules governing more formal meetings are usually equally culturally prescribed

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SPEECH

FUNCTIONS, POLITENESS AND CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Sit down IMPERATIVE

◦ Elements contributing to politeness

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