SOCIOLINGUISTICS

LESSON 11

INSTRUCTOR: LE NGUYEN NHU ANH

LESSON 11
Speech functions,
politeness and
cross-cultural
communication
Lesson Contents
Key takeaways:

The functions of speech

Politeness and address forms

Linguistics politeness in different cultures

The functions of speech
establish rapport
Example 1
Boss: Good morning Sue. Lovely day.
Secretary: Yes it’s beautiful. Makes you wonder what we’re
doing here doesn’t it.
Boss: Mm, that’s right. Look I wonder if you could
possibly sort this lot out by ten. I need them for a
meeting.
Secretary: Yes sure. No problem.
Boss: Thanks that’s great.
referential function:
The functions of speech
1. Expressive utterances express the speaker’s feelings
• Mr Stark, I don’t feel so good…
The speaker
The functions of speech
2. Directive utterances attempt to get someone to do something
• Clear the table!

The addressee
The functions of speech
3. Referential utterances provide information,
• At the third stroke it will be three o’clock precisely.
The message
The functions of speech
4. Metalinguistic utterances comment
on language itself
• ‘Hegemony’ is not a common word.
5. Poetic utterances focus on aesthetic
features of language
• 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
• Hi, how are you, lovely day isn’t it!
The functions of speech
There are also other functions:
▪ Heuristic function: concerned with
learning (‘tell me why’)
• What happened?
▪ Commissive function: promises, &
threats
• I will grant you three wishes
▪ Performative function: declarations,
marriage vow, bets, .
• I do solemnly declare that I know
not of any lawful impediment why I
____ may not be joined in
matrimony to ____.
The functions of speech
Directives
Directives are concerned with getting people to do things.

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 sitting down. DECLARATIVE
The functions of speech
Directives
Beside form, intonation, tone of voice and
context also determine the politeness of
directives
E.g.
A gentle “Sit down” vs a thundered “Will you
all sit down”
Which would you choose?
• How do people decide which form to use in Move your foot please! OR
a particular context? I’m sorry to bother you and I hope I’m not too
• What are the social factors which affect a much trouble but could you move your foot a little
either way because somehow mine seems to have
speaker’s choice of the appropriate form of got caught under yours.
directive?
The functions of speech
Directives
Example 5
(a) Roll over.
(b) Shut up you fool.
(c) Set the table, Finn.
(d) Clap hands Nico.
(e) Wash your hands for dinner, children.
(f) Turn that blessed radio down.
(g) Bugger off idiot.

Social distance between participants

The functions of speech
Directives
Example 6 Teacher to students
(a) Turn to page 394.
(b) Shut the door.
(c) Stop talking please.

Example 7 Minimally explicit forms

(a) Blackboard! (‘Clean the blackboard’)
(b) Bus people! (‘Those who get the school bus should now leave’)
(c) I hear talking. (‘Stop talking’)
Status
The functions of speech
Directives
Example 9
I now call on the Vice-Chancellor to read the citation for our distinguished guest.

Example 10
Subordinate clause
Medical professional of lower status to person of higher status.
(a) Could you ring his mother and find out? Modal interrogative
(b) A: We’ve got a referral from Dr T. He’s your neighbour Jody.
B: OK I’ll take him. Hint

Formality of the context

The functions of speech
Directives
Example 11
(a) Get those brake pads in by 5 o’clock Sue. That car’s
needed first thing in the morning.
(b) Could you stay a bit later tonight, do you think,
and finish this job? Modal interrogative
(c) That job’s taking longer than we predicted. I don’t
know what we’ll do if it isn’t ready for tomorrow.
Hint

Routineness or reasonableness of the task

The functions of speech
Directives
Example 13
(a) Tom: Give me that. I need it now.
(b) Seymour: Get off that car.
(c) Grant: Get out of my house.
(d) Maria: You finished with that rolling pin now?
(e) Lisa: My turn now eh?
(f) Meg: It’s time for tea so you’ll have to go
home now.

Gender
Girls and women tend to favour more polite and less direct
forms of directives than males
The functions of speech
Directives
Example 14
Overseer assigns a farmworker the wrong row to hoe.
Farmworker: Go to hell. Two times you have told me what
to do – each time it’s been wrong. I’m staying in this row.
You put somebody else there.

Social relationships between people

Politeness and address forms
Example 16
Israeli passenger and driver on an inter-city bus.
Passenger: Turn the light on, please. Politeness
Driver: What?
Passenger: Turn the light on, please.
Driver: It disturbs me.
Passenger: I wanted to read. Social
Solidarity
status
Politeness and address forms
• Politeness = contributing to social harmony + avoiding
social conflict.
– adapting sensitively to evolving social relationships
• Linguistic politeness involves discourse strategies or
linguistic devices
– to maintain harmonious relations and avoid causing trouble.
– speaking to people appropriately in the light of their
relationship to you
• Assessing social relationships along the dimensions of
social distance or solidarity, and relative power or status
– To make decisions about what is or is not considered polite in
any community of practice
=> We need to understand the social values of a community in
order to speak politely.
Politeness and address forms
• Positive politeness is solidarity oriented. It emphasises
shared attitudes and values.
• E.g.
– When the boss suggests that a subordinate should use
first name (FN) to her
– A shift to a more informal style using slang,
endearments or swear words
• Negative politeness pays people respect and avoids
intruding them. It involves expressing oneself
appropriately in terms of social distance and respecting
status differences.
• E.g.
– Indirect directiveness
– Using title + last name to your superiors
Politeness and address forms
• Being polite may also involve the dimension of formality
• getting the linguistic expression of social distance right
as far as your addressee is concerned
• Norms of Western address: more emphasis on solidarity
and less on status.
• In many Eastern societies, such as Japan, Korea and
Indonesia: the emphasis remains on status differences
• Being polite involves using language which recognises
relative status very explicitly.
• Interaction is NOT static.
• What is considered polite or impolite may emerge,
change and develop throughout an interaction.
Politeness and address forms
Example 21
June: Hi. June speaking.
Frances: Hi June. Happy New Year. Just ringing to check if you and Ricky are coming to our
barbecue tomorrow.
June: Oh, sorry erm didn’t Ricky tell you, we’re busy tomorrow.
Frances: No he didn’t. Would have been useful to know a little earlier. We were expecting to be
able to use your barbecue as well as ours.
June: Well too bad I guess since we won’t be there.
Frances: Ok. Thanks for letting us know (sarcastically).
June : Bye (puts phone down).
Linguistic Politeness in different cultures
Linguistic Politeness in different cultures
Example 22
Känner du alla?
(Do you know everyone?)
Linguistic Politeness in different cultures
Example 22
Linguistic Politeness in different cultures

On which day of the week

[???] on…everyday would you like to have your bath?

Thai student in Britain British woman

Linguistic Politeness in different cultures
• A plausible and reasonably specific excuse is mandatory in refusing an
invitation in Western culture

If Solidarity: Will you come to Sorry

I’m butthat
busy I have to
night
dominant social our party?
dimension prepare lessons
I’m afraid
=> privacy reduced
=> vagueness =
evasive
Linguistic Politeness in different cultures
[???] Er, OK! Cool, bring a plate, will you?
Yeah, I’d like to! Want to come to our party?

Ways of expressing the same speech act may differ quite markedly
from one culture to another
=> different social values and attitudes of different societies
Linguistic politeness in different cultures
Greetings
- Greeting formulas Example 25

- serve an affective function of establishing (a) How are you?

non-threatening contact and rapport (b) Where are you going?
- precise content is clearly culture specific.
(c) Have you eaten?

(d) Where do you come from?

(e) Are you married?

(f) How much do you earn?

(g) What do you weigh?

Linguistic politeness in different cultures
Greetings
All in all
• Speech functions
• Social context, formality and the relationship between participants are
important factors => influence speech acts => politeness
• Speech functions are expressed differently in different communities.
• Being polite involves understanding the social values which govern the way
social dimensions such as status, solidarity and formality are expressed.
• A sociolinguistic description aims to identify the different weight put on these
factors in different cultures.
 References

• Bodine (1975) on Chiquita(no). See also www.et-

hnologue.com
• Bortoni-Ricardo (1985) on Brasília
Resources • Bradley (2011) on Yanyuwa
• Cheshire (1982a, b) on Reading speech
• Cheshire, Kerswill and Williams (2005) on (th)-
fronting in Milton Keynes
• Coates and Cameron (1988) on explanation in
social dialectology
• Downes (1998) on age-gradingEckert and
McConnell-Ginet (2013) Ch. 10 on Detroit
adolescents’ speech