definition of politeness

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1、Politenesscanbeunderstoodasasocialphenomenon,ameanstoachievegoodinterpersonalrelationships,andanounimposedbysocialconventions.Soitisphenomenal,instrumentalandnormativebynature.Politenessisuniversal,whichisinterpretableinvariousways,i.e.itcanbeobservedasaphenomenoninallcultures,itisresortedtobys

2、peakersofdifferentlanguageasameanstoanendanditisrecognizedasanorminallsocieties.Despiteitsuniversalitytheactualmanifestationsofpoliteness,andthestandardsofjudgementdifferindifferentcultures,whichcanbetracedtotheoriginofthenotionofpolitenessindifferentcultures.Pragmaticsreferstothestudyofhowspea

3、kersofalanguageusesentencestoeffectsuccessfulcommunication.Pragmaticsisacomparativelynewbranchofstudyintheareaoflinguistics;itsdevelopmentandestablishmentinthe1960sand1970sresultedmainlyfromtheexpansionofthestudyoflinguistics,especiallythatofsemantics.(DaiWeidong,2002)PPisoneofthePragmatictheor

4、ies.GeoffreyLeechonceputitthatfarfrombeingasuperficialmatterof“beingcivil”,politenessisanimportantmissinglinkbetweentheCPandtheproblemofhowtorelatesensetoforce.Hedefinespolitenessasformsofbehaviourthatestablishandmaintaincomity.Thatistheabilityofparticipantsinasocialinteractiontoengageininterac

5、tioninanatmosphereofrelativeharmony.AccordingtoGeoffreyLeech’smaxim“Bepolite”,therearethreerulesofpoliteness(orrapport)orpolitenessstrategies(Lakoff,1990:35)(1)Don’timpose(Distance)(2)Giveoptions(Deference)(3)Befriendly(Camaraderie).LeechformulatedthePolitenessPrincipleinbothpositiveandnegative

6、forms(ibid.,81)(1)Maximize(otherthingsbeingequal)theexpressionofpolitebeliefs(2)Minimize(otherthingsbeingequal)theexpressionofimpolitebeliefs.Underthetwogeneralrequirements,Leechlistssixspecificmaxims:(1)TactMaxim(2)GenerosityMaxim(3)ApprobationMaxim(4)ModestyMaxim(5)AgreementMaxim(6)SympathyMa

7、ximGriceisawarethatspeakersdonotalwaysfollowthesemaxims.Infacttheyoftenviolatethemandthusproducesomeimplicature.However,theCooperativePrincipleisnotenoughtoexplainhowpeopletalk.Itcanonlyexplainhowtheimplicatureisproduced,butnotwhy