VI. 礼貌原则Politeness Principle

VI. Leech’s Politeness PrincipleContentsI. The Theoretical BackgroundII. The Politeness Principle & its MaximsIII. Interpretation of the Politeness PrincipleIV. Violation of CP out of PolitenessV. Humor Created by Flouting PP MaximsVI. Comprehensive Floutings of CP and PP MaximsVII.Pragmatic Analysis of Deliberate MisinterpretationReading: Leech, G. N. Principles of Pragmatics [M]. London: Longman. 1983.I. The Theoretical BackgroundPoliteness Principle (PP for short) was proposed by Leech in 1983.Leech:The Gricean framework itself cannot give a sufficient explanation of the following questions:✓Why do people so often convey their meaning indirectly?✓Why do people deliberately violate the CP maxims?Therefore, Leech (1983) puts forward his Politeness Principle to rescue the CP from the serious trouble it is in:Cooperative Principle can not explain the dilemma that people fail to fulfill Cooperative Principle while at the same time observing it. (Leech, 1983: 80)II. The Politeness Principle & its MaximsGenerally speaking, Politeness Principle can be stated in such a way: Other things being equal, minimize the expression of impolite beliefs and maximize the expression of polite beliefs. (Leech, 1983: 80)Centering on the relationship between self and other, Leech analyzes politeness by the use of maxims and proposes six maxims of Politeness Principle:(1) Tact maxim: (得体准则)A. Minimize cost to otherB. Maximize benefit to other(2) Generosity maxim: (慷慨准则)A. Minimize benefit to selfB. Maximize cost to self(3) Approbation maxim:(赞誉准则)A. Minimize dispraise of otherB. Maximize praise of other(4) Modesty maxim: (谦逊准则)A. Minimize praise of selfB. Maximize dispraise of self(5) Agreement maxim: (一致准则)A. Minimize disagreement between self and otherB. Maximize agreement between self and other(6) Sympathy maxim: (同情准则)A. Minimize antipathy between self and otherB. Maximize sympathy between self and other(Leech, 1983:132) III. Interpretation of the Politeness Principle(1) Tact maxim: A. Minimize cost to otherB. Maximize benefit to othere.g. a) Peel these potatoes.b) Hand me the newspaper.c) Sit down.d) Look at that.e) Enjoy your holiday.f) Have another sandwich.From (a) to (f), the degree of politeness becomes increasingly greater.(2) Generosity maxim: A. Minimize benefit to selfB. Maximize cost to selfe.g. a) You must come and have dinner with us.b) We must come and have dinner with you.(a) Is polite while (b) is impolite.(3) Approbation maxim: A. Minimize dispraise of otherB. Maximize praise of othere.g. A: Do you like these apricots?B: I’ve tasted better.B is making an indirect negative comment on the apricots. He’s trying to be polite, avoiding the blunt direct comment “The apricots don’t taste well.”(4) Modesty maxim: A. Minimize praise of selfB. Maximize dispraise of selfe.g. a) How stupid of me!b) How smart of me!(a) is polite while (b) is impolite.(5) Agreement maxim: A. Minimize disagreement between self and otherB. Maximize agreement between self and othere.g. A: English is a difficult language to learn.B1: Yes, definitely.B2: Well, I don’t think so.B1 is polite while B2 is impolite.(6) Sympathy maxim: A. Minimize antipathy between self and otherB. Maximize sympathy between self and othere.g. a) I’m terribly pleased to hear that your cat died.b) I’m terribly sorry to hear about your cat’s death.(a) Is impolite while (b) is polite.So it can be seen that Leech’s PP mainly concerns the relationship between two participants, self and other. Self is normally identified with the speaker while other refers not only to the hearer, but also to the third parties designated by third-person pronouns because speakers also show politeness to those who may not be involved in the conversation.Politeness is reflected on the maximization of benefit to other and minimization of benefit to self.According to Leech, not all the maxims are equally impor tant, “politeness is focused more strongly on other than on self”. (Leech, 1983: 133)Within each maxim, the sub-maxim (A) is more important than sub-maxim (B); alternatively speaking, negative politeness (avoidance of discord) is more important than positive politeness (seeking concord).IV. Violation of CP out of PolitenessLeech:People deliberately violate cooperative principle out of consideration for politeness.(1) A: We’ll all miss Bill and Agatha, won’t we?B: Well, we’ll all miss Bill.In (1), B deliberately violates the maxim of Quantity by offering insufficient information (He doesn’t mention whether they will miss Agatha or not). B’s implicature is “We won’t all miss Agatha”. B avoids direct speech out of consideration for politeness.(2) Parent: Someone’s eaten the icing off the cake.Child: It wasn’t me.Parent deliberately flouts the maxim of Manner (i.e. Avoid obscurity) by substituting someone for the second person you. This indirect way of speaking makes criticism less direct, saving the face of the child.V. Humor Created by Flouting PP Maxims(1) A boastful American from Texas was being shown the sight of London by a taxi driver “What's the building there?” asked the American. “That's the Tower of London, sir,” replied the taxi driver. “Say, we can put up buildings like that in two weeks.” drawled the American. A little while later he said, “And what's that building we are passing now?” “That’s Buckingham Palace, sir, where the Queen lives.” “Is that so?” said the American. “Do you know back in Texas we could build a palace like that in a week?” A few minutes later, they were passing Westminster Abbey. The American asked again, “Hey, cabby, what’s that building over there?” “I am afraid I don't know, sir,” replied the taxi -driver. “It wasn’t there this morning.”Here, the humor is produced by violating the Approbation Maxim & Modesty Maxim. According to these two maxims, when communicating, the participants should minimize dispraise of other and praise of self. However, the American boasts of his own country while debasing the tax driver’s (UK).The unhappy taxi driver countera ttacks the American’s impolite speech by following his manner of speaking (boastful and self-praised) sarcastically, thus resulting in humor.(2) Mike: How do you spell it?Carol: Why should I tell you how to spell it?Mike: Because I asked you.Carol: I thought you didn’t want to know things from me.Mike: I mean I’m trying to do you a favor here by finding a use for your brain. I don’t know why you turn on me like a wild dog?(Episode 103, Growing Pains —an American sitcom ) Mike’s remark “I am trying to do you a favor here by finding a use for your brain” has violated Approbation and Modesty Maxims, which require us to avoid dispraising others or praising self. If people violate modesty maxim, they would look arrogant and might create a humorous effect.This phenomenon of language use is often found between those in close relationship such as the family members and intimate friends.(3) In Episode 101 of Home with Kids, the father Xiao Donghai takes Xiao Xue home for the first time. Here is the dialogue between Liu Mei and them.Liu Mei: Come on, Xiao Xue, take more shrimps.(来，小雪，大虾，多吃点啊！)Xiao Xue: It is nice for people to take less.(但正确的观念是让人少吃点！)Donghai: This is your first day here. Your mother cooked the food just for you.(你这不是第一天来吗，这可是妈妈为迎接你专门做的。