1、A Pragmatic Study on Politeness Principle,2015级外国语言学及应用语言学,1. A Brief Review of Grices Cooperative Principle(CP)2. Introduction to Politeness Principle(PP) and its Application in Legal English Texts3. Relationship between PP & CP4. Face Theory,Grice noticed that in daily conversation people do not u
2、sually say things directly but tend to imply them.A basic underlying assumption we make when we speak to one another is that we are trying to cooperate with one another to construct meaningful conversation. -Grices “Logic and Conversation”(1975),The Cooperative Principle,Make your conversational con
3、tribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.使你所说的话，在其所发生的阶段，符合你所参与的交谈的公认目标或方向。,In other words, we speakers try to deliver meaningful, productive utterances to further the conversation. It then foll
4、ows that: as listeners, we assume that our conversational partners are doing the same.Therefore, listeners and speakers must speak cooperatively and mutually accept one another to be understood in a particular way.,Four Maxims of CP,1.The Maxim of Quality(质量准则):Do not say what you believe to be fals
5、e or for which you lack adequate evidence.2.The Maxim of Quantity (数量准则): Make your contribution as informative as is required, but not more, or less, than is required.,3.The Maxim of Relation (关联准则):Be relevant.4.The Maxim of Manner (方式准则):Be clear, brief and orderly.Avoid obscurity and ambiguity,I
6、ntroduction to Leechs Politeness Principle,1.What is politeness or polite?(1)In Chinese, its equivalent is “礼貌”.(2)In Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary, POLITE is defined as “1. Having or showing that one has good manners and consideration for other people; 2. (typical) of a superi
7、or class in society; refined.,In other words, politeness can be understood as a social phenomenon, a means to achieve good interpersonal relationships, and a norm imposed by social conventions. So it is phenomenal, instrumental and normative by nature.,2.Main Content of PPMinimize(other things being
8、 equal) the expression of impolite beliefs and maximize(other things being equal) the expression of polite beliefs.,In other words, other things being equal, minimize the expression of beliefs which are unfavorable to the hearer and at the same time(but less important) maximize the expression of bel
9、iefs which are favorable to the hearer.在其他情况都相同的情境下，尽量把不礼貌的信念减到最弱，把不利于听话人或第三者的话语略去不说，或者以一种委婉、间接地方式表达出来。,The Six Maxims of PP,1.Maxim of Tact (得体准则) (a) Minimize cost to other; 尽量让他人少受损(b) Maximize benefit to other; 尽量让他人多受益,2.Maxim of Generosity (慷慨准则) (a) Minimize the benefit to self; 尽量让自己少获利 (b)
10、Maximize the cost to self; 尽量让自己多吃亏,Actually, the two maxims talk about the same point in specific conversational situation. However, the former pays more attention to the hearer in the conversation while the latter mainly talks about the speaker oneself.,Some examples:(1)Have some more cookies.(Tac
11、t)(2)Have a good rest at home, if you do not feel well.(Tact)(3)Is there anything I can do for you?(Generosity)(4)Can I help you?(Generosity),“得体”和“慷慨”准则常用于指令或承诺功能。而涉外法律英语函电常常涉及律师、律师事务所与客户或当事人的权利和义务，在一方要求另一方承诺做某事或其中一方承诺做某事时，一般就要使用这两条准则。例如：It is our intention to enter into a written agreement wherein
12、 out-side counsel will receive a portion of the attorneys fees due to this firm in the event that we prevail on the case.（我们愿意与所外律师达成书面协议，如果我们胜诉，他们将从我们应得的律师费中提取一部分收入。）,3. Maxim of Approbation (赞扬准则) (a) Minimize dispraise of others; 尽量少贬损他人(b) Maximize praise of others. 尽量多赞美他人,It is easy for us to
13、understand that saying something good about others is much more polite than saying something bad. If you are in a situation that you have to say something bad about others, saying it indirectly seems to be more polite. In other words, you should imply your dispraise rather than speak it out badly.,F
14、or example:A: Do you like the bread I brought for you?B:(1) Not really! (2) Yes, I do. I love it very much.Obviously, the (2) is much more polite than the (1) .,4. Maxim of Modesty (谦逊准则)(a) Minimize praise of self; 尽量少赞赏自己(b) Maximize dispraise of self. 尽量多贬损自己,Example to illustrate this maxim:A: Y
15、ou are a gifted singer!B:(1) Of course I am! (2) Thank you for your praise, but I think I still have to make great efforts.Obviously, (2) is much more polite than (1),赞扬准则和谦逊准则要求人们在对话中尽力夸大对他人的赞扬，缩小对他人的贬损；同时要夸大对自己的贬损，缩小对自己的赞扬。在涉外法律英语函电中，当一方感谢另一方做了某事或谦虚地为对方做了某事情，就能很好地体现这两条准则。例如：Thank you for your assi
16、stance in bringing this matter to an amicable resolution.(对于你方为妥善解决此事所提供的帮助表示感谢。),“赞扬”和“谦逊”准则还体现在称呼语、结束语以及信尾的一些常用客套话中，如：Dear Sir or Madam, Sincerely yours, Yours truly等。又如：To remedy our omission, and as a testament to our appreciation of your business, we are going to mark your first three months of
17、 legal service free of charge.(为了弥补我们的疏漏，并表示我们对您惠顾的感激，我们将免费为您提供前三个月的法律服务。),在上面这个例子中，写信人一方面对客户的惠顾表示感谢，另一方面又以向对方提供免费服务来弥补工作中的失误。一方面感谢了对方，一方面又要为对方做些事情，很好地体现了“赞扬”和“谦逊”准则。,5. Maxim of Agreement (赞同准则)(a)Minimize disagreement between self and others; 尽量减少双方的分歧(b)Maximize agreement between self and others;
18、 尽量增加双方的共识,For example:Tom: This is a great restaurant, isnt it?Mary: (a)Not really! I do not like the food here. (b)Ill say.Obviously, (a) is less polite than (b),在涉外法律业务中，双方在利益和意见上难免会有不同或冲突，这就要求双方在一致原则下，尽量寻求利益的共同点，才能有利于纠纷或诉讼的解决。只有双方具备高度的合作精神，才能谋求共同利益的实现。例如：Upon receipt of the signed agreement and
19、the retainer fee, we will begin your representation and will contact ABC in regard to your products liability claims against them.(一旦收到你方签署的协议和聘请费，我们将开始代理你方，并且会就你方对ABC公司提起的产品诉讼一案跟他们联系。),6. Maxim of Sympathy (同情准则) (a)Minimize antipathy between self and others; 尽量减少双方的反感 (b)Maximize sympathy between
20、self and others； 尽量增加双方的同情,For example:A:I am terribly pleased to hear your cat died.B:I am terribly sorry to hear about your cat.A is forbidden in actual communication because it is completely impolite to the hearer. But it may be preferable to say B which minimizes antipathy between self and other
21、s and maximizes sympathy between self and others.,在法律英语函电中，当一方遭到损失时，另一方会诚挚地表示同情，从感情上拉近双方的距离，增进相互的理解，并以此建立良好的关系。例如：We regretted that you lost your wife in this accident and we will try our best to help you.（很遗憾，在这次事故中您失去了您的妻子，我们将尽力给您提供法律帮助。）,Summary,Relationship between PP&CP,Lecch claims that CP alo
22、ne cannot fully explain how people talk. It can only explain how conversational implicature is given rise to but it does not tell us why people do not say directly what they mean. That is, he claims that CP is insufficient to explain the indirectness in conversation.Therefore, he believed that “PP c
23、an be seen not just another principle to be added to the CP, but as its necessary complement which rescues the CP from serious trouble.”(Leech, 1983:80),Leech 用下面两个例子来说明CP是对PP的“必要的补充”：1. A: We will all miss Bill and Mary, wont we? B: Well, we will all miss BILL.2. C: Someones eaten the chocolate off
24、 the cake. D: It wasnt ME. (Leech, 1983:80)1中B只回答了A的问题的一半，显然违背了数量准则。B的言外之意是“我们不会想念Mary”。显然理解B的言外之意不能仅仅依靠CP，B完全可以接着说“ but not Mary”，则完全符合CP。但是如果是这样的话，就对Mary 没有礼貌。所以B是为了遵循PP才违背了CP。,2中是家长与孩子的对话。C并没有直接指责D，似乎D的辩解违背了相关准则。其实不然。C并不知道是谁吃了蛋糕上的巧克力，但怀疑是D。出于礼貌，C 没有直接指责D；他的话虽然符合质量准则。但不完全符合数量准则。D 理解C的言外之意是间接批评，因此才
25、声明自己没有吃。可以看出，D的话之所以似乎违背相关准则是因为它是在回答C的言外之意，而C的言外之意产生于“PP”（Leech，1983：81）。,Face Theory,1.Put forward by Brown and Levinson.2.Face, in pragmatics, is your public self-image. This is the emotional and social sense of self that every person has and expects everyone else to recognize or to claim for himse
26、lf. 3. Brown 和Levinson 将面子分为positive face(正面面子) 和negative face (负面面子)。,Positive face:the positive consistent self-image that people have and want to be appreciated and approved of by at least some other people.积极面子是指希望得到别人的赞同和肯定.,Negative face:the need to be independent and to have freedom from impo
27、sition; essentially the desire that wants your actions not be constrained or impeded by others.消极面子是指不希望别人强加于自己,自己的行为不受别人的干涉或阻碍或者是不因迁就别人而使自己感到丢面子.,4. Face-threatening act:the act that infringes on the hearers need to maintain his or her self-esteem.That is, if you say something that represents a thr
28、eat to another persons self-image, that is called a face-threatening act.,5. Face-saving act:the act that lessens the possible threat to anothers face.An indirect speech act, usually in the form of a question, can function as the face-saving act. For example: “Could you pass me that paper, please?”,Thank You for Your Attention,
