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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
politeness principle
I got this question from my teacher, but I am confused. Could someone please help me to interpret it?
"How would you interpret Brown and Levison's politeness principle through the native speaker's choice between thouing and yeing?"
(thouing - to use the familiar pronoun (thou, tu, du); yeing - to use the forman pronoun (Ye, Vos, Sie))
I do not know what principles she has in her mind. Lakoff had politeness principles, B&L had politeness theory, or am I mistaken?
"How would you interpret Brown and Levison's politeness principle through the native speaker's choice between thouing and yeing?"
(thouing - to use the familiar pronoun (thou, tu, du); yeing - to use the forman pronoun (Ye, Vos, Sie))
I do not know what principles she has in her mind. Lakoff had politeness principles, B&L had politeness theory, or am I mistaken?
Top answer
Is your teacher saying that native speakers of English use 'thou' and 'ye'?
- Is your teacher saying that native speakers of English use 'thou' and 'ye'?
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17 Answers
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Is your teacher saying that native speakers of English use 'thou' and 'ye'?
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No, no, no!
It is about Hungarian native speakers! I use 'thou' and 'ye' in a specific sense, I use them as the equivalents of the Hungarian terms.
It is about Hungarian native speakers! I use 'thou' and 'ye' in a specific sense, I use them as the equivalents of the Hungarian terms.
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So you are posting a question about Hungarian on an English-language Forum?
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Yes, but I think the point is what principles could she have in mind? What are those principles? So I do not wait for answers to her question, but mine.
I had to write an essay in English and she asked me this question.
I am not sure about the proper translation of some English terms, but I know what they mean in English, that is why I asked it on an English-language forum.
I had to write an essay in English and she asked me this question.
I am not sure about the proper translation of some English terms, but I know what they mean in English, that is why I asked it on an English-language forum.
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This link says that their theory is based on 3 principles.
http://spotcorner.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/examining-brown-and-levinsons-theory-o
http://spotcorner.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/examining-brown-and-levinsons-theory-o
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Thank you, Clive, I have seen this article but I do not think this is what I need.
I googled the term "politeness principle" but it was mentioned at the same page only with the name of Lakoff.
Brown and Levinson had "politeness theory" and I believe that is irrelevant for me now.
My teacher might have mixed up the names. But I did not write about Lakoff in my essay and that is the reas
I googled the term "politeness principle" but it was mentioned at the same page only with the name of Lakoff.
Brown and Levinson had "politeness theory" and I believe that is irrelevant for me now.
My teacher might have mixed up the names. But I did not write about Lakoff in my essay and that is the reas
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The words 'theory' and 'principle' are easily confused, and are in fact related.
eg Gravity was a theory initially, I suppose, but is now considered a principle.
Clive
eg Gravity was a theory initially, I suppose, but is now considered a principle.
Clive
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AnonymousMy teacher might have mixed up the names. But I did not write about Lakoff in my essay and that is the reason why I do not know what I should think about now.Check with your teacher.
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I see, thank you!
Well, I think she may have thought of these maxims: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politeness_maxims
So I wrote the name of the wrong linguist, it was not Lakoff, but Leech who wrote about politeness principles.
But I still do not really understand how these could be in
Well, I think she may have thought of these maxims: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politeness_maxims
So I wrote the name of the wrong linguist, it was not Lakoff, but Leech who wrote about politeness principles.
But I still do not really understand how these could be in
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AnonymousBut I still do not really understand how these could be interpreted through the Hungarian native speakers' choice between "thouing" and "yeing".Is this not to do with politeness strategies?
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