英語禮貌語言語法特點研究

[摘要]禮貌理論是語用學領域中的一個重要概念。禮貌語言的使用確保英語交際成功進行的一個重要因素。本文主要是對英語禮貌語言語法手段進行研究，以期為語用學禮貌研究和英語教學提供指導與幫助。

[關鍵詞]禮貌語言 語用學 語法特點

Introduction

When people come and do things together， each presents himself or herself to the other by acting out an image suitable to the situation.If people do things that damage self-image， their face is damaged. According to Brown and Levinson(1987)， face is something that is emotionally invested， and that can be lost， maintained， or enhanced， and must be constantly attended to in interaction.

Brown and Levinson(1987) construe face as consisting of two specific desires or face-wants: negative face and positive face. Negative face means people’ s desire that they be free to do things and that others’will be not imposed on them. Positive face means that their wants be considered desirable and appreciated. Nowadays，the use of polite language is an important sign of social civilization and advancement. In the following part， we will make a detailed analysis of the grammatical features of English polite language.

Grammatical Features

1.The use of Tense and Aspect

(1)Simple Past Tense. Simple Past Tense can be used with verbs expressing volition or mental state to reflect the tentative attitude of the speaker， rather than past time.

e.g. 2-1

A: Did you want to see me?

B: Yes， I wondered if you could help me.

The speaker and the hearer of this conversation comply with the Tact Maxim and try to minimize cost to each other. Although they are talking about the present time， they both use Simple Past Tense， postponing their desire in the past. Thus， each of them has the freedom of regretting and refusing in order to preserve their negative face.

(2)Present Progressive. The term aspect refers to a grammatical category which reflects the way in which the verb action is regarded or experienced with respect to time. Unlike tense， aspect is not deictic， in the sense that it is not relative to the time of utterance (Quirk et al. 1985). The Progressive Aspect indicates a happening in progress at a given time. Temporariness is one of the characteristics of the Progressive Aspect. For example， “Jane is singing well” indicates it is a temporary rather than a permanent phenomenon. In the sentence “Jane was singing well”， the Progressive Aspect makes us see the event as enduring over a period rather than happening all the time.

Verbs such as wish， wonder， think， hope， etc， occur with Present Progressive when temporariness or tentativeness is being emphasized. In this way， the tone is moderated and the speaker can show modesty and politeness. For example.

e.g. 2-2

I am hoping to borrow some money.

This request possesses the characteristics of temporariness. It is a temporary idea which may end in any time. The request is not the result and has been thought carefully by the speaker for a period. The speaker complies with Leech’s Tact Maxim by minimizing cost to the hearer and leaves a leeway for the hearer to disagree or refuse， so even if the request is refused， it doesn’ t threaten anyone’s face.

(3)Past Progressive. Verbs such as wish， wonder， think， hope， etc， can also be used with Past Progressive， which can be regarded as a combination of Present Progressive and the attitudinal past， to emphasize temporariness and tentativeness. For example，

e.g. 2-3

I was hoping we could have dinner together.

Since Past Progressive indicates both temporariness and the past， the utterance exerts no obligation on either party. This is in accordance with Leech’s Tact Maxim—minimize cost to other.

(4)Future Progressive. Compared with Present Progressive and “be going to”， “will/ shall+be+V-ing”can be regarded the most polite way to make an inquiry， because Future Progressive possesses the least of subjective feelings and the emphasis is on people’s action not on their willingness. This is in accordance with Leech’s Tact Maxim—minimize cost to other. Consider the following utterances;

e.g. 2-4

a. Will you be visiting us?

b. Will you visit us?

The first utterance puts emphasis on the event itself， so it won’ t threaten the hearer’s face even if the hearer replies “No”， whereas the speaker of the second utterance asks about the willingness of the hearer， so the hearer’s negative face will be threatened if the hearer gives a negative answer.

2.The use of Passive Voice. Passive Voice can be used as expressions of politeness， because it puts emphasis on the thing rather than on the doer. For example.

e.g. 2-5

a. Turn in the paper tomorrow， if you can.

b. Turn in the paper tomorrow， if it can be done.

The first utterance stresses “you”， whereas the second one emphasizes “it”， minimizing the expression of beliefs which imply cost to others and avoiding threatening the hearer’s negative face. This is also in accordance with Leech’s Tact Maxim.

3.The use of negative clause. Negative clause can be divided into two categories: partial negation and complete negation. In our daily communication， we tend to use partial negation instead of complete negation for the purpose of politeness. For example，

e.g. 2-6

a. I don’ t like Chinese food very much.

b. I don’ t like Chinese food.

The first utterance is milder than the second in tone， and the first speaker complies with Leech’s Approbation Maxim， trying to minimize the expression of beliefs which express dispraise to others.

Besides， transferred negation can also be used as a polite communicative technique. For example， “I don’ t think he is a good teacher” is milder in tone than “I think he is not a good teacher”.

4.The use of conditional clause. Conditional clause can be used to make suggestions more tentative and people feel comfortable to hear that. For example，

e.g. 2-7

It would be nice if you helped me a little with the housework.The speaker is actually saying “Help me with the housework”， but he complies with Leech’s Tact Maxim and tries to minimize cost to the hearer. He uses conditional clause to add subjunctive mood to this request. In theory， if the speaker gives a positive response， he still doesn’ t have to shoulder any responsibility.

Conclusion

In the present study， we only study grammatical features in polite language. Actually， there are many other features which are common in polite communication， such as the use of phonological techniques， lexical devices， rhetorical devices， body language， and so on. But the most important is that we as teachers should teach students how to use these devices properly in our daily lives according to the actual context and there is amount of room for us to further study English polite language.

Bibliography

[1]Brown，G. S. C. Levinson. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Use [M]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press， 1987.

[2]Leech， G. N. Principles of Pragmatics [M]. London: Longman， 1983.

[3]Quirk， R. G. et al. A Comprehensive Grammar of English Language[M]. London: Longman， 1985.

[4]何兆熊.新編語用學概要[M].上海：上海外語教育出版社，2000.

[5]何自然.語用學與英語學習[M].上海：上海外語教育出版社，1997.