Politeness and Forms of Address

Abstract

The present paper considers the politeness of forms of address in terms of Brown & Levinson's (1987) theory of politeness. We present a conceptual analysis of the elements of politeness for six kinds of nominal address exchange and of the politeness expected for different categories of social relationship. These theoretical values are then compared to the politeness of address exchanges collected in a series of previous studies. The results of both the conceptual and empirical analyses are compatible with Brown & Levinson's assumption that negative politeness outweighs positive politeness. However, it appears that the formula for deriving the weightiness of face-threatening acts and hence politeness requires revisions that would give greater weight to status than to solidarity and incorporate the interaction of status and solidarity. We discuss the plausibility of the claim that negative politeness is more polite than positive politeness and consider the implications of our results for understanding the expression of solidarity and the relationship of affect to politeness.