Power behind Linguistic Behavior

Abstract

The present study examines the relative weight of three social factors: official rank, age, and gender in Chinese official settings and their role in the use of politeness strategies in Chinese verbal interaction. Analysis of linguistic features (directives, conflict talk, and decision making) from audiotaped official meetings leads to the following conclusions. First, the dominating factor that determines politeness behavior patterns in Chinese official settings is the power from one's official rank. The role ofgender and age, although important in the highly hierarchical Chinese society in many other settings (e.g., family environment), is reduced to the minimum. Second, positive and negative politeness strategies are used differently in Chinese culture from the way they are used in the West. Whereas both politeness strategies are present in Chinese language use, they are afunction of institutional power (as opposed to other types of power) in official settings.