The use of diminutives in expressing politeness. Modern Greek versus English  

Oleh:

Sifianou, M.

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Journal of Pragmatics: An Interdiciplinary Journal of Language Studies vol. 17 no. 2 (Feb. 1992), page 155 - 174.

Ketersediaan

Perpustakaan PKBB Nomor Panggil: 405/JPR/17 Non-tandon: tidak ada Tandon: 1

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Isi artikel

This paper investigates the function of diminutives in English and in Greek. It is pointed out that Greek, as compared to English, shows greater flexibility in the formation of diminutives and higher frequency of occurrence. Although the prototypical function of diminutives is to indicate smallness, they are used extensively to indicate endearment and affection. The pragmatic functions of diminutives and the related lexical item liyo 'a little' are investigated in a variety of contexts. It is argued that, at least in Greek, such linguistic elements serve as markers of friendly, informal politeness. Furthermore, it is shown that the notion of imposition is assessed differently in the two societies, and that Brown and Levinson's arguments to the effect that such elements minimize impositions are rather unconvincing. In Greek, impositions are minimized by other means; the use of diminutives mainly serves to establish or reaffirm a solidary framework for the interaction. The conclusion drawn from the differences observed is that they reveal different underlying cultural norms and values: a preference for distance and formality in English, versus a tendency for intimacy and informality in Greek.

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