语用学

PolitenessPrincipleandanalysisofitsrelevantapplication刘阳子[摘要]在现代语用学理论当中，合作原则和礼貌原则是两个主要的理论。为了“拯救”和补充合作原则，英国语言学家利奇提出了礼貌原则这个理论。他自己罗列出了相关的六项关于礼貌原则的准则，为了尽可能详细的阐明礼貌原则。后来提出的“脸面理论”同样是也是关于礼貌的相关理论。实际上，在日常交际过程中，我们对他人所表现出来的礼貌都可以说是为了保护自己的面子。我们首先将简单介绍这三个理论，然后会就礼貌原则在两个领域的应用来展开分析讨论。通过对礼貌原则在英语商业信函和委婉语的使用的应用的介绍，我们能更好的掌握了解礼貌原则。关键字：合作原则；礼貌原则；英语商业信函；委婉语[Abstract]CooperativePrincipleandPolitenessPrinciplearetwomajortheoriesinmodernpragmatics.PolitenessPrinciplewasproposedbyLeech,aBritishlinguist,whosaidthathewastorescuetheCooperativePrincipleandmakeanadditiontoit.LeechhadlistedsixmaximsbyhimselftodohisbesttoilluminatethePolitenessPrincipleindetail.Also,facetheory,istherelevantprincipleintermsof“politeness”.Actually,wejustwanttosaveourfaceindailycommunicationwhenweshowourpolitenesstoothers.Wewillintroducethesethreetheoriesfirstly,thentheapplicationofonthethreetheories—PolitenessPrinciple—willbetalkedabout.Examplesintwofieldswillbegiventoexplaintherelevantapplication.WecanlearnmoreaboutPolitenessPrinciplethroughtheexplanationoftheanalysisofPPinEnglishbusinesslettersandeuphemisms.Keywords:CooperativePrinciple;PolitenessPrinciple;Englishbusinessletter;euphemismTheOxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionaryexplainsthatpolitenessis“havingorshowingthatonehasgoodmannersandrespectforthefeelingsofotherpeople”.Inthefieldofpragmatics,manyscholarsandresearchershavepaidmuchattentiononpolitenesswhichisauniversallanguagephenomenon.Theyhaveworkedoutmanyresultsonit,buttheresearchisstillontheway.Here,wearegoingtotalkaboutatheorywhichiscalled“politenessprinciple’,producedbyG.Leech(1983).1.AboutPolitenessPrincipleBeforethePolitenessPrinciplewaspresentedbyG.Leech,CooperativePrinciple,anothertheorypresentedbyP.Grice,waswidelyusedbylanguagespeakers.SowecanfirstlyintroduceCooperativePrincipleasthewarm-upforPolitenessPrinciple.1.1Grice’sCooperativePrincipleInGrice’spaper“LogicandConversation”atHarvardUniversityin1967,heexplainedwhattheCooperativePrincipleis.Hethinksthatnaturallanguagesarejustasgoodasspeciallogicsystemsformakingprecisestatements;theassumptionthatnaturallanguageexpressionsdivergefromthelogicaldevicesisitselffaultyandthatthefaultyarisesfromaninadequateattentiontothenatureandimportanceoftheconditionsgoverningconversation.GriceborrowedfourcategoriesfromtheGermanphilosopherI.Kant,thefourcategoriesarequantity,quality,relationandmanner.AndthenGricemakecreativesummaryandobservedtheconversationalmaximsasfollow:QuantityMaxim:(1)Makeyourcontributionasinformativeasisrequired(forthecurrentpurposeoftheexchange).(2)Donotmakeyourcontributionmoreinformativethanisrequired.Forexample:—Excuseme,couldyoutellmewhattimeisit?—It’steno’clock,fifteenminutes,twentysecondsandintheyear2015.Here,wecanseethelistenerwantstoknowthetime,butthespeakertellshimtheveryexacttimewhichwillmakethelistenerconfused.Thespeakermakeshiscontributionmuchmoreinformativeandtellsthelistenersomeunnecessaryinformation.So,thespeakerviolatesthemaximofquantity.QualityMaxim:Trytomakeyourcontributiononethatistrue.(1)Donotsaywhatyoubelievetobefalse.(2)Donotsaythatforwhichyoulackadequateevidence.Forexample:—John,doyouknowwheretheNo.1MiddleSchoolis?—Itisattheendofthestreet.Intheconversationwementionabove,themaximofqualityisobserved.JohndoesnotcontributewhathebelievestobefalseandwhatJohnsaysisfullyunderstood.Johnknowswheretheschoolisandhedirectlytellsthelocationoftheschoolthatiscorrectwhatthespeakerwants.RelationMaxim:Berelevant.Themaximofrelationistoshowthattheanswerandthequestionofthesentencesinthecontextarerelatedwitheachother.—Doyouwantanothercoffee?—Theappletastesdelicious!Here,wecanseethesecondonewhoanswersthefirstonfloutthemaximofrelation,hedoesnotanswertherightquestionofthefirstone.Thefirstonewanttoknowwhetherthesecondonwantanothercoffeeornot,butthesecondongivestheanswerwhichisaboutwhathethinksofanapplehehasjusteaten.MannerMaxim:(1)Beperspicuous.(2)Avoidobscurityofexpression.(3)Avoidambiguity.(4)Bebrief(avoidunnecessaryprolixity)Beorderly.—Let’sgetthekidssomething.—Okay,butIvetoI-C-E-C-R-E-A-M-S.Thesecondspeakerostentatiouslyinfringesthemaximofmannerbyspellingoutthewordice-creamsandtherebyconveystothefirstspeakerthatthesecondspeakerwouldrathernothaveice-creammentioneddirectlyinthepresenceofthechildren,incasetheyaretherebypromptedtodemandsome.Grice’sCooperativePrinciplehasplayedanimportantroleinmodernpragmatics,andafterhim,manyotherlinguistsformulatednewprinciples,oneofwhichisLeech’sPolitenessPrinciple.Inourdailycommunication,CooperativePrinciplecanmakeourconversationgosmoothly.Infact,thoseconversationswhichflouttheCooperativePrincipleinvolvesmanyimpliedmeanings,whichwascalledconversationimplicature.PolitenessPrinciplewasjustpresentedtoimproveCooperativePrinciple,wecanfindtheshadowofmannermaximinPolitenessPrinciple.1.2Leech’sPolitenessPrincipleGeoffreyLeech,oneofthemostimportantlinguistsintheworld,proposedthattherearesixmaximsthatareverysimilartotheCooperativePrincipleproposedbyGrice.Theyare:tact,generousness,approbation,modesty,agreement,andsympathy.Tactandgenerousnesscanbesortedinapair,