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A study of Leech's
politeness principle in business
conversations
1. Introduction
1.1 research
background
In recent years, pragmatics
has a significant development, especially the
book
of
“
< br>Pragmatics
”
of
on
published
in
1983
and
the
“
Pragmatics
standard
”
of
Leech
’
s,
which
are
drawn
many
people
’
s
attention.
“
Pragm
atics
”
systematically evaluated all kinds of
theories of pragmatics till then.
“
Pragmatics
standard
”
set
up
the
new
principle
based
on
the
old
theory.
lt
is
the
Politenes
Principle.
“
Politeness
Principle
”
isn
’
t
set
up
by
Leech.
Before
him,
a
lot
of
linguists
and
sociologists
pay
attention
to
the
politeness
phenomenon
in
using
language.
For example, a
variety of languages have a proper appellation in
Chinese,such as
“
you and
you
”
.
In
the
early
fifty
’
s,
put
forward
the
“
face
”
problem
from
the
sociology angel. He said, in the
communication process, in the every hours and
moments,
people
are
involved
in
the
“
face
”
problem.
“
Face
”
is
one
of
the
standards of the
people
’
s behavior, is
involved in the people
’
s
behavior. On the
one
hand,
people
’
s
behavior
is
restrained
by
the
face.
On
the
other
hand,
we
expect
that
the
others
should
pay
more
attention
to
our
face.
“
Face
”
is
the
personal
sacred
and
private
property,
is
the
backbone
of
the
sense
of
security
and
happiness.
If
we
don
’
t
protect
the
face,
we
should
be
regarded
as
“
thick-
skinned
”
.
If
we
don
’
t
protect
the
other
’
s
face,
it
should
be
regarded
as
callous.
Goffman
said:
face
work,
is
working
with
each
other.
Lost
or
not
lost
the
face is just in the hand
of us. If we don
’
t want to
lose the face, the most insurance
way
is not hurt the other
people
’
s face. As a result,
in the conversation, as usual
we
belittle
you,
rise
up
the
others.
If
people
raise
up
themselves,
belittle
the
others, social
interaction will be magic.
The book of
the
“
Universal
language
”
is written by and
on
in
politeness
phenomenon
is
an
article
quoted
by
many
people.
They
investigated
the
politeness
phenomenon
in
English
and
indigenous
language
of
Mexico and a native
language in the south of India. They found that in
the three
unrelated cultures, the
politeness phenomenon is very similar in using
language.
They thought, the politeness
phenomenon in using language is not by accident,
but
a
common
phenomenon.
They
use
the
conception
of
“
Face
”
of
Goffman.
They
think people have two kinds of face, one is the
positive face, for example,we
would
like to be praised by the others of our own
character, occupation, hobbies
and
wearing.
The
other
is
the
negative
face,
for
example,
we
don
’
t
want
to
be
against
by
the
others
for
you,
property
and
freedom
of
action.
Therefore,
the
politeness behavior can
be classified two types, one is the positive
politeness, just
as we should meet the
positive requirements of the
other
’
s face(for example, we
should
praise
the
other
’
s
occupation,
position,
achievements,
appearance,
children
and
so
on),the
other
is
the
negative
politeness,
just
as
we
meet
the
opposite requirements of
the other
’
s face(for
example, try our best to defense the
others,
the
property
and
the
freedom
and
so
on).For
example,
the
sentence
“
What a nice garden
you
’
ve
got
”
and
“
I know
you
’
ve a warm-hearted
person
”
.
It
is
the
positive
politeness
behavior.
The
sentence
“
I
hate
to
trouble
you
like
this
,but......
”
and
“
Would
you
forgive
me
if......
”
.It
is
the
negative
politeness
behavior.
In
addition,
Brown
and
Levinson
argue
that
avoiding
to
be
outspoken
in
one
’
s face
directly, as a while, we can talk the words in a
fuzzy tone, let the others
judge
by
themselves.
For
example,
suggestion
method,
repeated
the
sentence
meaning and just
tell the standard instead of the brief things,
This is discussed
by the two
researchers. Leech
’
s
politeness principle is just on the basis of them.
1.2 The importance of this thesis
This thesis is mainly about the
politeness principle of
Leech
’
s.
In
today's
social
services,
high-quality
society,
politeness
is
a
indispensable
part
of
our
communication. Of course, so it is in
the business conversation. Politeness is the
symbol of the human civilization, is an
important yardstick of the human social
activities. As a kind of social
activity, language activities are also constrained
by
the criterion. In most cases, people
speak in communication process is decided by
the
people's
social
relations,
a
language
must
be
a
social
behavior
in
the
communication. We must consider the
various factors which can be accepted in
society,
use
the
appropriate
language,
avoid
impolite
words,
avoid
unnecessary
unhappiness
and
misunderstanding
in
communication.
As
a
result,
a
lot
of
researchers have did many research
about the politeness principle. On the basis
of
them,
I
just
do
my
best
to
explain
some
examples
to
let
the
reader
have
a
deeper
understanding about the politeness principle.
1.3 The structure of this thesis
The
politeness principle is the means and strategies
for successful session
essential, but
the use of different politeness principles plays a
pragmatic value in
different business
conversation.
This thesis is simple and
concise. This thesis focuses on the applicability
of Leech's politeness principle in
Business English conversation. This thesis can
be divided into three parts. The first
part is the introduction part, it is embodied
of
three
parts,
it
is
research
background,
the
importance
of
this
thesis,
the
structure of this thesis. The second
part is the origin and growth of the politeness
principle. The third part is the most
important part, it is
The politeness
principle
proposed by leech was used to
analyze business English conversation.
2.
The politeness principle
2.1 The origin of the politeness
principle
Politeness is the symbol of human
civilization, is an important yardstick of
human
social
activities.
Cooperative
principle
and
politeness
principle
is
the
premise
and the foundation of the success of the
conversation.
In
1967, American linguist Grice proposed the concept
of the cooperative
principle
in
the
conversation.
So
called
the
successful
communication
requires
the
participants
of
the
communication
should
cooperate
with
each
other.
As
a
result,
the
two
parts
should
follow
the
principle
in
the
conversation,
it
is
the
cooperative
principle.
It
requires
every
conversation
participants
in
the
whole
conversation process should conform to
the conversation goal or direction. Just
because of this, the partner can be
continued to make the meaningful language
communication.
If
we
can
obey
this
rule,
people
can
communicate
with
each
other
in a direct and efficient way. Grice summarized
the cooperative principle
as the maxim
of quantity (Quantity Maxim), quality
standards(Quality maxim),
(Relation
Maxim) standards and guidelines (Manner maxim).
Any violation of a
rule,
it
will
be
likely
leading
to
misunderstanding
or
making
a
joke.
If
the
violation
is intentional, sometimes it is the speaker's
implication, or it is in order
to
achieve the humorous effect. The speaker faced a
conflict, if you have to break
up
a
rule
,at
the
same
time,
you
have
to
break
up
the
other
rule.
The
conflict
often occurs in the
number of standards and quality standards.
The
politeness
principle
is
a
useful
complement
to
complete
the
conversation.
2.2 The growth of the politeness
principle
We have also studied the
cooperative principle, the next we will talk the
politeness principle.
Let
us
begin
with
an
example.
Why
do
people
not
say
directly
what
they
mean? Why, for
instance, do people say
“
Could you give me a
lift?
”
instead of
“
Give me a
lift
”
? In most cases, the
indirectness is motivated by considerations of
politeness. By using the form
“
Could you ...? Or
“
Can you
...?
”
in a request, the
hearer is given the alternative of
refusing, for inability to help is more excusable
than unwillingness to help. In fact not
only the speaker abides by politeness in his
speech, the hearer is also guided by
the politeness principle in his interpretation
of
utterances.
Leech
proposes
the
Politeness
Principle
as
a
supplement
to
the
cooperative
principle.
Leech
says
that
the
cooperative
principle
regulates
what
we
say
so
that
it
contributes
to
some
assumed
illocutionary
goals.
While
the
politeness
principle
helps
to
maintain
the
friendly
relations
which
enable
us
to
assume that our interlocutors are
cooperative in the first place. Leech formulates
his Politeness principle and its maxims
as follows:
(1)
Tact
Maxim.
The
communication
of
both
sides
of
the
speech
to
reduce
adverse
information
to
others.
To
comply
with
the
common
habits
and
psychological, don't let the others
feel uncomfortable. For example, We are much
concerned that your sales in recent
months have fallen considerably. We would
like to know what we can do to help.
.This sentence means that we not only to
pay attention to the others'
performance in the decline of their business , at
the
same
time,
it
is
obviously
that
we
are
pleased
to
supply
our
assistance
to
the
others. It is the implement of the tact
maxim.
(2)Generosity Maxim.
The communication of both sides of the speech to
reduce
Egocentric information, try to
let them get useful information from the covering
behavior and discourse information. For
example, On 8th May I submitted a bill
for services
rendered to
your office at the Lille International Exposition.
More
than a month has now elapsed
without payment or acknowledgment of my bill.
Please check this oversight, and remit
payment at your earliest, Thank you for
your
prompt
attention
to
this
matter.
Not
only
that
this
sentence
does
not
recognized
their
billing
and
payment
.At
the
same
time,
also
expressed
to
continue to provide service for the
other's desire and hope .When the payment,
reflects the generosity principle.
(3)
Approbation
Maxim
the speech delivered International
action to avoid belittle each other, and should
appreciate
each
other.
Otherwise,
easily
lead
to
communication
failure.
For
example,
thank
you
for
your
letter
of
May
6,
enclosing
an
account
of
the
organization
and
work
of
your
Chamber
of
Commerce
and
Industry.
We
are
very grateful for such a detailed
account of your activities. This
information is
certain to
help increase our future cooperation. Here is the
specification from the
others about the
work of the chamber of Commerce the organizational
structure,
to express the full
agreement for the other's help . We can get the
appreciation
from the others.
(4)
Modesty
Maxim.
To
try
to
be
modest
in
speech
communication
behavior.
Modest
including
be
patient
to
listening,
evaluated
myself
with
a
humble
and
low-
key
attitude,
don't
exaggerate
their
own
advantages,
to
ignore
or
conceal
their shortcomings.
For example
：
I would like to
call on you to discuss our new
monitor.
Would 8:30 on Tuesday, June 5 be convenient?
Humility in this sentence
said to Each
other to discuss the new monitor themselves, and
for each other at
eight thirty on June
5th is convenient, very friendly and polite.
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