Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. Vol. 2. Eger Journal of English Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 26)

Studies - Ágnes Deli: Cognition and politeness

REALIZATIONS Tell me if you are a decisive person. Are you a decisive person? You are a decisive person, aren 't you ? So you are a decisive person. I think you are a decisive person. I'm sure you are a decisive person. You are a decisive person. Figure E What is the reason for the principle: the less straightforward the form the more polite the utterance? Why are utterances at the the bottom of the realization list considered much less intrusive than the interrogative at the top? For the politeness feature of the interpersonal meaning of declarative elicitations I propose the following explanation: The 'default' function of a declarative is that of a statement. In conversation comments on statements are usually optional. When the speaker asks the addressee in a form which is less straightforward than an interrogative, he also offers a choice, which can be regarded a face saving act. The utterance 6. I think you are a decisive person when used as an initiation leaves it to the addresse whether or not he wants to reply. The force of the compellation here is rather weak, as there is no "blockage" realized in a lexico-grammatical sign, the only barrier being the signal of the hypothesis: I think. Straightforward questions, i.e. interrogatives, on the other hand, offer no choice, they have a very strong compelling force, therefore they clearly are FTA's. The interrogatives 7. Are you a decisive person? STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS UNSTRAIGHTFORWARDNESS 7T 7T 97