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The Principles of Politeness

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Theoretical Framework

3. The Principles of Politeness

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it will be. And the otherwise, if the speech is done more indirectly, the speech will be considered polite.

4. Authority scale, this scale shows the social status relationship between the speaker and the interlocutor. This means that the farther the social rank distance between the speaker and the speech interlocutor, the more polite the speech will be. While, the closer the social rank between the two, the more disrespectful the speech ranking will be.

5. Social distance scale, shows the ranking of social status relationships between speakers and speech partners. This means that the closer the social distance between the two, the more impolite the speech will be.

However, the farther the social distance between the two, the more polite the speech will be.

(1) Tact maxim, (2) Generosity maxim, (3) Approbation maxim, (4) Modesty maxim, (5) Agreement maxim, and (6) Symphaty maxim.

3.1. Tact Maxim

On this principle, Leech defined “Minimize cost to other, maximize benefit to other” (Leech, 1983: 132). The purpose of this maxim of tact shows that the principle of politeness in language that must be fulfilled by every speaker is to minimize the benefit of oneself and provide greater benefits to the interlocutor.

Example:

a. Host : “Please just eat first, son! We have all gone before.”

Guest : “Wow, I'm not feeling well, ma'am.”

Context:

That is spoken by a mother to a young child who was visiting the mother's house. At that time, he had to stay at the mother's house until the evening because the rain was very heavy and did not stop soon.

(Source: Rahardi, 2005: 60) In speech (a) it is very clear that the host maximizes profits for Guests and minimizes profits for herself. This can be seen in the host's speech “Please just eat first, son! We have all gone before”. The host invites Guests who are at home to eat food first as an effort so that the food served is worthy of being accepted and enjoyed by Guests. This speech is commonly used by Javanese in rural communities with the term "dinak-nakke" (Rahardi, 2005: 60).

3.2. Generosity Maxim

Generosity maxim, the principle emphasized by Leech (1983: 132) is

“Minimize benefit to self, maximize cost to self”. The principle of politeness in

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this maxim explains that each speaker must increase the harm to theirself, so that they can provide greater benefits to others.

Example:

b. Brother : “Sister, You know that the Indosiar movie is good, now!”

Sister : “Wait a minute, brother. I‟ll turn on the power line first.”

Context:

Spoken by a brother to his sister in a family, they are talking about a certain program on a television private.

(Source: Rahardi, 2005: 62) In speech (b) it can be seen that the sister maximizes the profit to the brother and increases the loss to herself. This can be seen in the actions taken by the younger sister voluntarily to turn on the television channel so that the older brother can see the movie. This situation is a positive thing because good family relationships must help each other to show respect and polite to each other (Rahardi, 2005: 62).

3.3. Approbation Maxim

Approbation maxim shows the principle of politeness by adhering to the principle of “Minimize dispraise of other, maximize praise of other” (Leech, 1983: 132). The purpose of this principle is that every speaker will be considered polite if in speaking as much as possible the speaker gives praise to the interlocutor.

Example:

c. Lecture A : “Sir, I just started my first lecture for Business English class.”

Lecturer B : “Oh yeah, I heard your English very clearly from here.”

Context:

Spoken by a lecturer to his friend who is also a lecturer in a lecturer's office at a university.

(Rahardi, 2005: 63) In the example of speech (c) it is clear that the statement made by lecturer A was responded very well by lecturer B accompanied by giving praise to lecturer A. This shows that the speech made by lecturer B has fulfilled the principle of politeness in language in the approbation maxim (Rahardi, 2005: 63).

3.4. Modesty Maxim

In this Modesty maxim, the politeness principle that must be fulfill is

“Minimize praise of self, maximize dispraise of self” Leech, 1983: 132). This principle means that every speaker should be able to reduce the praise of theirself as well as possible.

Example:

d. Secretary A : “Sist, the meeting will be opened with a prayer first, ok!

Please, you lead!”

Secretary B : “Yes, Sist. But, I'm ugly, you know.”

Context:

Spoken by a secretary to another secretary who is still juniors when they work together in their study.

(Source: Rahardi, 2005: 64) In speech (c) it appears that secretary A is trying as much as possible to be humble by asking secretary B who is still a junior to lead the meeting, even though secretary A is more senior. Then secretary B also answered humbly by saying "Yes, Sist. But, I'm ugly, you know" even though secretary A actually has the ability to lead prayers well (Rahardi, 2005: 64).

3.5. Agreement Maxim

The maxim of agreement in the principle of politeness emphasizes that

“Minimize disagreement between self and other, maximize agreement between

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self and other” (Leech, 1983: 132). The meaning of this maxim is that in speaking, every speaker must be able to maximize mutual agreement rather than disagreement.

Example:

e. Noni : “Yun, tonight, let's eat together, okay!”

Yuyun : “Oke, I'll wait at Bambu Restaurant.”

Context:

Spoken by a student to her friend who is also a student when they are in the teacher's room.

(Source: Rahardi, 2005: 65) In speech (e), it can be seen that Noni and Yuyun have spoken according to the politeness principle in the Agreement maxim. This can be seen when Yuyun agreed to noni's invitation to have dinner together (Rahardi, 2005: 65).

3.6. Symphaty Maxim

The last principle of politeness is the sympathy maxim. In this maxim, Leech emphasizes that every speaker must “Minimize antipathy between self and other, maximize sympathy between self and other” (Leech, 1983: 132). The purpose of this politeness principle is that every speaker must be able to give as much sympathy as possible to the interlocutor.

Example:

f. Ani : “Tut, my grandmother has passed away.”

Tuti : “Innalillahiwainnailaihi rojiun, deep condolences.”

Context:

Spoken by an employee to other employees who are already in close contact when they are in their workspace.

(Source: Rahardi, 2005: 66) In the speech example (f) it appears that the speaker has fulfilled the sympathy maxim in the principle of language politeness. This can be seen from

Tuti's response "Innalillahiwainnailaihi rojiun, deep condolences" when she heard Ani's statement that her grandmother had pass away as an expression of sympathy for her co-workers (Rahardi, 2005: 66).

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