Knowra Politeness Politeness Politeness is language and behavior that show consideration for others and help maintain social relations. Its forms depend on cultural expectations and social context.
Face (sociology) : A person’s socially valued public self-image, maintained through interaction. Polite acts protect the public self-image people present in social encounters.
Pragmatics : The study of how context shapes meaning in language use. Polite meaning depends on context beyond the literal words spoken.
Impoliteness : Language or behavior that attacks, disregards, or fails to protect social expectations and face. It shows what happens when interaction damages rather than supports social relations.
Apology : An expression acknowledging responsibility or regret for an offense or harm. Apologies use politeness to repair strained social relations.
Face-threatening act : An act that risks damaging someone’s public self-image or freedom of action. Requests, criticism, and refusals can threaten face, prompting polite mitigation.
Sociolinguistics : The study of how language varies and functions in social life. Social identities and relationships shape which forms count as polite.
Political correctness : Language practices intended to avoid disadvantaging or offending groups, especially marginalized groups. It concerns contested norms of public language, not politeness in every interaction.
Requests : Attempts to get another person to perform an action or provide something. Request wording balances the speaker’s goal against the imposition on the recipient.
Speech act : An utterance that performs an action, such as promising, requesting, or apologizing. Politeness often changes how a speech act is phrased without changing its basic purpose.
Deference : Behavior or language that shows respect for another person’s status or authority. Deference is one social stance that politeness can express.
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