Politeness in interaction: A discourse approach to Japanese politeness markers

Previous studies described politeness as a function of several social variables such as power and social distance. As a result, their illustration of politeness remained static and categorical, and they failed to account for the varied dynamic enactments of politeness in connected discourse. Contrary to these static views, this study adopts a process-oriented discourse approach to linguistic politeness. It describes politeness phenomena situated in the naturally-occurring discourse of multi party interactions.; By examining spoken discourse gathered in six faculty meetings at Japanese secondary schools, this study describes (1) how a limited number of politeness markers (the final particle ne, the connective particle kedo, and the plain and masu forms of clause-final predicates) create various interpersonal functions, and (2) how multiple politeness markings are integrated in discourse.; This study depicts a set of sequential factors affecting politeness. It describes how the core linguistic properties of markers interact with various sequential factors as well as situational variables to create politeness in interaction. It also illustrates the cumulative, multilayered, and interactional nature of multiple politeness markings. Various politeness functions coexist, accumulate, and interact with one another to create layers of politeness that attend to different face wants involved in talk.; This study also illustrates that the participants' face wants interact and influence each other in a moment-by-moment fashion as the conversation unfolds. In addition, one type of face want may entail another. These observations lead to a new conceptualization of the interactants' negative and positive face, not as opposing notions, but as a web of intersecting dimensions.; Furthermore, this study contributes to the discussion of social index vs. strategic politeness. By examining the diverse and combined uses of plain and masu forms, this study suggests that the social indexical meaning of a marker can be the basis of its strategic use.; The discourse analytic microanalysis adopted in this study reveals an interactive, multilayered view of politeness. Relating the linguistic properties of markers to their interpersonal functions, it also contributes to the growing field of inquiry investigating the relationship between grammar and interaction, and grammar and pragmatics.