A Critical Study Of The Politeness Principle In The Light Of Adaptation Theory

Politeness phenomena are universal in all languages but the connotation of politeness varies from language to language. Interlocutors always incline to adopt the politeness strategies of their own to produce and interpret utterances in communication and this often leads to misunderstanding and failure. The pragmatic study of politeness is initiated by Lakoff, who proposes that there are two prior rules of pragmatic competence: "Be clear" and "Be polite". Brown and Levinson hold a face-saving view of politeness. According to them, to be polite is to save face, or to use redressive strategies to reduce the threat to face. Face consists of positive face, the want to be appreciated and approved of by others, and negative face, the want to be unimpeded by others. Geoffrey Leech introduces his Politeness Principle (PP) in Principles of Pragmatics. He argues that politeness is realized by the observance of six maxims: the Tact Maxim, the Generosity Maxim, the Approbation (or Flattery) Maxim, the Modesty Maxim, the Agreement Maxim, and the Sympathy Maxim. The Politeness Principle is criticized at home and abroad for the conflicts between its maxims, insufficient concern for the third party and insufficient consideration for situational and social constraints after the publication of Principles of Pragmatics. And Chinese linguists Gu Yueguo, Xu Shenghuan and Wang Jianhua put forth new theories of politeness in addition to some suggestions to revise the Politeness Principle, which make up the inadequacies of the Politeness Principle to some extent. However, due to the confinement of their angles of view, these theories only come down to partial factors that function in politeness phenomena. Therefore, the inadequacies of the Politeness Principle remain unsolved.Politeness and the Politeness Principle are to be explored in the light of Adaptation Theory in this paper. A comprehensive study of politeness phenomena is made to demonstrate the adaptability of politeness: the appropriateness of the intended politeness is not absolute but subject to the adaptation to dynamic context in communication. Politeness is an option in the process of adaptation and it can only be...