- The document discusses the concepts of solidarity, politeness, and address terms from a linguistic perspective. - Historically, the use of "tu" versus "vous" in French indicated social relationships, with "vous" signaling respect between upper classes and asymmetry signaling power dynamics. Symmetrical use of address terms now indicates equality and familiarity. - Addressing someone by title, last name, or asymmetrically signals inequality, while mutual first names indicate equality and familiarity. The more powerful person usually initiates a switch to first names.

1. By: Kadri (1311202833)
Wahyu Lestari (1311202854)
SOLIDARITY and POLITENESS

2. • When we speak we have to make choices of many different
kinds: what to say, when to say it, how to say it.
• How we say something is as important as what we say.
Content and form are inseparable
• Some linguistics choices indicate the social relationship
between speaker and listener.

3. TU AND VOUS
• This distinction began as a difference between plural and
singular.
• IV century: the use of plural vous was to address the emperor.
There were two emperors: one in Constantinople and another
in Rome, but the Empire was administratively unified. By
addressing one, you were in fact addressing both emperors.
• As a consequence, the medieval upper classes began to use V-
forms among them to show mutual respect and politeness

4. • Lower classes used mutual T –forms .
• Upper classes used T to address lower classes, but received V
addressing.
• Asymmetrical T/V usage symbolized a power relationship.
• Symmetrical V usage became “polite” usage, spreading
downwards in society. It was used, for instance, between wife
and husband, parents and children and lovers.
• Symmetrical T usage showed intimacy. People using this for
had strong common interests, showed solidarity.

5. • Mutual T for solidarity gradually replaced mutual V for
politeness.
• Use of asymmetrical T/V decreased and mutual V was often
used in its place.
• Nowadays, the right to initiate the reciprocal T belongs to the
member of the dyad having the better power based claim to
say T without reciprocation – an interesting residual of the
power relation.
• If you cannot judge who has the power, settle for polite V
usage!
• But…once a pair of speakers decide on mutual T, it is
impossible to go back to either T/V or V/V usage.

6. ADDRESS TERMS
How do you address people?
By title?
By first name?
by last name?
by nickname?
By some combination of these?

7. Brown and Ford reported that:
• Asymmetrical use of title, last name and first name
indicated inequality in power.
• Mutual title, last name indicated inequality and
unfamiliarity.
• Mutual first name indicated equality and familiarity.
• Switch from mutual TFL to FN is usually initiated
by the most powerful member in the relationship.
• Address somebody by title is the least intimate form
of address in that titles usually designates ranks or
occupations.
• Using another’s first name is a sign of considerable
intimacy.

8. Is the address process symmetrical or asymmetrical?
• Asymmetric use of names and address terms is often a clear
indictor of a power differential.
• Examples:
 Children and teachers.
 In the past, white people addressing black people.
 People addressing the Queen or the President.

9. • In each country there are different rules stating how people
should address each other. In England we can omit the
address term when greeting someone but in France that
avoidance could be impolite.
• As your family relationships change, issues of naming and
addressing may arise; for example: how do you address your
father/mother in law?
• Finally, an additional peculiarity is that people sometimes give
names to, and address, non – human as well as humans.
• For example:
 How do you address your pets, if you have?
 And how do you address your kids or kids in general?

10. POLITENESS
• POLITENESS is socially prescribed, we adjust to others in
social relationships in ways society deems appropriate.
• IMPOLITENESS depends on the existence of standards.
•

11. There are two kinds of politeness:
• POSITIVE: we try to achieve solidarity and treat others as
friends. We do not impose and never threaten their face.
Example: symmetrical pronominal use
• NEGATIVE: it leads to deference, indirectness and formality
in language use.
Example: Asymmetric T/V use

12. • Goffman (1955) states that when communicating “we present
a FACE to others and to others’ faces.”
• In every social interaction we are obliged to protect both our
own face and the face of others.
• We play out a kind of ritual in which each party is required to
recognize the identity the other presents or claims.
• There is no faceless communication.
•

13. • Brown and Levinson (1987) provide the definition of
FACE “[it is] the public self-image that every member
wants to claim for himself ”
They make a distinction between:
• POSITIVE FACE: it is the desire to gain the approval
of others, the positive consistent self- image or
personality. It looks to SOLIDARITY
• NEGATIVE FACE: it is the desire to be unimpeded by
others’ actions; a claim for freedom of action and from
imposition.

14. • Each interaction is a FACE WORK and the goal is the
maintenance of as much of each individual’s positive face as
possible.
• Pinker (2007) argues that “politeness theory is a good start,
but not enough [because] it assumes that the speaker and the
hearer are working in perfect harmony, each trying to save
each other’s face”
•

15. THANK YOU