This readable book presents a new general theoretical understanding of politeness. It offers an account of a wide range of politeness phenomena in English, illustrated by hundreds of examples of actual language use taken largely from authentic British and American sources. Building on his earlier pioneering work on politeness, Geoffrey Leech takes a pragmatic approach that is based on the controversial notion that politeness is communicative altruism. Leech's 1983 book, Principles of Pragmatics, introduced the now widely-accepted distinction between pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic aspects...

This readable book presents a new general theoretical understanding of politeness. It offers an account of a wide range of politeness phenomena in English, illustrated by hundreds of examples of actual language use taken largely from authentic British and American sources. Building on his earlier pioneering work on politeness, Geoffrey Leech takes a pragmatic approach that is based on the controversial notion that politeness is communicative altruism. Leech's 1983 book, Principles of Pragmatics, introduced the now widely-accepted distinction between pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic aspects...

Scholars of language ideology have encouraged us to reflect on and explore where social categories come from, how they have been reproduced, and whether and to what extent they are relevant to everyday interactional practices. Taking up on these issues, this book focuses on how ethnicity has been semiotically constructed, valued, and reproduced in Indonesia since Dutch colonial times, and how this category is drawn upon in everyday talk. In doing so, this book also seeks to engage with scholarship on superdiversity while highlighting some points of engagement with work on ideas about...

Scholars of language ideology have encouraged us to reflect on and explore where social categories come from, how they have been reproduced, and whether and to what extent they are relevant to everyday interactional practices. Taking up on these issues, this book focuses on how ethnicity has been semiotically constructed, valued, and reproduced in Indonesia since Dutch colonial times, and how this category is drawn upon in everyday talk. In doing so, this book also seeks to engage with scholarship on superdiversity while highlighting some points of engagement with work on ideas about...

Technologically mediated talk is organized around familiar styles-styles of person, relationship and genre. But media also consistently remake and re-style these familiar patterns. This book brings together original research on media styling in different national contexts and languages, written by authors at the forefront of sociolinguistic research on mediated talk. It highlights and theorizes how creative acts of mediated styling can promote social and sociolinguistic change. The globalized world is already massively mediatized-what we know about language, people and society is necessarily...

Technologically mediated talk is organized around familiar styles-styles of person, relationship and genre. But media also consistently remake and re-style these familiar patterns. This book brings together original research on media styling in different national contexts and languages, written by authors at the forefront of sociolinguistic research on mediated talk. It highlights and theorizes how creative acts of mediated styling can promote social and sociolinguistic change. The globalized world is already massively mediatized-what we know about language, people and society is necessarily...