Politeness in the history of English
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Andreas H. Jucker
Abstract
Politeness in English has often been seen as a development from a positive politeness culture to a negative politeness culture. Several case studies provide evidence for such a development. A first case study offers an analysis of the use of pronominal terms of address in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and in Shakespeare’s plays. By Shakespeare’s time the pronoun you had increasingly become a marker of deference associated with negative politeness, while thou had become a marker of positive (im)politeness and strong emotions. The development of speech acts such as apologies and directives provide further evidence for an emergent negative politeness culture. However, evidence from Early English correspondence and from the current blurring of the line between private and public life indicates that there are also tendencies towards increased positive politeness, which strongly suggests that these developments are domain and genre specific.
Abstract
Politeness in English has often been seen as a development from a positive politeness culture to a negative politeness culture. Several case studies provide evidence for such a development. A first case study offers an analysis of the use of pronominal terms of address in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and in Shakespeare’s plays. By Shakespeare’s time the pronoun you had increasingly become a marker of deference associated with negative politeness, while thou had become a marker of positive (im)politeness and strong emotions. The development of speech acts such as apologies and directives provide further evidence for an emergent negative politeness culture. However, evidence from Early English correspondence and from the current blurring of the line between private and public life indicates that there are also tendencies towards increased positive politeness, which strongly suggests that these developments are domain and genre specific.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction ix
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Part I. Pragmatic and stylistic choices
- Politeness in the history of English 3
- The which is most and right harde to answere : Intensifying right and most in earlier English 31
- The diachronic development of the intensifier bloody : A case study in historical pragmatics 53
- Variation and change in the writings of 17th century scientists 75
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Part II. Lexical and semantic change
- The convergence of two need verbs in Middle English 97
- Rivalry among the verbs of wanting 117
- A look at respect : Investigating metonymies in Earle Modern English 139
- Germanic vs French fixed expressions in Middle English prose: Towards a corpus-based historical English phraseology 159
- Latin loanwords of the early modern period: How often did French act as an intermediary? 185
- Disseisin : The lexeme and the legal fact in Early Middle English 203
- Was Old Frech -able borrowable? A diachronic study of word-formation processes due to language contact 217
- Women and other 'small things': -ette as a feminine marker 241
- Index of subjects 259
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction ix
-
Part I. Pragmatic and stylistic choices
- Politeness in the history of English 3
- The which is most and right harde to answere : Intensifying right and most in earlier English 31
- The diachronic development of the intensifier bloody : A case study in historical pragmatics 53
- Variation and change in the writings of 17th century scientists 75
-
Part II. Lexical and semantic change
- The convergence of two need verbs in Middle English 97
- Rivalry among the verbs of wanting 117
- A look at respect : Investigating metonymies in Earle Modern English 139
- Germanic vs French fixed expressions in Middle English prose: Towards a corpus-based historical English phraseology 159
- Latin loanwords of the early modern period: How often did French act as an intermediary? 185
- Disseisin : The lexeme and the legal fact in Early Middle English 203
- Was Old Frech -able borrowable? A diachronic study of word-formation processes due to language contact 217
- Women and other 'small things': -ette as a feminine marker 241
- Index of subjects 259
