Politeness in small shops in France
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Catherine Kerbrat-Orecchioni
Catherine Kerbrat-Orecchioni is a full Professor at the University Lumière Lyon 2. Her research interests include pragmatics, discourse analysis and conversation analysis. Her most recent publications includeLes interactions verbales (3 vol., 1990–1992–1994, Paris, Armand Colin),La conversation (1996, Paris, Seuil),Les actes de langage dans le discours (2001, Paris, Nathan) andL'analyse du discours-en-interaction (2005, Paris, A. Colin).
Abstract
This study aims to show that a distinguishing feature of interactions in small shops in France is the very large number of polite formulae, which seek to “polish” and soften the transactional process. Having briefly presented the descriptive model employed (a “Brown et Levinson revisited” model), the author describes the main forms of politeness to be found in this type of situation: opening and closing rituals, and the formulation of requests and thanks. The study is based on corpora recorded in different small shops in the town of Lyons. The author concludes with some comments of an intercultural nature.
About the author
Catherine Kerbrat-Orecchioni is a full Professor at the University Lumière Lyon 2. Her research interests include pragmatics, discourse analysis and conversation analysis. Her most recent publications include Les interactions verbales (3 vol., 1990–1992–1994, Paris, Armand Colin), La conversation (1996, Paris, Seuil), Les actes de langage dans le discours (2001, Paris, Nathan) and L'analyse du discours-en-interaction (2005, Paris, A. Colin).
© Walter de Gruyter
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- “Girls on tour”: Politeness, small talk, and gender in managerial business meetings
- Politeness in small shops in France
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Articles in the same Issue
- Special issue of the Journal of Politeness
- Politeness at work: Issues and challenges
- Power distance at work: The cases of Turkey, successor states of the former Soviet Union and Western Europe.
- “Girls on tour”: Politeness, small talk, and gender in managerial business meetings
- Politeness in small shops in France
- Aspects of polite behaviour in French and Syrian service encounters: A data-based comparative study
- Politeness in the portrayal of workplace relationships: Second person address forms in Peninsular Spanish and the translation of humour.
- Politeness markers in French: post-posed quoi in the Tourist Office
- Book reviews
