THE PRAGMATIC FUNCTION OF DEGREE ADVERB:FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF POLITENESS PRINCIPLE

Wu Zhong

School of Foreign Languages,Jianghan University,Wuhan,China

[Abstract] Degree adverb has a characteristic of scalarity and manifests the pragmatic functions of politeness in both Chinese and English.A speaker,according to the situation of conversation,often uses an amplifier or downtoner to modify an adjective in communication under the guidance of Politeness Principle.When evaluating other or self,a speaker,based on the context and intention,first selects an appropriate adjective to make an evaluation and then adopts an amplifier or downtoner to fine-tune the evaluation as politeness is taken into consideration;a listener will deduce,quickly and accurately,the true evaluation and the intention of politeness of the speaker by decoding the information given in the conversation.

[Keywords] Degree Adverb;Politeness;Pragmatic Function

INTRODUCTION

A degree adverb is a scaling device which frequently premodifies a gradable adjective.Thus,the most promi⁃nent semantic feature of degree adverb is scalarity,which can be adopted to evaluate a person,an object or an event.The degree adverb,in terms of the context and speaker's intention,manifests the pragmatic function of politeness in conversation when premodifying evaluative adjectives.This research tries to explore how conversationalists,based on the Politeness Principle,demonstrate politeness to other by using two subtypes of degree adverbs,namely,the am⁃plifier and downtoner.

THE POLITENESS PRINCIPLE AND DEGREE ADVERB

Leech(1983),based on Brown(1978),put forward the Politeness Principle,which tries to explain why a speak⁃er,by violating the Cooperative Principle,tends to use indirect expression for the sake of politeness.Therefore,one always show politeness to listeners and related people to save their faces in communication.A speaker would not di⁃rectly accuse,deny or reject the other party even he has a good reason.Instead,he often adopts more indirect euphe⁃misms.This is not only to show his courtesy,but also to avoid being rude and reduce ill feelings from others.Thus,it definitely enable him,with politeness,to gain favor or respect from others.

The Politeness Principle proposed by Leech(1983)includes six Maxims.Among them,the Approbation Maxim and the Modesty Maxim focus on the speaker's praise and dispraise(Suo,2000).Hence,the maxims related to evalu⁃ation can be simplified into Praise and Dispraise Maxim.

The different magnitude of degree is the main criterion for classification of degree adverb.Scholars have estab⁃lished their own classification systems of degree adverb on the basis of its semantic meaning after Wang Li(1985).It is clear that the fewer levels are divided,the clearer the boundary between different groups.Thus,degree adverbs are classified into two groups,namely,amplifiers and downtoners(Quirk,1985),as it is more convenient for general⁃izing formulas.It is found in the corpus that both amplifiers and downtoners,when dealing with evaluation of people,objects or events,are often used to premodify adjectives.

THE PRAGMATIC FUNCTION OF AMPLIFIER

Collocation of amplifier and positive adjective

An amplifier generally scales upwards,objectively or subjectively,from an assumed norm.Generally speaking,when an amplifier co-occurs with a positive adjective,it manifests the Politeness Principle of"Maximizing praise of other"(Leech,1983,p.132).For example:

E.g.1

但是 你很努力，我 看见 你很努力，你 就 成功 了。

Dànshì nǐhěn nǔlì,wǒ kànjiàn nǐ hěn nǔlì,nǐ jiù chénggōng le.

But you werevery hardworking,and I saw you worked hard,and you succeeded.

It is stated in the Politeness Principle that a speaker should praise other to the maximum in statements and as⁃sertions.As such,in Example 1,when facing the guests in the interview,the host should certainly lay emphasis on politeness and adopt an amplifier "hen" (很'very') to modify the positive adjective "nuli" (努力'hardworking') to praise the listener.

Besides the listener,the third party,usually including persons,objects or events,present or involved in the talk,should also be considered in the conversation.For example:

E.g.2

你 身旁 还有 一位很出色的 搭档 芒格 先生。

Nǐ shēnpáng hái yǒu yī wèihěn chūsède dādàng máng gé xiānshēng.

You have avery excellentpartner,Mr.Munger,with you.

E.g.3

我 觉得 日航 所有 的 员工，35000 名 员工 都非常优秀、非常纯朴。

Wǒjuédé rìháng suǒyǒu de yuángōng,35000 míng yuángōng dōufēicháng yōuxiù,fēicháng chúnpú.

I think that all the 35,000 employees of JAL are very excellent and honest.

In Example 2,the host praises Mr.Munger,who is staying with the interviewee,with "hen chuse"(很出色'very excellent').In Example3,"feichang youxiu"(非常优秀'very excellent')and"feichang chunpu"(非常纯朴'very hon⁃est') are compliments to the third party,the 35,000 employees of JAL,even none of them is present.Therefore,in terms of the Politeness Principle,the amplifier "hen" and "feichang" are adopted as modifiers to show speakers'po⁃liteness.

The Politeness Principle manifested in the above expressions can be summarized in Formula A:

Formula A(evaluating other):[internal evaluation:positive] →(politeness consideration:favorable)→"amplifi⁃er+positive adjective".

Collocation of amplifier and negative adjective

The collocation of amplifier and negative adjective also embody the Politeness Principle.To some extent,maxi⁃mizing dispraise of self is to show respect for other from another perspective and equals to improving the status of the listener.For example:

E.g.4

你 看 我 原来 就很傻的...

Nǐ kàn wǒ yuánlái jiùhěn shǎde...

You see I wasvery silly...

E.g.5

我们 的这个 品牌 现在 在 世界 各地 还非常弱。

Wǒmen de zhège pǐnpái xiànzài zài shìjiè gèdì háifēicháng ruò.

Our brand is stillvery weakaround the world.

To maximize dispraise of self is another way to show politeness.In Example 4,when apologizing to the listener,the speaker uses an amplifier"hen"to modify a negative adjective"sha"(傻'silly')to evaluate himself.While in Ex⁃ample 5,the speaker uses an amplifier"feichang"(非常'very')to modify a negative adjective"ruo"(弱'weak')to eval⁃uate a brand of his own company,thus achieving the purpose of self-dispraise and observing the Politeness Principle by depreciating himself.

The Politeness Principle manifested in the above expressions can be summarized in Formula B:

Formula B(evaluating self):[internal evaluation:negative] →(politeness consideration:unfavorable)→"ampli⁃fier+negative adjective".

As discussed above,subjective evaluation of people,objects or events is the main concern of the Praise and Dis⁃praise Maxim of the Politeness Principle.And degree adverbs,with the connotation of evaluation,are often used to modify adjectives.When it comes to evaluating self,the speaker will use an amplifier to modify the negative adjec⁃tive for the sake of politeness.

Formula A and B demonstrate a speaker's encoding process when he demonstrates politeness in conversation.Similarly,a listener,with the above formulas,is able to deduce the real intention easily by decoding the information released from the speaker.

THE PRAGMATIC FUNCTION OF DOWNTONER

Collocation of downtoner and negative adjective

A downtoner generally scales down an assumed norm objectively or subjectively and it is often used to "mini⁃mize dispraise of other"in communication.For example:

E.g.6

这个 当然 我 觉得 你 说的 也有点过分。

Zhège dāngrán wǒjuédé nǐshuōde yěyǒudiǎn guòfèn.

Of course,I think what you said goesa bit too far.

The downtoner is often adopted to "minimize dispraise of other" when it modifies negative adjective.Semanti⁃cally,the modifier "youdian" (有点'a bit') in example 6 can be omitted without altering the meaning of the original sentence.However,the negative connotation of"guofen"(过分'too far')is minimized by adding a modifier"youdian"when the Polite Principle is taken into consideration.Therefore,the speaker expresses his opinion clearly without producing ill feeling from other people.

In addition,the speaker also tends to minimize dispraise to other while he evaluates the behavior or belonging of a third party.That is to say,the speaker first adopts negative adjectives to comment objects or people subjectively;however,he,out of consideration of politeness,usually adopts downtoner when a listener's feelings is taken into ac⁃count.For example:

E.g.7

有的 员工...生产力比较低下。

Yǒude yuángōng...shēngchǎnlìbǐjiào dīxià.

Some employees are...relatively inefficient.

E.g.8

(底特律) 确实...现在比较凄凉吧。

(Dǐtèlǜ) quèshí....Xiànzàibǐjiào qīliángba.

It'srelatively drearyin Detroit now.

The commented objects "some employees" and "Detroit" in Example 7 and Example 8 were not present.It is clear that speakers have negative opinion on them and adopt negative adjectives"dixia"(低下'inefficient')and"qiliang"(凄凉'dreary').However,for the sake of politeness,speakers premodifie two negative adjectives with a down⁃toner"bijiao"(比较'relatively')to minimize dispraise of other.

The Politeness Principle manifested in the above expressions can be summarized in Formula C:

Formula C (evaluating other):[internal evaluation:negative] →(politeness consideration:favorable) →"down⁃toner+negative adjective".

Collocation of downtoner and positive adjective

The collocation of downtoner and negative adjective,in line with the Politeness Principle,can minimize the dis⁃praise of other.Nevertheless,in certain conversation,the combination of downtoner and positive adjective is also an important manifestation of the Politeness Principle,i.e.,to"minimize praise of self".For example:

E.g.9

我 就是...做 事情比较严谨。

Wǒjiùshì...zuò shìqíngbǐjiào yánjǐn.

It is my trait that I amrelatively precise.

E.g.10

商务车 现在 干得比较出色的 就是 福田 这个 品牌......

Shāngwùchēxiànzài gàndébǐjiào chūsède jiùshì fútián zhège pǐnpái....

Foton is arelatively outstandingbrand of commercial vehicles.

In Example 9,"yanjin"(严谨'precise'),a commentary word,means"careful and precise".In the above example,the speaker uses"yanjin"to give an objective evaluation of himself.However,for the sake of politeness,the speaker adopts a dontoner"bijiao"to modify"yanjin"to minimize praise of himself.In Example 10,as"Futon"is the best do⁃mestic brand of commercial vehicles in China,the commendatory adjective "chuse" (出色'excellent'),which means"extremely good",is used for the objective assessment.Then,the speaker "minimize praise of self" by choosing the downtoner"bijiao"for modification,achieving the purpose of modesty by following the Politeness Principle.

The Politeness Principle manifested in the above expressions can be summarized in Formula D:

Formula D(evaluating self):[internal evaluation:positive] →(politeness consideration:unfavorable) →"down⁃toner+positive adjective".

Formula C and D demonstrate the encoding process of the speaker when downtoners are adopted.According to participants and situation of conversation,listener,by using these formulas,can decode the speaker's intention easi⁃ly.In other words,from the lowering effect of downtoner,the listener infers that the speaker's true evaluation of other is negative and the self-evaluation is positive.Therefore,the listener,by adopting above formulas,understands the true intention of the speaker quickly.

Generally speaking,the Politeness Principle can be simplified into Praise and Dispraise Maxim in evaluation.Based on real conversation,this article summarize four formulas for the above analysis.First,the speaker selects ap⁃propriate adjective according to his own judgment in real conversation.Then,when commented objects or people are taken into consideration,an amplifier or downtoner will be chosen to fine-tune the evaluation in terms of Politeness Principle.Finally,the listener,on the basis of same formula,will decode the speaker's information.Then the speak⁃er's true evaluation and polite intention can be quickly and accurately deduced.

CONCLUSION

In spite of national difference,politeness is cherished in both Eastern and Western cultures.Degree adverbs in both Chinese and English also have similar pragmatic function of politeness.In interpersonal communication,when it comes to evaluation,the Politeness Principle is expressed as the Praise and Dispraise Maxim.A speaker,base on his judgment and the conversation environment,usually selects an appropriate adjective to make an evaluation of people,events or objects,and then adopts an amplifier or downtoner to fine-tune his evaluation for the sake of polite⁃ness.Generally,an amplifier in Chinese and English often co-occur with a positive adjective in order to maximize praise of other,and co-occur with a negative adjective to maximize dispraise of self;while a downtoner usually cooccur with a negative adjective to minimize dispraise of other,and co-occur with a positive adjective to minimize praise of self.The above processes can be summarized into four formulas.In the interpersonal communication,the in⁃formation released by a speaker can be decoded by the listener on the basis of the above formulas,and then the speaker's true evaluation and polite intentions can be quickly and accurately deduced.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research was financially supported by Hubei Provincial Department of Education (2017300,A Research on Interactive Translation Teaching Model-TakeChangjiang WeeklyParallel Corpus as an Example).