8
are two kinds of face, negative face and positive face Yule, 1996, pp. 61-61. Negative face is the need to be independent, to have freedom of action, and not to
be imposed on by others. Meanwhile, positive face is the need to be accepted, even liked, by others, to be treated as a member of the same group, and to know
that his or her wants are shared by others. In the society, sometimes we cannot avoid saying something that will
threaten another person’s face. As Yule 1996, p. 61 mentions “If speaker says something that represents a threat to another individual regarding self-image, it is
described as a face threatening act.” In order to have a good communication
without threatening each other faces, speaker needs to employ strategies to minimize the threat. The strategies to minimize the threat of the hearer’s face are
called Politeness Strategies. Politeness refers to behaviour which actively expresses positive concern
for others. In other words, politeness may take the form of an expression of good- will or ‘camaraderie’ Holmes, 1996, p. 5. In addition, Yule 1996, p. 60 also
mentions that “Politeness, in an interaction, can be defined as the means
employed to show awareness of another person’s face”. Thus, politeness can be described as a regressive action to counter-balance the disruptive effect of face-
threatening acts FTAs. Brown and Levinson 1999, pp. 315-317 propose four types of politeness
strategies: bald on-record, negative politeness, positive politeness, and off-record indirect.
9
a. Bald On-record
According to Brown and Levinson 1999, p. 316, bald on-record strategy is a direct way of saying things, without any ministration on the imposition, in a
direct, clear, unambiguous, and concise way. Furthermore, Cutting 2002, p. 46 points out that if a speaker makes a suggestion, request, offer, or invitation in an
open and direct way, we say that they are doing an FTA bald on-record, for
example “fix it” or “give that note to me.” Normally bald on-record will be used if the speaker does not fear of the retribution from the hearer. For example in a
matter of urgency or efficiency; when the danger to hearer’s face is very small, such as in offers, request, suggestion that are clearly in hearer’s interest ‘come in’
or ‘Do sit down; and when the speaker is superior to the hearer.
b. Negative Politeness
According to Brown and Levinson 1999, p. 317, negative politeness strategies are oriented toward the hearer’s negative face and emphasize avoidance
of imposition on the hearer. The speaker recognizes and respects the hearer’s negative-face wants and will not or will only minimally interfere with the hearer’s
freedom of action. In addition, Cutting 2000, p. 47 mentions that speaker uses them to avoid imposing or presuming, and to give the hearer options. For
example, “Sorry to bother you, I couldn’t borrow 30, could I, if you don’t need it right now?” the speaker gives the hearer the option to refuse the request for
money. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
10
c. Positive Politeness
According to Brown and Levinson 1987, p. 106, positive politeness is redress directed to the addressees positive face, hisher perennial desire to the
hisher wants or actions acquisitions, and value resulting from them should be thought as desirable. Positive politeness is used to make the hearer feel good
about himself, his interests or possessions, and usually seen in groups of friends, or where people of given social situation know each other fairly well. For example
“You look sad. Can I do anything?” or “Thats a nice haircut you got, where did you get it?”
d. Off-record indirect
Brown and Levinson 1999, p. 316 define off-record strategy as a communicative act which is done in such a way that is not possible to attribute
one clear communicative intention to the act. Off record utterances are important in indirect use of language. For example if somebody says “Damn, I’m out of
cash, I forgot to go to the bank today”, the hidden meaning of the utterance can be that the speaker wants the hearer to lend himher some money. The off-record
indirect strategies include metaphor and irony, rhetorical question, understatement, tautologies, and all kinds of hints as to what a speaker wants or
means to communicate, without doing so directly. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
