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speech acts such as criticism and complains. The reciprocal obligation in the example above is that S will mow the lawn after school the next day only if H his
dad is helping S with the homework. o Give gifts to H goods, sympathy, understanding, cooperation
Giving gift, goods, sympathy and etc is always a good way to minimize threat to H‟s positive face. The example of giving gift and sympathy can be seen
in the sentence:
S : Have a glass of malt whisky, Dick.
H: Terrific Thanks. S
: Not at all. I wonder if I could confide in you for a minute or two. The example above contains expression of sympathy. S is giving his
sympathy by treating or giving H a glass of malt whisky. The gift to H is one of politeness strategy. It helps S to save the H‟s positive face. The gift here is not
always things because gift can also be in the form of sympathy, understanding and cooperation. In social situation, gift can be represented with cigarette, whisky, or
other alcoholic drinks. S satisfies H‟s positive face by giving gift that H likes before S then telling H what S really wants.
c. Negative Politeness
Negative politeness strategies are oriented towards the hearer‟s negative face and they emphasize avoidance of impositionburden on the hearer. These
strategies presume that the speaker will be imposing on the listener and there is a higher potential for awkwardness or embarrassment than in bald on record
strategies and positive politeness strategies. There are ten sub strategies addressed to the hearer‟s negative face Watts, 2003: 90-91:
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1 Be conventionally indirect Be conventionally indirect is a negative politeness strategy intended to
avoid burden to H. The example of this negative politeness strategy is in the
sentence Could you tell me the time, please?.
The example above contains indirectness. Indirectness in the utterance is usually used to avoid burden to the H. It is a form of negative politeness. It
concerns to the H‟s negative face. Asking somebody for the correct time might constitute an imposition for that person.
The above example of indirect expression Could you tell me the time? is
one of the conventionally normal ways to make the request. The linguistic expression that might be assessed as contributing towards the polite nature of the
utterance is more likely to be please than the indirect form of the question. The example above is the indirect expression of a question “What time is it?”
2 Do not assume willingness to comply, use question and hedge The use of question and hedge is a perfect way to emphasize avoidance of
burden to H. The example of this negative politeness strategy can be seen in the
sentence I wonder whether I could just sort of ask you a little question.
The example above contains assumption that H does not have willingness to comply S‟ request. So, the use of additional phrases in a question will avoid
burden to H face. Asking a questions in sudden manner to someone probably imposes the person, but when S uses t
he hedging phrases “just sort of” and “little” it is reducing the imposition toward the H. therefore, hedging is the best way to
min imize the threat toward the H‟s utterance. By using the hedging phrases “ just
