4.1.1.7 Compliment- AcceptanceRejection
Complimenting is an unmarked action among Toba Bataks. According to Manes and Wolfson Cited in Juan Yu, 2007, the main function of compliment is to
create or reinforce solidarity by expressing appreciation or approval. In Toba Batak context compliment is built through interpersonal interaction which is considered
interesting phenomena in opening conversation. So it can function as building relation when one is going to introduce an interaction to another whom unkonwn yet. Toba
Batak speakers prefer to reject compliment, as shown in the following excerpt.
Excerpt 32 1 A : tabo do tempat muna on ate?
good T place your this yes? ‘this is a good place, isn’t it?
2 B : ahama tabona. songonomma. aha ma tabo na songon on ma
what T good T like this PR ‘I don’t think so. You can feel it’
3 3.0 4 B : jadi sian dia do hutatta?
jadi siad dia do hutan ta so from where T village our
‘where are you from’ 5 A : hami, par Siantar do hami inang.
hami, par Siattar do hami inang we poss Siantar T we molther
‘we are from Siantar, madam’
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A in line 1 compliments B by expressing positive evaluation on the village where B is living. But B rejects the compliment by downgrading, in other words, she
responds in a humble way. It does not mean that she does not care with the appreciation or positive needs of A, but the cultural constrain that the complimenter commonly does
not expect agreement. Though B’s response is a disagreement, after saying this, by a 3 seconds silence as shown in line 3, she launches a question to A. This means that the
AP of compliment-response can be a pre-question in a specific sense and a pre- continuer in a broader sense. Put another way, that AP can be a greeting commonly
functions as opening a conversation. The rejection response can be diluted by using implicit agreement before the
dispreferred marked with contradiction marker such as, alai ‘but’, as shown in excerpt 33.
Exerpt 33 1 A : bagak-bagak anak ni biang mi bah
nice child T dog your PR ‘your puppies are nice
2 B : alai dang olo mangan. but no want eat
‘but they don’t like to eat’
B’s response in line 2 is actually preceded by embedded independent clause which is not explicitly stated. It is recoverable because the following dependent clause
is a marker to fill the the preceding slot as a positive independent clause. The slot itself is an action of deluting the rejection response. The slot can be constructed as,
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Bagak-bagak do biang nami, alai dang olo mangan. Nice T dogs ours but not want eat.
They are beautiful but they don’t want to eat.
In the SPP of a compliment AP it is the rejection part to be on focus as an action. Suppose that the dogs liked to eat, the slot remains the same but the explicit response
would be changed to other reasons, and the speaker of the SPP still uses the contradiction marker.
There are markers of compliment response that can show an agreement such as toema and baemma, songonima ‘okay, yes’. However, those markers are used as to
show the downgrading response to compliment. The agreement can be the harbinger of modesty, as shown in the following examples.
Excerpt 34 1 A : nga tammat anak mu ate?
finish graduate child your yes? ‘your son has graduated, hasn’t he?
2 B : toe ma. ok T
‘yes’
Excerpt 35 1 A : tabo do ho, nga sohot sude gelleng mu.
lucky T you, finish married all children your ‘you are lucky, all your sons have got married’
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2 B : baem ma. make T
‘okay’
Excerpt 36 1 A : jago do ho ba, boi ho tu Amerika.
great T you PR, can you to America ‘you are lucky, you could go to USA’
2 B : songon i ma. like it T
‘just so and so’
Compliments expressing appreciation conveyed by the three speakers in the excerpts are about compliments on abilities of the addressees. In exerpt 34, A
compliments B on his well done job supporting his son including the accomplishment made by his son for his graduation to be scholar. The compliment in excerpt 35 also
refers to appreciation expression on the ability and accomplishment of B and his children. And excerpt 36 deals with compliment on the ability of the addressee.
The compliment response in the three excerpts are deluted by downgrading the meaning of the three markers, toema, baemma, songonima in SPPs, to a more polite
way. In other words, the three recipients show that by their success they do not want to demonstrate their individuality. The first word of each of the three markers are uttered
prominently as to signal downgrading.
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4.1.1.8 Complaint-rejection
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