Abstract
The principles of formality and deference as suggested by Lakoff (1973) require creating a kind of distance between the addresser and the addresses. These can be accomplished via different means: The research is covering three of them only, conventional indirectness, questions and hedging.
Addresser usually produce utterances which can be inferred in two or more ways. The hearer should recognize the speakers intention: sometimes they fail to do that.
The second type of strategies is the questions. Questions provide the hearer with options to say 'yes' or 'no'. The addresser might give order but apparently he is providing options of refusal or acceptance. On the other hand, hedging interposes the speaker's opinion between the propositional content and the hearer's assessment .In many cases it puzzles the hearer indeed.
The research is finalized by concluding that straight -forward imposition is avoided by the means of the maxim 'don't impose', making use of the above mentioned techniques
Addresser usually produce utterances which can be inferred in two or more ways. The hearer should recognize the speakers intention: sometimes they fail to do that.
The second type of strategies is the questions. Questions provide the hearer with options to say 'yes' or 'no'. The addresser might give order but apparently he is providing options of refusal or acceptance. On the other hand, hedging interposes the speaker's opinion between the propositional content and the hearer's assessment .In many cases it puzzles the hearer indeed.
The research is finalized by concluding that straight -forward imposition is avoided by the means of the maxim 'don't impose', making use of the above mentioned techniques