Formulaic silence
Part of : Γλωσσολογία ; Vol.7-8, 1988, pages 169-176
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169-176
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Linguistic routine has traditionally been associated with verbal forms. The main goal of this paper is to argue that some formulaic linguistic (communicative) behavior consists in remaining silent. Silent routine is discussed with reference to the Brown - Levinson Theory of Politeness and E. Leach's cultural anthropological view of communication. A more general theoretical point concerns the relation between speech and silence. Due to the close affinity of verbal and silent routines it is argued that silence does not fall outside the scope of pragmatic research on language.
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Περιέχει βιβλιογραφία, A shorter version of this paper was presented at the 22nd Annual Societas Linguistica Europaea Meeting, Varna, Bulrgaria, l2-16 September 1989. I am grateful to Dr. Paulina Benatova, Prof. E. F. Konrad Koerner and Prof. Peter Trudgill for their comments and examples. Special thanks to J. R. Thomas for helpful comments on matters of style.
