Abstract:Compliments are frequently used in daily communication. Meanwhile, it has become the research interests among linguists at home and abroad. Nevertheless, their researches are all about the compliments in our daily life, and few of them analyze the compliments in the diplomatic discourses. Therefore, this dissertation aims to conduct an analysis of compliments used by the western political leaders and diplomats in the diplomatic discourses. The present study is based on Brown and Levinson’s face theory. Some typical compliments applied by western political leaders and diplomats are collected from the official governmental websites and published books. The typical examples are analyzed in detail so as to identify the compliment functions, response strategies and formulas. It is hoped that the study will offer a reference of the application of compliments for diplomats in diplomatic activities. And it will be also helpful for people to understand how diplomats try to mitigate face threatening by using compliments and response strategies of compliments to achieve a successful communication. 

Key Words: compliments; face theory; diplomatic discourses

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 The research background-1

1.2 The aims and objectives-1

1.3 Data and the research method-2

1.4 Structure of the dissertation-2

2. Literature Review-3

2.1 Previous researches on compliments at home and abroad-3

2.2 Previous researches on the face theory at home and abroad-4

2.3 Summary-4

3. The Face Theory-5

3.1 The notion of the face-5

3.2 Face-threatening acts-5

3.3 Positive politeness and negative politeness-6

4. Analysis and Discussion-7

4.1 The functions of compliments in diplomatic discourses-7

4.1.1 Opening a conversation-7

4.1.2 Softening criticism-8

4.1.3 Expressing thanks-8

4.2 The response strategies of compliments in diplomatic discourses-9

4.2.1 Praise upgrading-9

4.2.2 Returning the compliments-10

4.2.3 Disagreement-10

4.3 Formulas of compliments in diplomatic discourses-11

4.3.1 Face-threatening act + compliment-11

4.3.2 Compliment + face-threatening act-11

4.3.3 Compliment + face-threatening act + compliment-12

5. Conclusion-13

5.1 Major findings-13

5.2 Limitations and suggestions-13

References-14

Acknowledgements-15