Isenzo sentetho yesingxengxezo kwimeko yasesikolweni

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of the study is to examine the phenomenon of politeness in isiXhosa discoursewithin the speech acts of apology and complaint. Politeness is evidenced where nonverbaland verbal actions work together for the purpose of achieving smoothcommunication among speakers. The actions that occur through discourse are calledspeech acts. The most important aim of the speech act of apology is to maintain a goodrelationship among speakers. This study focusses specifically on the speech act ofapology and the manner in which Xhosa speakers forward apologies and complaintsamong themsleves. Politeness theory will be used as a basis of this study.In this study, the main focuss is on how the male and female students forward complaintsand apologies. It is discovered that, there are different ways of expressing apologies andcomplaints in isiXhosa in different situations, and the different ways in which males andfemales students forward apologies among themselves. For instance, in space situation,males forwarded more apologies as they occupied more space than females. In timesituation, females forward more apologies as they were lacking more in time managementthan males do.According to Trosborg (1995) there are several ways or strategies of apology, which areas follows: The opting out-catergory; minimizing the degree of offence; indirect apologies;explanation or account; promise of forbearance and the offer of repair. It has beendiscovered firstly in this study, that females used more apology strategies than males.Secondly, four main apology strategies: request for forgiveness; explicit explanation; offerof apology and the expression of lack of intent have been extensively used by both malesand females in the empirical data examined.Trosborg (1995) mentions eight complaints strategies, namely: hints; annoyance; illconsequences; direct complaints; indirect complaints; modified blame (behavior) and anexplicit blame (person). Females used more complaint strategies than males. Fivecomplaint strategies: direct complaint; annoyance; ill consequences; indirect complaint andthe modified blame have been extensively used by both males and females. This study helps us to understand the different ways of expressing apologies andcomplaints in different situations in isiXhosa. The more appropriate apology and complaintis used, the better the communication. This becomes evident in the manner in which malesand females forwarded apology and complaint strategies in the discourse analysed in thisstudy.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University