A pragmatic analysis of apologies in Xhosa

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:This study investigates the speech act of apology in Xhosa. The main aim of the study isto examine some of the characteristics of apologies in remedial interchanges based on aXhosa corpus within the field of pragmatics. The study is concerned with the expressionspeople use when they apologize in Xhosa, and the effectiveness of apologies inremediating the negative effects of transgressions.In order to examine the effectiveness of apologies in Xhosa, a questionnaire has beendrawn up within which students of selected High schools in the Western Cape havecompleted the offence and the apology. Data was collected through the selection of fourHigh schools in the Western Cape and Grade 11 learners were asked to complete thequestionnaires.In this study, these questionnaires are analyzed and assessed. The findings based on thisresearch are presented to identify the characteristics of apologies in remedial interchangesbased on a Xhosa corpus within the field of pragmatics.The study is organized as follows:Chapter 1 features the statement of the problem and the aim of the study.Chapter 2 is concerned with an overview of the theoretical framework on which the studyis based, i.e. pragmatics, and within pragmatics specifically the speech act and the theoryof politeness.Chapter 3 examines the speech act of apology as indicated by the literature on this speechact.Chapter 4 investigates apologies in Xhosa with attention to the apology strategies and theanalysis of the Xhosa data.Chapter 5 summarizes the findings obtained from chapters 2 - 4.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University