UMC function and classification 2

The emphasis within this analysis is on the language used rather than just the emoticon itself. That is, on the function of the sentence. Emoticons that were classified as indexes that were attached to politeness strategies as outlined by Brown and

Levinson (1987) were counted and then divided into positive or negative politeness strategies according to the criteria and definitions set out by Brown and Levinson.

According to Brown and Levinson (1987) positive politeness strategies are defined as devices that seek to minimize the threat to the hearer’s positive face. Some strategies of positive politeness can include the claiming of common ground, seeking agreement and the show of interest, approval and sympathy. In contrast negative politeness strategies are described as ‘softening devices’ such as being conventionally indirect and hedging.

In judging whether a politeness strategy was either positive or negative the context in which the comment was written was analyzed. The politeness strategies were divided into positive or negative politeness strategies as illustrated in tabl e 3.11 based on the descriptions of Brown and Levinson (1987).

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Table 3.11 Politeness Strategies Divided

Positive politeness strategies Negative politeness strategies

Jokes Minimize the imposition at the time of

Requests**

Intensify interest to the hearer / reader at the time of Comment openings / closings

Apologies Enhance the positive face of the addressee

when Expressing gratitude / thanks towards the addressee

***Hedging (Hedges on illocutionary force )

1. Notice, attend to H,

2. Exaggerate (interest, approval, sympathy) with H

3. Avoid disagreement and Assert common ground

through *Expressions of solidarity

(markers of support, agreement, requests as solidarity markers)

Be conventionally indirect at the time of expressing one ’s opinion or making suggestions)

Notice, attend to H through c ompliments

* Convey ‘X’ is admirable, interesting through claiming common ground and seeking agreement as in expressions of s y m p a t h y, a g r e e m e n t a n d s u p p o r t . These emoticons were attached to positive politeness strategies that emphasized support, approval, common ground and sympathy. Requests a s solidarit y markers often utilized the て く だ さ い ね+ emoticon pattern and were often used in the context of the writer showing concern for the readers health and welfare, to wish their readers luck, and the showing support which are categorized as a positive po liteness strategies under the Brown and Levinson (1987) framework .

**M i n i m i z e t h e i m p o s i t i o n a t t h e t i m e o f R e q u e s t s comprised of asking the reader to d o someth in g. R equ est s, wh ich were very infrequent within the data, usually comprised of the blog author asking blog comment writers for more comments and support.

*** Devices used to soften assertion or illocutionary force of the comment. The forcefuln ess or impact of the comment hedged.

The emoticons served to highlight or emphasize a politeness strategy and to clarify the pragmatic intention of the comment writer. Some emoticons were used specifically for negative politeness strategies such as the minimizing of imposition at the time of making requests as in the Japanese example 1, an emoticon t hat signifies bowing, and example 2, an emoticon with sweat on the side of the face indicating imposition or awkwardness of the imposition being made. Other emoticons such as the basic ^^ were predominantly used for positive politeness strategies.

However, emoticons were not rigidly used for one particular politeness strategy.

There was a flexibility with their usage, for example, there were some cases of overlap as in example 3 where the bowing emoticon highlights the positive politeness strategy of Noticing and attending to H (Hearer or in this case the reader) through praise or gratitude for work accomplished.

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1. ポ チ ッ と 応 援

↓ ↓ お 願 い し ま ー ー す m(__)m

Pochi’ to ouen onegaishimaasu Pochi’ and support please

2. 雄 斗君 、是 非う ちの 研究 所に 来て欲 し い (^_^;) Yutou kun, zehi uchi no kenkyu sho ni kite hoshii

Yuuto kun , I want you to come to my research institute(^_^;) 3. お 疲 れ 様 で す m(__)m

Otsukaresama desu. m(__)m (A set Japanese phrase with various meanings

dependent on context but which can be translated as to express gratitude for some work done).

The emoticon m ( _ _ ) m from example 1 above w h i c h i n d i c a t e s t h e a c t i o n o f b o w i n g a n d i s u s e d in the example t o i n d e x the minimizing of imposition at the time of making a r e q u e s t i s a n e x a m p l e o f a n e ga t i v e p o l i t e n e s s s t r a t e g y a c c o r d i n g t o t h e B r o w n & Le v i n s o n ’s ( 1 9 8 7 ) f r a m e w o r k . Ex a m p l e 5 u s e s t h e s a m e e m o t i c o n b u t here i s u s e d t o i n d ex the positive politeness strategy of s o l i d a r i t y a n d s u p p o r t f o r t h e r e a d e r w h o h a s b e e n s i c k a n d w o r k e d 1 2 d a ys s t r a i gh t , i t i s p u n c t u a t e d w i t h t h e お疲様で すm(__)m. Therefore indexes were classified according to the context that they were in rather than rigidly being classified according to the emoticon itself.

1. 風 邪が 完治 した ので すね 。安 心し まし た（＾ －＾） でも12日間 連続出 勤さ れ て たな んて 大変 でし たね （＞ ＜）お 疲 様ですm(__)m

Kaze ga kanchi shita no desune. Anshin shimashita （＾ －＾）demo 12 nichi kan renzoku syukkin saretetante taihen deshita ne （＞＜）otsukaresama desu m(__)m I am relieved to hear that your cold has cleared up but working 12 days straight must have been tough （ ＞＜ ）otsukaresamadesu m(__)m

In comparison to Japanese emoticons or kaomoji there was very little variation in the types of emoticons used by American blog users. American emoticons within the data mostly consisted of simple and basic emoticons, such as the basic smile :) and the

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wink ;). Emoticon use was again dependent on the context that the comments were written in and no one particular emoticon type was always attributed or attached to the same politeness strategy.

Within the American and Japanese data only text based emoticons had

significant totals in order to justify this classification and analysis. Graphic emoticons (smiley’s), emoji (pictograms) and codes (kigou) were rarely used at all as indexes to highlight politeness strategies and therefore an analysis was deemed not justified.

The politeness strategies as outlined in the above table 3.11 could be reciprocal, in that the blog author and blog comment author used these strategies directed at one another. In other cases the politeness strategies were more one way orientated as in for example the use of compliments and support towards the blog author and their blog.

Some as in requests usually came from the blog author towards their blog comment contributors. None of the politeness strategies were conducted in their entirety by comment writers or blog authors although some strategies were inclined to be used by comment writers than blog writers and vice a versa. Below is an overview of the directional flow of these politeness strategies as highlighted by emoticons.

Directional flow of Positive politenes s strategies

 Jokes

Used reciprocally in an exchange of informal ‘banter’ between comment writer and blog author.

 Comment openings and closings Used reciprocally.

 Expressing gratitude / thanks

Usually found in blog author comments that expressed thanks to their comment author’s for their comment contributions. There were cases however where blog comment authors thanked the blog author for their interesting, funny or informative blog posting.

 Expressions of solidarity

Usually found in comments directed towards the blog author that showed support for

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the blog, its content, and its author. However interactions between comment writer and blog author could be reciprocal with the blog author expressing similar sentiments towards their comment writers.

 Compliments

Usually found in comments directed towards the blog author

Directional flow of Negative politeness strategies

 Minimize the imposition at the time of Requests

Usually found in comments directed towards the blog comment author by the blog author (usually for more comments / support).

 Apologies

Very rarely used within the data but were used reciprocally.

 Hedging (Hedges on illocutionary force )

Usually found in comments directed towards the blog author when making an awkward or potentially threatening comment, however could be reciprocal with the blog author expressing similar sentiments that sought to show a shared understanding.

 Be conventionally indirect at the time of expressing one ’s opinion or making suggestions)

Usually found in comments directed towards the blog author when making opinions or suggestions that may be considered strong. Very rarely used by the blog author as these opinions / suggestions were usually the thoughts of the comme nt writer towards the blog author / blog content.