Politeness-Logo Brown & Levinson 1987: FTA → S's 'face'

S's-negative face (i)

Those that offend S's negative face:

  1. expressing thanks (S accepts a debt, humbles his own face)
     
  2. acceptance of H's thanks or H's apology (S may feel constrained to minimize H's debt or transgression, as in 'It was nothing, don't mention it.')
     
  3. excuses (S indicates that he thinks he had good reason to do, or fail to do, an act which H has just criticized; this may constitute in turn a criticism of H, or at least cause a confrontation between H's view of things and S's view)
     
  4. acceptance of offers (S is constrained to accept a debt, & to encroach upon H's negative face)
     
  5. responses to H's faux pas (if visibly notices a prior faux pas, he may cause embarrassment to H; if he pretends not to, he may be discomfited himself)
     
  6. unwilling promise and offers (S commits himself to some future action although he doesn't want to; therefore, if his unwillingness shows, he may also offend H's positive face)
 

S's-positive-face (ii)

Those that directly damage S's positive face:

  1. apologies (S indicates that he regrets doing a prior FTA, thereby damaging his own face to some degree ­ especially if the apology is at the same time a confession with H learning about the transgression through it, and the FTA thus conveys bad news)
     
  2. acceptance of a compliment (S may feel constrained to denigrate the object of H´s prior compliment, thus damaging his own face; or he may feel constrained to compliment H in turn)
     
  3. breakdown of physical control over body, bodily leakage, stumbling or falling down, etc.
     
  4. self-humiliation, shuffling or cowering, acting stupid, self-contradicting
     
  5. confessions, admissions of guilt or responsibility ­ e.g. for having done or not done an act, or for ignorance of something that S is expected to know
     
  6. emotion leakage, non-control of laughter or tears
 

(iii)

Those acts that predicate some desire of S toward H or H's goods, giving H reason to think that he may have to take action to protect the object of S's desire, or give it to S:

  1. compliments, expressions of envy or admiration (S indicates that he likes or would like something of H's)
     
  2. expressions of strong (negative) emotions toward H - e.g. hatred, anger, lust (S indicates possible motivation for harming H or H's goods)
Literatur

Brown, Penelope & Levinson, Stephen (1987) Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge u.a.: Cambridge University Press; weitere Literatur