Vol. 12:4 (2021) ► pp.537–566
Compliments and compliment responses in Egyptian and Saudi Arabic
A variational pragmatic comparison
The current study reports on a variational pragmatic comparison of compliments and compliment responses between Egyptian and Saudi Arabic. Data were collected by using Discourse Completion Tasks from 443 Egyptian and 428 Saudi undergraduates, and were analyzed using adaptations of Yuan’s (2002) and Herbert’s (1986) models. The results reveal significant differences in politeness management between Egyptian and Saudi youth, particularly with Egyptians producing more explicit compliment strategies and Saudis showing stronger preference for implicit compliment strategies and combination patterns. Less difference is noted in compliment responses with only Egyptians exhibiting higher use of additional strategies. The findings are interpreted in light of politeness theory and the interplay between cultural values and linguistic behavior.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Literature review
- 2.1Variational pragmatic studies
- 2.2Compliment and compliment response studies in Arabic
- 3.Research questions
- 4.Method
- 4.1Participants
- 4.2Instrument
- 4.3Data collection
- 4.4Data coding
- 5.Results
- 5.1How similar are compliment strategies in Egyptian and Saudi Arabic?
- 5.2How similar are compliment response strategies in Egyptian and Saudi Arabic?
- 6.Discussion
- 7.Pedagogical implications and research directions
- 8.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
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References
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.18037.eld