Requests as speech acts in Zulu

Abstract

In this article I attempt a tentative analysis of requests in Zulu against the background of speech act theory and politeness theory. Data collected by means of discourse completion tests were analysed using the CCSARP methodology and were found to have an unexpectedly high directness rating, which standard politeness theory would associate with low politeness. As such a conclusion cannot be valid, I am led to question the claims of universality made by the proponents of politeness theory and to ask what assumptions and methods might be more appropriate for the analysis of requests in Zulu.