Negative politeness and requests in isiXhosa

Abstract

Little attention has been paid in research to the pragmatic nature of politeness and requests in isiXhosa. This article presents an analysis of negative politeness and requests in isiXhosa employing specific theories of speech acts and requests. The research methodology employed includes a range of relatively new aspects with respect to both the compilation and analysis of empirical data. The article will invoke evidence from isiXhosa to call into question the universality of the claim made by the proponents of politeness theory notably, Brown and Levinspn (1978).