Date:    Sat, 21 Mar 1998 17:34:51 +0100
<br>From:    Mike FOX-ecki  mlisecki[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]FRIKO2.ONET.PL 
<br>Subject: indirect speech acts
<br>
<br>Dear linguists,
<br>A friend of mine is about to finish her MA thesis on politeness in Indirect
<br>Speech Acts (ISA). However, she's still having problems with the definition
<br>of ISA that would solve some problematic cases which she encountered in the
<br>course of gathering the language corpus (using a questionnaire):
<br>[said by a boss to a subordinate asking him to leave the office].
<br>a) Would you mind if I got back to XXXX.
<br>b) Right, you can go now, thanks.
<br>c) Thanks for dropping in. Can we talk later?
<br>[you want to ask a few youngsters for permission to open the window on a
<br>train]
<br>a) It wouldn't bother you if I open the window, would it?
<br>b) Excuse me, it's very hot in here. It will be cooler if I open the window.
<br>She is not also sure about the possible indirectness of the following
<br>schematic construction that for sure conveys politeness, but is it really
<br>indirect since it's so often used in its direct sense?
<br>[the situation remains the same as before but we refer to an old lady]
<br>a) Excuse me, would you mind if I opened the window?
<br>[ask a stranger to help you to put a heavy box into the car's trunk]
<br>a) Excuse me, could you give me a hand with this?
<br>Thanks in advance for any comments or remarks. All of them will be very
<br>helpful since we are not native speakers of English.
<br>tafn mike
<br>_______________________________________________________________
<br>Mike FOX-ecki  mlisecki[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]priv2.onet.pl  or  mlisecki[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]kki.net.pl 
<br>UIN [4324037]  IRC [lisu]  http://priv2.onet.pl/ka/mlisecki
<br>finger  magura[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]cz.top.pl  for my PGP key
<br>