Face-Threatening vs. Face-Saving Acts in English and Spanish Politeness

Summary

This document compares how English and Spanish express politeness through the concepts of face-threatening acts and face-saving acts. It defines face, explains direct commands and indirect requests, and illustrates both with a classroom example involving a student and a teacher. It also discusses why Spanish politeness should be understood through metapragmatics rather than judged as impolite.

Key points

Face is the emotional and social sense of self that people expect others to recognize, i.e. one's public self-image.
Face-threatening acts threaten another person's self-image and are common in direct commands, especially in Spanish.
Direct commands imply social power and become face-threatening when used by someone who lacks that authority.
Face-saving acts lessen the threat to another's face and are frequent in indirect requests, which are characteristic of British English.
A direct command such as 'María, ven aquí un momento, por favor' can be polite in Spanish with an appropriate tone and the marker 'por favor'.
Spanish politeness should be analysed from a metapragmatic viewpoint rather than judged as impolite by Spanish society's own critics.

Test yourself

Face-Threatening Acts vs. Face-Saving Acts in English and Spanish

As reported by Yule, in the study of linguistic politeness, the more relevant concept is “face,” described as “the emotional and social sense of self that everyone has and expects everyone else to recognize” (2017: 148). In other words, one’s public self-image. One of the most withstanding differences between English and Spanish politeness is the usage of face-threatening and face-saving acts.

What are Face-Threatening Acts?

Face-threatening acts could be considered statements that represent a threat to another person’s self-image, quite used in direct commands and notably common in Spanish. These direct commands imply a sense of social power and are seen as face-threatening acts when someone who lacks this authority uses them.

What are Face-Saving Acts?

On the other hand, face-saving acts are statements that lessen the possible threat to another person’s face. They are fairly frequent in indirect requests, withdrawing this way the previously mentioned social power. These acts are one of the particularities of British English.

Examples of Face-Threatening and Face-Saving Acts

To illustrate this point, a Spanish university student would ask the teacher to approach saying María, ven aquí un momento, por favor (Maria, come here a moment, please). This sentence would be considered a face-threatening act due to the fact that the student is using a direct command to address someone of a higher social status. However, it would not be considered rude or impolite if said with an appropriate tone and using the politeness marker por favor.

Notwithstanding, a British student would say Mr. James, would you mind coming here for a moment, please? This is a face-saving act articulated as an indirect request in the form associated with a question that respects the social distance between the student and the teacher. In contrast, if a British student said Maria, come here a moment, please to a teacher, he or she would be breaking the boundaries of social power; hence it would be considered extremely impolite.

Understanding Cultural Differences in Politeness

This means that rather than regarding Spanish society as bad-mannered and impolite, one should take into consideration other metapragmatic factors. As Ardila states, “Understanding Spanish politeness from the viewpoint of metapragmatics is a crucial must – since many Spanish sociologists and intellectuals have traditionally regarded Spanish society to be conspicuously impolite” (2017: 204).

FAQ

What is a face-threatening act?

A face-threatening act is a statement that threatens another person's self-image. In the document, it is illustrated by direct commands, which imply social power and become face-threatening when used by someone without that authority.

What is a face-saving act?

A face-saving act is a statement that lessens the possible threat to another person's face. The document says these are frequent in indirect requests, such as 'Mr. James, would you mind coming here for a moment, please?'

Why is a direct command not always rude in Spanish?

According to the document, a direct command like 'María, ven aquí un momento, por favor' is not considered rude when said with an appropriate tone and the politeness marker 'por favor'.