contrastive analysis of compliments in bulgarian and english

7/23/2019 Contrastive Analysis of Compliments in Bulgarian and English

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Contrastive analysis of

compliments in Modern English

and Bulgarian



The Aim of the Current Research is

• To analyze the structure and function of

the compliment as a speech act

•To present speech formulas for makingcompliments in both languages

• To make comparison beteen

contemporary English and Bulgarian

compliments



The Meaning of Compliment in

English

!" an e#pression of praise$ commendation$or admiration% A sincere complimentboosts one&s morale"

'" a formal act or e#pression of civility$respect$ or regard% The mayor paid himthe compliment of escorting him"

(" compliments$ a courteous greeting) goodishes) regards% *e sends you hiscompliments"



The meaning of Compliment in

Bulgarian

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Dn iscourse Fragmatics

• Compliments are e#pressions of positive

evaluation that commonly occur ineveryday conversational encounters

among interlocutors of eGual or higher

status"



A compliment may be used

• To open a conversation

• to smooth conversational interaction by

reinforcing the links of solidarity beteen

the interlocutors"



Dncluded in the social strategy$ the function of the

compliment is to establish and maintainsolidarity beteen the speaker and addressee

HIolfson$ Manes !JKL" According to Bron and

Nevinson HBron$ Nevinson !JKO this function is

an e#pression of positive politeness$ hich

consists of a search of a common ground ith

the addressee$ a part of a group of people ho

share specific goals and values"



Complimenting as a social strategy is

used to make the hearer feel good about

himself$ his interests or possessions$ andis most usually used in situations here

the audience knos each other fairly ell"



Complimenting in English

Dn varieties of English such as American

HIolfson$ !JKK) Manes P Iolfson$ !JK!$

!JK( research has shon that

compliments are formulaic in terms of both

their meaning and forms used to

compliment other people" Qor e#ample$

ith regard to their meaning$ complimentsare mainly realized by means of adjectives

and verbs.



Dn American English

• the maority Happroximately two thirds are

compliments realized by means of five

adectives% nice$ good$ beautiful$ pretty$

and great"

• And the maority are realized through the

combination of to verbs Happroximately

90%) such as like and love"



Iith respect to their form

• Almost KLS of the compliments are

realized in three patterns given and

received by middleclass speakers of

American English) of these$ the first one

seems to be the most common structure

chosen by U"V" Americans%



• Wour hair looks nice X Youn Fhrase Z

is[looks[ Hreally Adective

• D like your car X D Hreally like[love Z YounFhrase

• That&s a nice tie X HFR\ Hreally Ha

Adective Z Youn Fhrase



Iith regard to gender differences

• females tend to give and receive more

compliments to and from other females

and males

• hile males tend to give more

compliments to omen Hoverall

appearance

• and$ to a lesser degree$ to other males"



Complimenting in Bulgarian

• Compliments in Bulgarian are also mainly

realized by formulas ith a limited choice

of adectives and verbs" Compliments in

Bulgarian are often associated ith

appearance$ skills$ as ell as personality

traits" The most freGuently used adectives

are% 6?17$ 4./-.1,/0$ ,@.165@/0$-.1,27$ ;-$ <5@20



Concerning their form

Most common Bulgarian compliments have

an e#clamation character %

• ]53-5 ,2 6?171 @182 ,[email protected]^ Adverb

Z _erb Z Adective Z Youn

• @.165@01 -531^ Adective Z

Youn

• `5-3;@1 @2 ,@52 4./-.1,05^ Youn Z

personal pronoun Z _erb Z Adective



Compared to gender differences$

omen in Bulgaria tend to do more

compliments to other omen than men"



The true nature of the compliment is more

than an occasional remark and is realized

in a dialogue seGuence" Compliments take

the first position in the local organization of

the dialogue" esigned for a recipient$ itreGuires compliment response in the

second position verbal or nonverbal$

nonpreferred or preferred Nevinson!JK("



Compliment is closely linked ith praise% in

semantic plan both speech acts containpositive assessments of the Guality$characteristics$ condition$ activity or obect

relevant to the addressee" But hile praisemay be depersonalized$ complimentreGuires to be accepted by the person epraise and to be correlated to him[her$

hether he is directly addressed or a thirdparty in the dialogue"



Qishing for Compliments

Compliments are a special &lu#ury& in verbalcommunication and can not be used at any time" Theyare found more often in the beginning of the verbalinteraction and sometimes are even included in the

strategies to initiate conversation" Vince by definitioncompliment comments something ne and une#pected$in case it remains unnoticed by one interlocutor$ theother can turn his attention and direct it toards makinga compliment" Thats hy in both languages e can find

similar phrases like% fishing for compliments and 4.5,;,2 -5:432:/0@"



The compliment as a speech act in the first

position of the dialogue initiates positivetalk hich can be adopted in differentays by the addressee and creates

opportunities for a ide variety ofreactions" Even hen e#pressed in speechact and in compliance ith all conditionsfor successful use$ the compliment can get

either a preferred or a nonpreferredresponse"



The interlingual comparison that follos

compares dialogue seGuences Compliment Response made by English interlocutors from

three Englishspeaking communities HAmerican$

British and Vouth African and similar dialogues

e#changed by Bulgarian students in a realtime

situation" The data in English are taken from the

publications of Fomerantz Fomerantz!JOK and

*erbert *erbert!JKJ"



Qunction of the compliment in

Bulgarian and English language

• A: That’s beautiul!

• ": Than# you!

• A: $&'(*' +,'

-'/!

• : ,'12'&3!

!" E#pressing gratitude



'" Acceptance ith a comment

• 4: 5 li#e your jac#et.

": 6eah7 it’s cool.

• 4:8&+&'*

-;1,<2'/ ';-

=&-*!

: >'7 ?-@+ * '&+?.



(" Reecting the compliment and degrading

the praise

• 4: 6ou are a very

Bood rower!

• C: 6ou should have

seen me in mytwenties.

• 4:D=2* - -

';- &+,3!

• : E7 1,3' - .



" Comment history

• 4: 5 love that outit!

• C: 5 Bot it or the trip to

AriFona.

• A: E'&?' -

G=?+- -!

• : H=-( 1- &2-

2? 12-*- I'*-3. $'&-

- -;&-('7 ?;(

1- *' &J-3.



" Reassignment of the compliment

• 4: Khat’s a beautiul

sweater!

• C: Lid you inish the

assiBnment or todayM

• 4: N(7 @ 3+-

'&'*+-!

• : O,2' ,- '@'

?@&'M



" Accepting the compliment as a reGuest

• 4: 5 li#e your shirt!

• C: 6ou can borrow it

anytime.

4: E=G'? +,,!

:I+'/ ,- 2*

+&P1@M



O" Fositive acceptance of the compliment

• Yo e#amples in

English

• 4: I;1,<2'/

&'(*!

• : Q7 R

@&3!



• As a result of this comparison e can concludethat in both languages compliments have similar

functions ith some minor differences" Thefunction Reassignment of the compliment ishardly found in the Bulgarian language$ hile inEnglish is a polite reason to change the subectand to start another topic"

• Dn case number O the function of the complimentis to sho that the reply D&ll treat you^ Ihat illyou have for a drink in such responses islimited to a verbal gesture that marks the

e#aggerated praise of the evaluation e#pressedby the compliment" This is typical Bulgarianusage"



ConclusionDn conclusion e can say that in both languagescompliments have a similar function% to serve as ameans of reinforcing the links of solidarity and affiliationbeteen interlocutors and to be a ay of smoothingconversation" Compliments in Contemporary English andBulgarian language follo similar speech act formulas"The difference is in the parts of speech$ constructing thecompliment in both languages and in the freGuency oftheir use" Ihile in the English culture compliments areemployed to jbreak the ice in an initial encounter and

are part of the negotiating strategy of the conversation$in the Bulgarian culture they are less common and canbe uttered only by intimates or good acGuaintances"They are rarely used beteen strangers"

contrastive analysis of compliments in bulgarian and english

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