Abstract

A Socio-Pragmatic Study of Compliments and Compliment Responses in Americanand British Sitcoms

Hams Ali Hasan Kharboot, Bushra Ni'ma Rashed

Volume: 11 Issue: 1 2021

Abstract:

Compliments in general are an essential part of everyday interactions. People use compliments mainly to reinforce or encourage certain behaviours or acts, as well as to show admiration or praise a certain possession or trait. The researcher seeks to answer the following questions: What are the aspects that might affect the use of different compliment functions, topics and structures? What are the culture-based similarities and differences in the use of compliment responses between the American culture and the British one? What are the most frequently used strategies of compliments and compliment responses in each culture, and why? The results of the study have shown that there are social aspects that can affect the use of compliment functions, topics and structures, such as the social status, social distance and gender of the complimenter and complimentee. The results have also shown that the most commonly used compliment function is ‘Admiration’ in both American and British sitcoms even though it was hypothesized to be ‘reinforcement’.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.37648/ijrssh.v11i01.025

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