Conceptualization of (Im) politeness of Burmese and Rakhine Native Speakers in Myanmar

Wai Yan Min Oo; Vaskó Ildikó

doi:10.14456/bej.2024.2

Authors

Wai Yan Min Oo 2nd Year PhD Student in Linguistic Sciences/ Intercultural Linguistics, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary; Assistant Lecturer, Department of English, Mandalay University of Foreign Languages, Mandalay, Myanmar
Vaskó Ildikó Dr., Associate Professor with Habilitation, Head of Department, Department of Scandinavian Studies, ELTE Eötvös Loránd Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14456/bej.2024.2

Keywords:

politeness, impoliteness, Burmese, Rakhine, theoretical/folk-theoretic conceptualizations

Abstract

The terms "politeness" and "impoliteness" are defined in various ways by different scholars in the field of pragmatics. According to scholars of the discursive approach to politeness, those phenomena mainly differ on the point of actual participants and cultures. This study aimed to investigate the notions of politeness and impoliteness in the conceptualization of speakers of the Burmese and Rakhine languages of Myanmar within the framework of Theoretical/folk-theoretic conceptualizations (second order) by Kadar and Haugh (2013) is the theoretical standpoint of the current research. The qualitative research method was used to find out the required data. Data obtained from the interview of five participants from each ethnic group were analyzed with the help of the discourse analysis method. The most significant finding of this study is the tentative definitions of politeness and impoliteness of Burmese and Rakhine native speakers. In addition, commonalities and differences between the conceptualization of politeness in Rakhine and Burmese were also investigated. Hopefully, this present study will contribute to understanding politeness and impoliteness across cultures by providing universal and culturally distinctive components of (im)politeness in Myanmar.

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