Sposoby wyrażania relacji dystansowych w formach adresatywnych polszczyzny na Litwie

Abstract

It is generally believed that distance forms of address are associated with the strategy of negative politeness that aims at the formality of contact and emphasizes social status of the partner, while non-distance forms of address implement positive politeness strategy that expresses solidarity, closeness, kindness towards the partner. However, studies of polite behaviour in different societies show that in communication both strategies intertwine and complement each other. Linguistic etiquette, as we know, is not only ethnically diverse, but also environmentally and regionally so. Polite behaviours adopted by the Polish community in Lithuania are not always consistent with the national practice. The purpose of this article is to show that this multicultural environment uses not only standard language measures, but also local ones, often formed under the influence of other languages, and having a specific pragmatic value. The article analyses linguistic data gathered by means of questionnaires in the years 2008-2011 within student environment. It consists of 920 speeches of various acts of request, differentiated depending on the addressee. They represent the language of the younger generation, which - in the best way - illustrates the latest trends in the Polish addresative system in Lithuania. The analysis of the collected data leads to the conclusion that all the peculiar, characteristic of the regional variant, forms of address, functioning laterally and somewhat on margin in regard to standard expressions, implement specific strategies of politeness and establish a different level of the distance between speakers in communication.