Abstract
The aim of the present study is to investigate the invitation-issuing strategies of Najdi Arabic speakers within the frameworks of speech act theory and politeness principles, highlighting the socio-pragmatic parameters of gender, social distance, and the in/formality of the speech event affecting strategy selection and modes of delivery. The data corpus consists of 112 instances of Najdi Arabic invitations extracted from informants’ WhatsApp instant messaging and extended on formal and less formal occasions. Major findings indicate that the in/formality of the invitational situation predicts the way in which invitations are extended either textually or digitally, regardless of social distance and gender. As for gender, males use blessings, performatives, and mood derivable most frequently regardless of the in/formality of the occasion. Females use performatives for formal occasions, whereas they employ want statements and suggestory formulas for less formal situations. The results indicate that indirectness is not universally equated with politeness because Najdi Arabic speakers reveal a tendency toward directness and imposition to convey interest in and affiliation with the invitee.
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