Indexicality and (Im)politeness

Abstract

This chapter argues that frameworks that address the indexical properties of natural language provide a unified and coherent account of diverse phenomena that are crucial to the study of (Im)politeness. Studies of indexicality have typically explored deictic systems, of which honorifics are but a subset (‘social deixis’), but have also addressed the semiotic potential of linguistic resources. Indexicality can provide a paradigm that theorises the link between linguistic phenomena and typical concerns of (Im)politeness research (e.g. self- and other-evaluation and positioning, registers, or sociolinguistic variation). Additionally, this chapter argues that a socioculturally oriented indexical approach can be extended to account for the social currency of normative behaviours, the recognisability or (stereo)typification of social personae or identities, or the transmission and transformation of ideologies of language use.