Approaches to Identifying the Compliment Data

Abstract

Scholars' interest in the speech act of complimenting has grown over the years for many reasons one of which is its being robust with sociolinguistic information. However, it appears that many studies still grapple with what the compliment is because of its nature which has been described to be naturally ubiquitous and many times overlapping with other speech functions. In addition, fieldwork experiences have also called for the need to define the compliment although some scholars have argued that there is no need to define the act. In this paper, we glean from fieldwork experiences and data analysis in a study of 1200 compliments in Nigerian English to support the claim that a definition is needful and to propose some defining characteristics (termed approaches) that might be useful for those researching on the compliment data.

The Use of Compliment Response Strategies among Iranian Learners of English: Researching Interlocutors' Relative Power and Gender

“…Compliments are among the most frequently studied speech acts in pragmatic research (Yu, 2003). A large number of researchers have systematically investigated this speech act from various aspects and in different contexts (e.g., Ahar & Eslami-Rasekh, 2011;Al-Khateeb, 2009;Chen & Yang, 2010;Cheng, 2011;Golato, 2002;Holmes, 1988;Holmes & Brown, 1987;Huth, 2006;Johnson, 1992;Jucker, 2009;Mustapha, 2012;Rees-Miller, 2011;Tang & Zhang, 2009;Wolfson, 1981;Yu, 2003Yu, , 2004.…”

“…Rees-Miller's (2011) study took gender as the departure point to compare men and women's ways of complimenting and the different settings in which they paid compliments. Recently, Mustapha (2012) attempted, by means of studying 1200 compliments in Nigerian English, to identify the defining characteristics that can be of help to those researching on compliments. Ahar and Eslami-Rasekh (2011) examined the effect on the gratitude of social status and the size of imposition among Iranian EFL learners and American native speakers.…”

The concept of complimenting in light of the Moore language in Burkina Faso

“…I opted for the second alternative, providing data to support my hypothetical types. Mustapha (2012a) observes that researchers into complimenting are split over the necessity or not to provide a working definition for their subject since, on the one hand, "compliments make themselves readily identifiable [by native speakers] in discourse" but, on the other hand, are also complex in nature and multi-functional as a speech act, and furthermore display a lot of similarity with speech acts of the same pool such as praising, congratulating, and flattering (for a distinction between them, see also Lewandowska-Tomaszcyk (1989)). I contend with Mustapha (2012a) that a definition of complimenting is needed, though I would advocate for culture-specific descriptions rather than culture-specific definitions, that is, descriptions of its varied realisation patterns across cultures rather than attempts to work out definitions that vary from culture to culture.…”

“…I contend with Mustapha (2012a) that a definition of complimenting is needed, though I would advocate for culture-specific descriptions rather than culture-specific definitions, that is, descriptions of its varied realisation patterns across cultures rather than attempts to work out definitions that vary from culture to culture. Based on his field work experience and analysis of 1200 compliment data from speakers of Nigerian English in Lagos, Mustapha (2012b) has also resorted to the modification of some of the definitions in the literature to fit part of his data and to distinguish them from, say, praises and congratulations. Though modification may be necessary for the definition of complimenting, I contend that we should rather begin by taking the classical definition more strictly.…”