Politeness approaches employed in Lubukusu verbal compliments

Abstract

This paper investigated the use of politeness strategies in Lubukusu compliments. It was specifically interested in how politeness is verbally expressed and how it is socially woven in the cultural fabric of the Bukusu community. Politeness is pivotal since it lays the foundation to seamless communication among interactants. It is thus upon this premise that the paper examined how varied politeness strategies are expressed through compliments. Data from field observations as well as audio recordings of conversations that occurred naturally from respondents in Bungoma County, Kenya was collected through an ethnographic technique. A total of 200 compliments were collected and analyzed using the tenets of Politeness theory by Brown and Levinson (1978, 1987). Findings reveal that politeness strategies are culture specific and Lubukusu speakers employ varied kinds of politeness strategies in their daily conversations. The paper thus concludes that politeness strategies play a crucial role in ensuring that effective communication takes place, apart from taking care of the face needs of those involved in the communication process