Page 455 - The ISA Handbook in Contemporary Sociology

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426 THE ISA HANDBOOK IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGY

However, just as other types of conflicts can ‘Your Excellency wanted it WHEN?’ More
provoke social, political, economic or even subtly, speakers can choose forms which may
physical consequences, so too can the use of be considered annoying without being
a decidedly marked form, depending on the noticeably offensive to the ears of outsiders.
gravity of the social infraction and its inter- For instance, speakers may use address forms
pretation by others. or nicknames which they know are displeas-
The richness of the negotiated plane, given ing to the hearer. The variability in the
its individual character, makes it more inter- semantic interpretation of forms, and the
esting to analyze. The variability in prag- recognition that speakers can negotiate pat-
matic interpretation reveals how the desire terns of address which fall outside conven-
for conflict or cooperation can affect address tional norms, means that the speaker who
form use. Cooperation is evidenced by the wishes to provoke conflict in a subtle fashion
choice of forms accentuating agreement and has several tools at her disposal. In other
inclusion. This can be as straightforward as words, each form has its conventionalized
choosing the form or forms the speaker meaning, but it also carries the possibility for
knows the hearer most likes to hear. There a number of negotiated meanings; this flexi-
are also forms (diminutives, nicknames and bility in use allows for creative addressing
other terms of endearment, as well as forms strategies.
such as colega [colleague], camarada [com- Two forms whose use is particularly flexible
rade], ‘my friend’, whose very nature signals are colega (colleague) and the Zero Form
a similarity of situation. When speakers of (Avoidance Tactic), Level 4 of the schema in
American English hear a question along the Table 28.1. Conventionally, colega is inter-
lines of ‘So, what’s new, old friend, old pal?’ preted as a form of cooperation, emphasizing
they are probably tempted to ask the speaker the shared work situation of the two speakers.
what he wants. The use of these terms imme- Between colleagues of similar rank who are
diately points to the long relationship the two not particularly close, its use may pass unno-
have shared, which appears to confer legiti- ticed. By addressing a colleague of inferior
macy and perhaps commitment on the hearer rank as colega, one signals a desire to mini-
to respond to a request for ‘cooperation’ in mize distance, suggesting that the junior
the sense of help (a loan or some other type colleague need not ‘stand on ceremony’.
of service). For many speakers, use of these However, estranged colleagues of equal rank,
address forms is so closely connected to the who formerly used other address forms, may
presumed request, that the supposedly sub- choose colega to be conventionally polite
stantive part of the exchange, asking for news while still maintaining distance (see also
about the other, may not even be internalized Bing’s 1995 discussion of ambiguity in
as a question. Another strategy for building address). This form can also be used to avoid
cooperation is to attempt to renegotiate a acknowledging the superior rank of an adver-
change in the unmarked pattern of address, sary. Given colega’s unmarked interpretation
towards forms whose conventionalized inter- of cooperation, this tactic disguises the under-
pretation denotes greater intimacy. lying conflict. Use of ‘my esteemed colleague’
Strategies for displaying or creating con- is much less subtle; conventionally politeness
flict can be overt or subtle. Overt expressions is again signaled, but intonation and gestures
of conflict include the overuse of titles can key an alternative interpretation.
(delivered perhaps with a certain ‘bite’), The Zero Form/Avoidance Tactic is con-
which we might classify as over-adherence to sidered a ‘neutral’ option. It gives speakers
the norm, or the omission of such titles when more time to consider an appropriate form
their use would be expected. People express and hear how they are addressed. However,
extreme anger by selecting a form as distant societal expectations are that speakers will,
from the unmarked form as possible, as in within a reasonable period, select a form