Construct · 1 fields · 1 citations

insult: a standalone construct

One name. One construct. A landmark on the map.

● anchor · a standalone construct Nearest construct by meaning·not indexed
insult1 CONSTRUCTVerbal insultBROWN & LEVINSON · FACE

A single standalone construct; nearby constructs are located against it in the Collider. Tap a field for its definition, unit, and measures.

Pragmatics

A verbal act that attacks face

In the pragmatics of politeness, an insult is a speech act that attacks a hearer's face (their public self-image) by conveying disrespect, contempt, or a lowered social standing. Brown and Levinson's Politeness: Some universals in language usage places such acts within the broader class of face-threatening acts and the strategies speakers use to soften or sharpen them. The referent is an interpersonal, communicative offence defined by its effect on standing and relationship, and it is a wholly different construct from a physical injury to tissue, sharing only the word.[1]

Unit
The degree of face threat an utterance conveys to the hearer
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Analysed through the directness of the act and the weight of the face threat given social distance, relative power, and the ranking of the imposition

Next

Run it through the Collider, or take the citations with you.

See how insult sits against neighbouring constructs in the Collider, or export every reference on this page in one click.

Open in ColliderExport BibTeXReport this entry

Nearby constructs

act2 fields · 2 citationsjingle · one word, two constructsadaptation5 fields · 7 citationsjingle · one word, five constructsagent3 fields · 5 citationsjingle · one word, three constructs

References

  1. Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521313551

Cited on this page?

Confirm your construct, or correct us.

If your work is cited behind one of these entries, you know better than we do whether we captured the meaning right. Confirm it, suggest an edit, or dispute it, and your name goes on the entry as an author who has checked it, linked to your ORCID.

Claim your construct