Negotiating Price in the Elopement of the Sasak Culture: Politeness Acts in Disagreeing

Abstract

This study looks at how Sasak culture members employ diplomatic techniques to express disapproval when haggling over costs during elopement rites. Politeness gestures are language techniques for reducing face-threatening behaviours, such arguments, in order to preserve good social ties. Price negotiation inevitably happened during recorded discussions, which were analysed qualitatively for the study. The politeness theory developed by Brown and Levinson (1987) was used to assess the transcripts of the discussions. According to the research, interlocutor employ several politeness techniques when disagreeing, depending on the situation and their relationship to the other person. In situations where price of elopement is being discussed, interlocutors prefer to keep the relationship going over minimising face-threatening actions by using more positive politeness and off-the-record politeness techniques. Token agreement, pseudo-agreement, hedging opinions, comedy, and jokes all help to achieve positive politeness. The off-record politeness is realised through presupposing, overstating, metaphor, a rhetorical question, and irony. These findings contribute to our understanding of how interlocutors use language to manage social relationships in the context of disagreement. Findings of the present study may have implications for intercultural communication and conflict resolution, particularly in the context of negotiation skills and strategies involved in the post-elopement event among the Sasak.