Politeness among The Swahili of Mombasa

A Family Perspective

Abstract

This paper discusses politeness strategies within the Swahili community of Mombasa. It focuses on households and specifically on wife and husband interactions to discover what strategies are used and how effective they are. This paper argues that wives and husbands in Swahili households hold mutual feelings and affections that each must mind in communication. The paper uses the Politeness Principle (1978) that looks at politeness on a minimum maximum politeness scale in the relationship between speaker (self) and hearer (other). The six maxims proposed by Leech are discussed and it is shown how they guide a marriage to make it stable, fruitful and friendly, eventually a polite institution. Often in the Mombasa family units, requests are made indirectly and so are corrections. Affective use is also used to make the interactions fruitful. Politeness between the husband and wife seems to rest on a power balance where more politeness is expected of a wife.