International Journal of Language and Linguistics

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How Do the Vietnamese Lose Face? Understanding the Concept of Face through Self-Reported, Face Loss Incidents

Received: 28 April 2014    Accepted: 17 May 2014    Published: 30 May 2014
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Abstract

In Western universal theory, face has been considered as an individual possession, a fundamental motivation for politeness and driven by the concern for autonomy as well as the desire to be free from imposition. However, research on face and politeness in a number of East Asian countries has provided evidence that such a way of conceptualizing face may not be valid to these cultures and languages. Given the scarcity of research on the concept of face in Vietnamese, this paper explores face in Vietnamese by means of self-reported incidents where a sense of face loss (mất mặt or mất thể diện) was felt. Scenarios reconstructed from collected authentic incidents were used to examine whether different participants responded in the same way to situations perceived as potentially causing loss of face. The findings have confirmed that face in Vietnamese is both an individual and collective possession and a subjective value, conditionally dependent on social evaluation.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20140203.21
Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 2, Issue 3, May 2014)
Page(s) 223-231
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Face, Vietnamese, Politeness, Face Loss

References
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  • Hue University of Foreign Languages, Hue city, Vietnam

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    Pham Thi Hong Nhung. (2014). How Do the Vietnamese Lose Face? Understanding the Concept of Face through Self-Reported, Face Loss Incidents. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 2(3), 223-231. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20140203.21

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    Pham Thi Hong Nhung. How Do the Vietnamese Lose Face? Understanding the Concept of Face through Self-Reported, Face Loss Incidents. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2014, 2(3), 223-231. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20140203.21

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    Pham Thi Hong Nhung. How Do the Vietnamese Lose Face? Understanding the Concept of Face through Self-Reported, Face Loss Incidents. Int J Lang Linguist. 2014;2(3):223-231. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20140203.21

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20140203.21,
      author = {Pham Thi Hong Nhung},
      title = {How Do the Vietnamese Lose Face? Understanding the Concept of Face through Self-Reported, Face Loss Incidents},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {2},
      number = {3},
      pages = {223-231},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20140203.21},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20140203.21},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20140203.21},
      abstract = {In Western universal theory, face has been considered as an individual possession, a fundamental motivation for politeness and driven by the concern for autonomy as well as the desire to be free from imposition. However, research on face and politeness in a number of East Asian countries has provided evidence that such a way of conceptualizing face may not be valid to these cultures and languages. Given the scarcity of research on the concept of face in Vietnamese, this paper explores face in Vietnamese by means of self-reported incidents where a sense of face loss (mất mặt or mất thể diện) was felt. Scenarios reconstructed from collected authentic incidents were used to examine whether different participants responded in the same way to situations perceived as potentially causing loss of face. The findings have confirmed that face in Vietnamese is both an individual and collective possession and a subjective value, conditionally dependent on social evaluation.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    AB  - In Western universal theory, face has been considered as an individual possession, a fundamental motivation for politeness and driven by the concern for autonomy as well as the desire to be free from imposition. However, research on face and politeness in a number of East Asian countries has provided evidence that such a way of conceptualizing face may not be valid to these cultures and languages. Given the scarcity of research on the concept of face in Vietnamese, this paper explores face in Vietnamese by means of self-reported incidents where a sense of face loss (mất mặt or mất thể diện) was felt. Scenarios reconstructed from collected authentic incidents were used to examine whether different participants responded in the same way to situations perceived as potentially causing loss of face. The findings have confirmed that face in Vietnamese is both an individual and collective possession and a subjective value, conditionally dependent on social evaluation.
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