Personal Authonomy and Making

Requests in English Discourse

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PERSONAL AUTONOMY (FREEDOM FROM IMPOSITION - cultural script)

The longer the request the more polite is the request - tipycally
You cannot ask someone to do something/impose —> not invaded since XVI cent.
There are speci c Anglo cultural scripts which prescribe saying to someone want you to do this".
This has to do with the importance of personal autonomy and freedom from imposition in Anglo
culture. These scripts are re ected in English words and expressions and in how people speak
when they want someone to do something:
- To act under pressure, to put pressure on someone, emotional blackmailing
- To o er / to invite / to suggest (it's only a suggestion)
- Could you..? / Would you ..? instead of Do it! or even please, do it
- Whimperatives: Would you like to...? / How about...? / Why don't you...? (never I) - bare
imperatives
- It's up to you
I’m considering the interlocutor freedom of Choice

There are speci c, culturally appropriate ways of asking someone to do something in English
discourse. First of all, one cannot say *I ask you to do it. The absence of this syntactic
construction says a lot about the underlying cultural scripts. Wierzbicka calls it “a revealing
ethnopragmatic gap" (Goddard Ch.2). Da leggere!!
The problem lies in the 1st person perspective and present tense: while it is perfectly possible to
say She asked me to pick up her kids, one does not say I ask you to pick up my kids.
The progressive I'm asking you could be used to clarify one's request or when one
gives a reason for one's request: “I am not patronizing you, Johnny, I am asking you to tidy your
room.” That's why I am asking you to become a member of the ASPCA.
In some languagaes it’a accetable (Italian and slavian languages: Polish, Russian, …)
Secondly, in English bare imperatives are generally avoided (there are exceptions):
*Tell me the time!
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 *Do it now!
*Waiter, bring me another bottle of water!
*Nurse, help me!
In addition, in Anglo countries and English discourse it is considered inappropriate to put
emotional pressure on other people when one wants someone to do something. One can say I
beg you!, I beseech you! or I implore you! but begging and pleading are associated with children's
behaviour, not with adults' behaviour, andare seen as an assault on other people's personal
autonomy.

Cultural script of
personal autonomy/
freedom from
imposition

English has many

words importend from
anglo-saxon,
germanic, latin (from
French) - many words
of same signi cato (?)
but di erent use, like
Aid vs Help, Intelligent
and Clever, liberty and
freedom (from
imposition/evil/ much
more cultural
expression)

Deontic Modality in English expressed through lexical verbs - search for de nition
1. You’d better not (had not would) act before seeking advice from an expert.
2. I would rather spend the money on something else.
3. I'd rather you waited until you were a bit older.
4. I'd rather you didn't go in there.
5. Her words are not to be taken seriously.
6. She had the girls clean his bicycle.
7. She had her tickets booked by the agency.
8. My mum doesn't let me take her car.
9. Let go of me!
10. I was made to do it even though I didn't want.
11. It makes me feel sad to think of how many animals are mistreated by humans.
12. It's just one of those things that make you re ect a lot about life.

Have someone do something is used when there is a hierarchical relationship between speaker
and hearer. The speaker can tell the hearer to do something and the hearer cannot say "I don't
want to do it'". However, the speaker does not want to impose on the hearer and does not put
pressure on the hearer. The speaker assumes the hearer’s readiness to take directions. It implies
willing to perform the act, which is why the hearer has to be human (*I had the dog eat the bone).
The speaker wants something to happen to some object, not to the hearer.
Make someone do something is used to put pressure on someone who does not want to do
something. The action is not performed willingly.
Let someone do something expresses 'non-interference', 'non-imposition'. It means not stopping
someone who wants to do something. The speaker knows that the hearer wants to do something
and will do it only if he/she can; the speaker knows that he/she
can prevent the hearer from doing it, but does not stop the hearer and therefore does not act.

Triumph of Suggestion
1. Here are some ideas you might like to try out if you want to change drinking habits.
2. Perhaps you might consider selling it to the Church when you leave.
3. I would suggest you see an independent mortgage adviser to work out the viability.
4. May I suggest that we try out a new coach for the next friendly?
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5. Perhaps you could look out for some elementary books for me that I could use with Emily.
What English speakers say when they “suggest”:
- Perhaps you would like to think about..
- I would suggest that..
- It would be nice if..
What English speakers mean when they "suggest":
+ This is an order. Do it or be prepared to justify yourself.
What is understood:
• Think about the idea, but do what vou like.
—> It’s again a matter of IMPLICATURE.

Beyond suggestion
Using I wonder if.:
- I wonder if you could look out for a book for me.
- I wonder if you could help me, please.
- I wonder if you could put me onto somebody who could talk to me about that.
- I wonder if I might ask for your invaluable advice.
- I was wondering if could talk about this in private later.
In this case, the request is not even formulated as a suggestion, but as a question to oneself. It is
as if one were speaking one's mind aloud, so that the hearer can know what I am thinking of
doing. - The more oblique you are, the more appropriate

Freedom from imposition also means that one should not impose one's opinion or way of thinking
on other people: "However attached we may be to our own opinions, and however convinced of
their validity, we must not seek to 'impose' those opinions on other people, and in speaking to
others we must show that we respect their autonomy and their right to hold opinions di erent
from our own" (Wierzbicka 2006:54)
In my opinion / in my view / as I see it / it seems to me are all used to express the idea that this is
how I think, and I'm not trying to impose myself on you. I’m respecting your autonomy as an
individual.
Distinguish what you know from what you think, and what you think from what other people think

ITALIAN IMPOSITION
Ti prego! Ti supplico! Ti scongiuro!
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 E dai! / Vieni! / Chiamami! / Passami a prendere alle 7 / Dammi un passaggio
Fammi sapere / Fammi un favore
Mi dici che stai combinando? / Vieni o no?
Mi raccomando! (Remember to do as I say/Don’t forget ..) —> Violates two cultural scripts:
personal autonomy and imposes feelings
Di erently from English, in Italian it is acceptable to put emotional pressure on someone when one
wants this person to do somethine. This can create problems and miscommunication in
intercultural interactions.

Making request in English and Russian

"the key di erence in meaning between the Russian and Anglo English ‘requests' lies in the
presence vs. absence of an implied expectation that the addressee will do what the speaker
wants him or her to do. From a Russian cultural point of view, it is natural for the speaker to
convey an expectation that the addressee will comply with the 'request'. This is why not only is an
imperative acceptable but also a whole range of other devices is available for highlighting this
expectation and even 'putting pressure' on the addressee to do what the speaker wants.
—> Asking someone to do something vs Ask someone to something for me (more imposing)
- Ja vas pros’u \ 'I ask you'
- Ja vas oc'en' pros”u \ 'I ask you very much'
- Ja vas ubeditel'no pros'u \ ’I ask you convincingly
- Bud’te dobry, sdelajte 'eto \ ’Be (so) good, do it'
- Bud’te liubezny, sdelajte eto \ ’Be (so) kind, do it’
- Nu, poz "alujsta \ ’Come on, please'

"it does make sense to posit Russian cultural scripts encouraging people to amplify their
'requests' in various culturally appropriate ways - not to problematize them by expressing
uncertainty about the outcome but to simultaneously 'soften' and strengthen them by expressing
good feelings towards the addressee, typically, by means of diminutives” Synok, pomogi. lit.
'son.DIM help [me]'
Sestric ka, prinesite stakanc"ik vodic ki. lit. 'sister.DIM bring [me] water.DIM'
(To a nurse: 'Dear little sister, bring me a dear little glass of dear llittle water.’)

Reading Materials: Wierzbicka 2006, Frese 2019 ch7

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