THE PRAGMATICS OF FORMALITY AND POLITENESS IN BURUSHASKI AND SHINA

Abstract

A Welsh proverb says 'Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon'. A nation without a language is a nation without a heart (Crystal, 1989). Language is often seen to have very close relationship with ethnic groups and nations as well as nationalism (Smith, 1986; Giles, 1977; Brass, 1974). Thus, wherever human beings exist, language exists. There are said to be between three thousand and five thousand languages spoken in the world today (Comrie, 1990; Britannica; Wardhaugh, 1987) . According to Chomsky ' s theo ries all languages, despite surface differences are governed by universal properties like Universal Grammar which is regarded as the "essence of human language" (Cook, 1991). The theory of Universal Grammar holds that speakers of a language know a set of principles that apply to all languages, and parameters vary within clearly defined limits from one language to another. The grammar therefore needs a way of describing actual sounds, a phonetic representation;