Politeness Strategies in Colloquial Cameroon English: Focus on Three Pragmatic Particles: na, ya and eihn

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine some politeness strategies in Cameroon English. A close monitoring of colloquial or informal Cameroon English speech reveals the use of a number of pragmatic particles for expressing a broad range of attitudinal functions, among which politeness. The most conspicuous of these particles are na, ya and eihn generally said with a rising intonation. This paper intends to show that these particles, which are comparable to numerous others documented in other varieties of English, are used by both male and female speakers, albeit with a general tendency by female Cameroon English speakers to use them more frequently than their male counterparts. The implication is that politeness strategies are universal and that speakers of each language in general and of each variety of English in particular make use of similar strategies to express a wide range of attitudinal functions, among which politeness.