This article probes into Leech’s Interpersonal Rhetoric and more precisely the politeness principles chosen in expressing politeness in English and Kihavu. It pinpoints the main differences and similarities of politeness as well as the different cultural features pertaining to connotational aspects of politeness in both English and Kihavu. It draws instances from actual speech situations in either language to show how politeness is expressed by English people differently from Havu people owing to their different cultural backgrounds. Throughout this research, the findings have revealed that an accurate selection of the politeness principle to employ and a good mastery of the English culture by Havu people are vital to avoid being misconstrued by English interlocutors, especially in the perspective of cross-cultural communication. Further, this research has been possible thanks to the library and ethnographical researches, the socio-linguistic and pragmatic approaches, the analytical method and interviews.
This study investigates the pragmatic expressions of politeness in Kihavu. It analyzes pragmatically different expressions of politeness in accordance with the Havu culture and custom. To achieve this research, I used the documentary research, the questionnaire, the observation of gestures of politeness that accompany polite utterances, and the interviews, especially with mature speakers of Kihavu. After the analysis, the findings have revealed that polite utterances in Kihavu are culture-specific, i.e. they are specific to the Havu culture and custom, and most of them are partially gestural. Furthermore, the investigation has shown that Havu people do not use expressions of politeness randomly insofar as they have some culture-oriented goals, intentions, purposes and decisions while uttering them.
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