Upgrading and Downgrading Accounts as Indirect Apology Strategies

Abstract

The article marks such indirect apology strategies as Upgrading Accounts; Downgrading Accounts; An Offer of Repair; A Promise of Forbearance; swearing; interjections Oops!; oh no!Such strategies as Upgrading (face-threatening for a speaker) and Downgrading (face-saving for a speaker) accounts are analyzed in detail. Using a language corpus, the realizations of the following speech acts are studied: admission of guilt, selfcriticism, confession about guilt consciousness (Upgrading Accounts); explanation (Downgrading Accounts). In addition to indirect apology strategies used separately, various combinations of these strategies are identified. Also, hearer’s reaction to indirect apology strategies is studied, which can be: the negation of speaker’s guilt; the acceptance of the apology; the rejection to accept an apology; hearer’s apology (in response to speaker’s apology).