A descriptive analysis of indirect complaint sequences among speakers of American English

TL;DRAbstract

This dissertation is an in-depth analysis of the patterning and social functions of indirect complaints (ICs) as they are used among speakers of American English in and around the University of Pennsylvania community. Indirect complaint is defined as the expression of dissatisfaction to an interlocutor about oneself or someone/something that is not present. It differs from direct complaint in that the addressee is not held responsible for the perceived offense. The study looked specifically at the interlocutor attributes that favor the appearance of three types of ICs as well as six types of responses. ICs were studied as a function of three sociolinguistic variables: gender, relative social status and social distance. The approach to the collection and analysis of the data was through participant/observation. Categories emerged from the data analysis. In addition, an ethnographic interview was conducted in order to uncover tacit knowledge of native informants about the specific speech

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