TITLE:
Apology Strategies in Cameroon Pidgin English
AUTHORS:
Jean-Paul Kouega
KEYWORDS:
Cameroon Pidgin English, Orthography, Pragmatics, Speech Act, Apology, Offence, Repair
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.5 No.1,
January
31,
2018
ABSTRACT: This study looks into the apology strategies used by adult speakers of Cameroon Pidgin English, an area which has received little attention. The data consisted of some 105 recalled conversations between an offender and an offendee and the analysis drew from the model developed by Bergman and Kasper [1]. The analysis revealed a number of facts. First the common contexts which require that someone should apologise to his/her mate include, amongst others, lies or gossiping, insulting or embarrassing one’s partner, cheating on or deceiving a partner, and stealing or taking away property without permission. Second, the most common strategies employed by these speakers were found to include: use of illocutionary force device (100% of 105 conversations), recall of the offence (86.67%), use of address terms (66.67%), and lastly, use of devices to reduce the severity of the offence (60%).