Speech Act Realization of Invitations: A Pragmatic Analysis across Different Degrees of Social Distance

Ting Li

doi:10.54691/szfr3883

Authors

Ting Li

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54691/szfr3883

Keywords:

Realization of invitation speech act, Speech Act Theory, Degree of social distance.

Abstract

Invitation, as a fundamental speech act in social interaction, plays a crucial role in establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships. This paper explores how relational closeness shapes the pragmatic realization of invitation speech act, drawing on frameworks such as Speech Act Theory, Face Theory, Politeness Principles and Hwang Kwang-kuo’ s Tripartite Framework of Renqing (Favor) and Mianzi (Face) . A Discourse Completion Task (DCT) was applied to participant across three relational ties (instrumental, mixed, and expressive ties) to analyze variations in invitation speech act. Results indicate that speakers adapt their pragmatic choices based on relational closeness. In less close contexts, invitations tend to be indirect and inquiry-based, emphasizing politeness and justification. As closeness increases, invitations become more direct and emotionally expressive, reflecting shared familiarity and reduced face-threatening concerns. Auxiliary strategies also shift according to relational dynamics. These findings highlight the differences interplay between degrees of social distance and pragmatic strategies, offering insights into the contextual adaptability of invitation speech act in everyday communication.

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