Greetings and farewells

Finally, power and solidarity are reflected in how we greet each and say farewell or goodbye (GOD BE WITH YE)

Every language has some range of ways to greet a person and say goodbye. Linguists call these:

Entry = greeting

Exit = Farewell

If you remember, we just discussed the importance of face. Well, the linguist Irving Goffman believes that whenever you meet and have a social interaction with a person your “face” may be affected by the meeting and your level of solidarity or power may change.

Greetings:

He suggests the reason for a greeting is that it is needed to show that the relationship which existed at the end of the last time you met is the same and unchanged, despite the separation.

Farewells:

The reason for a farewell is to sum-up the effect of the time two people have spent together so that they know what to expect the next time they meet.

This is why saying hello and goodbye are so important in every society. Without them you do not know where stand socially with the person you are about to speak with and with the person you are about to say goodbye to.

THINK ABOUT HOW YOU GREET EACH OTHER, YOUR FRIENDS, AND YOUR TEACHERS. THINK ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO SAY HELLO AND GOODBYE IN YOUR RELATIONSHIPS.

What would happen if you did not say hello to someone you usually say hello to?