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5. The concept of face in Vietnamese culture (Open access)

The concept of face in Vietnamese culture (Open access)

Nguyen T.M.N.

Moscow State Linguistic University, Russia, Moscow, minhnguyetbel@yandex.com

Abstract

The paper looks at the specifics of the Vietnamese concept of «face». The dual structure of the concept is revealed through semantic and syntactic description: face is reflected in two Vietnamese notions «mặt» and «thể diện», both of which correlate with the positive face recognized in Western «politeness theory». The author proves that the Vietnamese concept of face does not fully coincide with «positive face». The findings show that the Vietnamese concept of «face», while essentially positive, does not fully coincide with the «positive face» found in Western literature. The former is distinguished by its collective dimension and respect for hierarchy.

Keywords

language pragmatics; «face»; «positive face»; «mutual face»; Vietnamese language; collectivist culture

For citing: Nguyen T.M.N. (2022). The concept of face in Vietnamese culture. Ethnopsycholinguistics. Moscow: INION RAN. Vol. 4(11), pp. 53-62. DOI: 10.31249/epl/2022.04.04

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