Ostensible Commissive Speech Acts In Saudi Spoken Arabic: Socio-Pragmatic Functions

What the paper says

This study examines the sociopragmatic functions of ostensible commissive speech acts in Saudi spoken Arabic, focusing on invitations and offers. Using a mixed-methods approach that combined participant observation and recall interviews, we analyzed 58 naturally occurring instances through the lenses of speech act theory, politeness theory, and the joint pretense model. The findings reveal eight core communicative functions: signaling welcome, expressing gratitude and appreciation, demonstrating courtesy and politeness, softening embarrassment, acknowledging familiarity, easing conversation endings, conveying sympathy and concern, and alleviating social discomfort. This study makes three key contributions. First, it demonstrates how ostensibly insincere speech acts achieve "contextual felicity" by prioritizing social harmony over literal sincerity in Saudi Arabia’s high-context culture. Second, it expands politeness theory by illustrating how such acts function as institutionalized tools of relational maintenance. Third, it provides empirical evidence of culture-specific communicative patterns in which implicit understanding takes precedence over propositional truth. These insights advance the field of cross-cultural pragmatics by showing how ritualized insincerity operates as a socially authentic practice in collectivist societies, offering valuable implications for intercultural communication training.