Polite Requests Formulaic Expressions in Gilaki Dialect of Rasht with an Emphasis on the Role of Politeness Markers and Mitigators

Request formulaic expressions constitute an important part of the formulaic expressions whose concepts, in terms of sociolinguistics, can be interpreted into specific socio-cultural patterns. Despite its importance, research on Gilaki dialkect of Rasht received little attention. The purpose of this article, firstly, is to identify the politeness markers and mitigators in the polite request formulae in Gilaki of Rasht, and secondly, from a viewpoint of sociolinguistics, is to evaluate the role of these formulaic expressions in social interactions. In this study, using a qualitative approach and ethnographic research method, the data were derived from three sources of natural speech, language intuition and semi-structured interview. The sample consisted of informants of three villages in Rasht who were selected by a snowball sampling method. The extraction of formulaic expressions was based on Blum-Kulka et al.’s (1989) model, and the sociological content analysis of formulaic expression was based on Ferguson’s (1976) model. The findings presented the most common markers and mitigators of polite requests in Gilaki of Rasht. The results revealed some social values such as socialization, politeness in social interactions, respecting the rights of others, humility and the spirit of cooperation, which are institutionalized in the culture of this region.