Pragmatic Analysis on Leech's Maxims in three Surahs from The Holy Quran

Abstract

This study has investigated three Surahs from the Holy Quran, translated into English by Arberry (1955), in terms of the Politeness Principle proposed by Leech (1983).  The study aimed to investigate the kinds of politeness maxims employed by the characters in the three Surahs in question.  The intentions of the speakers in observing or flouting each of Leech's politeness maxims have been categorized, including six maxims of the Politeness Principle: tact maxim, generosity maxim, approbation maxim, modesty maxim, agreement maxim, and sympathy maxim. The research had applied a mixed-methods approach to analyze the obtained data.  The data consisted of the utterances uttered by the characters in the three Surahs.  After collecting the data, the data classified into six maxims of the Politeness Principle.  Then, several conclusions had been drawn based on the research findings.  The results of the present study showed that the characters used six maxims: tact maxim, generosity maxim, approbation maxim, modesty maxim, agreement maxim, and sympathy maxim.  Finally, the findings indicated that three maxims had been flouted by the characters: tact maxim, generosity maxim, and agreement maxim.