Face threatening acts employed in miraa business discourse by traders of Igembe and Somali origin.

Abstract

The prime concern of this study was to analyse the Face Threatening Acts (FTAs) employed by miraa traders, from Igembe and Somali origin, in their discourse. The researches were given the impetus to undertake this study because of the uniqueness exhibited in miraa traders’ discourse. The study aimed at establishing the FTAs depicted in their discourse and was guided by the Politeness Theory by Levinson and Brown (1987) to form the basis of its theoretical framework. The study was carried out at Muringene Market and in Maua town. It employed the social networks approach to identify participants. The purposive sampling procedure was used. Data was collected by tape-recording negotiations as miraa traders went on with their businesses and through non-participants observation. Data analysis was largely Qualitative but summarized using descriptive statistics and presented using a table. The study found out that miraa traders make use of several FTAs but with significant variation in relation to their frequency of occurrence. The most occurring FTA was that of insults leading to the conclusion that miraa traders are abusive.