apologies: how do people apologize in English and Catalan cultures?

Marta Martínez Montoya
Meritxell Sellarés Puig
Table of Contents
1. Introduction 3
2. The speech act of apologising 3
3. The Catalan apology forms 5
4. The English apology forms 8
5. Catalan vs. English apology strategies 10 5.1 Similarities 5.2 Differences
6. Discussion 12
7. Conclusion 12
8. Bibliography 12
9. Appendix 13

1. Introduction The aims of this paper are proving that each culture has its own apology system and highlighting that it is impossible to establish an apology system that works for everybody. For this reason, this paper will examine the realisations of the speech act of
IFID FORMS
PERCENTAGES OF USE
Ho sento
36.89 %
Em sap greu
25.82 %
Perdona/Perdoni
11.48%
Sento
5.74%
Disculpa/Disculpi
6.96%
Perdó
0.82%
Accepti les meves disculpes
0.82%
Demano disculpes
0.40%
Em temo
0.40%
Figure1. IFID realisations by Catalan speakers according to a cross – cultural study carried out by Curell & Sabaté (in press).
`Ho sento´ is the most widely used IFID by Catalan speakers (36.89%). It is used to accomplish the speech act of apologising and even though it is regarded as informal, it is considered appreciative enough to re-establish social bond with someone. In the following example, we are able to see how the speaker has acknowledged his fault and therefore uses the `ho sento´ IFID to apologise:
`Ho sento.´ Va dir el Dante.
`Què? ´ Va preguntar l’Àlex, encara que havia sentit perfectament la disculpa. `Que ho sento. Sento el cop de puny que et vaig donar. ´ (Del Cot, 2010: 178)
`Em sap greu´, on the other hand, is the second most widely used IFID by Catalan speakers (25.82%) and it is considered proper for both formal and informal situations, as the following example illustrates:
Ariadna: `Que bé. M’alegro que et vagi tot tant bé. Se’t veu més tranquil.´
Jofre: `Si molt més. He canviat bastant la veritat. Aquella època en què anava tant a sac, ha passat a la història. A vegades hi penso i .. no sé.. Em vaig passar quinze pobles amb tu. Em sap molt greu tia.´