The Power of Promises as Speech Acts and Actions

Abstract

The research of speech acts that are used in natural languages, which are spoken worldwide, is a new challenge in linguistics. In the new era, speech acts are studied not only as a linguistic problem but also as elements that make cultural differences.
The aim of this research is to highlight the cultural and linguistic characteristics of Albanians living in the RNM in making promises. This study investigates the strategies of promising, classification and probable factors that influence the use of a specific strategy. The strategies were identified and classified into 10 categories according to the proposal of the researchers Arrif and Mugableh and the data was collected by DCT and Role Play techniques. The research aims to answer questions such as: language and verbs used in making promises, “besa” and promises, the strategies of promises etc.
The results showed that the most used (common) strategies are: pure promises, time expressions, courtesy-like expressions and as less used strategies are: tautological expressions, self-aggrandizing expressions, swearings that include body-part expressions etc.