Implicit address forms in Finnish service encounters
Keywords:
address forms, directives, interactional sociolinguistics, noun phrase, passive, zero personAbstract
The article examines Finnish directives with so-called implicit addressing (no 2nd person pronouns or verbal inflection). The data come from service encounters in Finnish Social Insurance Institution (Kela) offices and consist of instructions, advice, and requests uttered by the employees to clients. Focus lies on three constructions: 1) zero person, 2) passive, and 3) noun phrase (NP). Each of them operates uniquely and has its own characteristic environment(s) of use. Zero person directives are flexible in terms of their reference: they can be either generic instructions, applying to all clients in similar circumstances, or specific to a certain client. Passive-formed directives are mostly used when referring to common, noncontingent actions that the client is supposed to perform independently. Noun phrases are used for unproblematic routine actions such as signing a form. Implicit address forms are not used to avoid explicit addressing. Instead, they are a smooth device for performing social actions in a delicate manner and an indicator of mutual understanding.
