"Kumusta Po?": A Study of Conversation Openings in Philippine Educational, Medical, and Judicial Settings
Keywords:
Philippine institutional discourse, conversation openings, pragmatics, honorifics, social buffering, politeness, face-saving strategies, cross-cultural communicationAbstract
Conversation openings serve as the linguistic gateway to social interaction, yet their features are often dictated by cultural norms and institutional power dynamics. This qualitative study explores the linguistic characteristics and social actions of conversation openings in the Philippines across three generic settings: educational, medical, and judicial. Using a phenomenological approach and a corpus of 150 naturally occurring and simulated dialogues, the study analyzes openings through four lenses: grammatical forms, sentential types, semantic categories, and social actions. Findings suggest a high prevalence of honorifics and indirectness, driven by the Filipino values of kapwa (shared identity) and paggalang (respect). Unlike Western studies, Filipino openings often utilize "neutral" semantic categories as a form of "social buffering" before proceeding to the main interaction.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Jonnah Caye M. Gamboa, Cries V. Lagnason, Jenbe E. Calunsag, Kristel Canonigo, Michelle V. Lagnason, Regine Barcelona, Hezel Mae D. Gomez, Khlaraize M. Seblos, Estrella G. Doroy, Maria Flordelis R. Cabaluna, Yancy B. Dogomeo, Mae Ann Pañares, Jaydiah Pantoneal, Rey Dela Cruz Jr., Jomari Anrev A. Pansacala, Han Joseph Narvasa, Nilnilsen N. Makiling, Rochelyn Bacalso, Krisxa Mae Tangpus (Author)
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