Expressions of Gratitude

Abstract

Looking at data taken from the ICE-HK corpus, Wong focusses on the use of expressions of gratitude such as thanks a lot and thank you very much in Hong Kong English. She suggests that Hong Kong speakers of English do not employ a wide variety of thanking strategies and their expressions of gratitude are usually brief, with thanks and thank you being the most commonly used forms. More often than not, these expressions are used as a closing signal and as a complete turn. Repetitive gratitude formulae and appreciation of the interlocutors in conversations are exceedingly rare, hinting at the possibility of substrate influence that Chinese people in general are being too reserved to express their gratitude openly and explicitly.