How gender affects compliments in Italian

This paper presents findings from a long-term study on compliments in Italian, employing different theoretical and methodological approaches. This study adopts variational pragmatics to investigate the impact of gender on compliments. We examine whether Italian compliments exhibit gender-specific patterns that transcend cultural variations, as suggested in prior research. After revisiting in a variational perspective the wide collection of spontaneous speech analyzed in an earlier phase of the research, new data are drawn from a questionnaire submitted to a sample of 576 young speakers in the University of Catania (Italy). This questionnaire explores various facets of complimenting, including frequency, object, modulation, and function. This analysis reveals a distinct gender pattern, highlighting a pragmatic role of compliments that is salient in women's interaction. Among them, compliments are much more common and intensified, they concern mostly appearance, and they are a positive politeness strategy as they serve an important interpersonal function: linked to the concept of phatic communion, compliments are acts aimed at creating, maintaining, and strengthening mutual solidarity.