In linguistics, a phatic expression (English: , FAT-ik) is a communication which primarily serves to establish or maintain social relationships. In other words, phatic expressions have mostly socio-pragmatic rather than semantic functions. They can be observed in everyday conversational exchanges, as in, for instance, exchanges of social pleasantries that do not seek or offer information of intrinsic value but rather signal willingness to observe conventional local expectations for politeness. Other uses of the term include the category of "small talk" (conversation for its own sake) in speech communication, where it is also called social grooming. In Roman Jakobson's typology of communication functions, the 'phatic' function of language concerns the channel of communication; for instance, when one says "I can't hear you, you're breaking up" in the middle of a cell-phone conversation. This usage appears in research on online communities and micro-blogging.
Purpose Phatic communion denotationally breaks Grice's conversational maxims, because it gives information that is unnecessary, untrue, or irrelevant; however, it has important connotational meanings that do not break these maxims and is best understood as an important part of language in its role in establishing, maintaining, and managing bonds of sociality between participants, as well as creating feelings of solidarity and familiarity, and putting participants at ease.
History The term phatic communion ('bonding by language') was coined by anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski in his essay "The Problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages", which appeared in 1923 as a supplementary contribution to The Meaning of Meaning by C. K. Ogden and I. A. Richards. The term phatic means 'linguistic' (i.e. 'by language') and comes from the Greek φατός phatós ('spoken, that may be spoken'), from φημί phēmí ('I speak, say').
Importance of context Many expressions generally considered to be phatic (see below) may be a genuine request for information in certain contexts. For example, in British English, "How are you?" is a phatic expression used when greeting someone one knows, especially when a participant wants to initiate conversation. However, it can also be asked sincerely, inferrable from context, such as when a friend gives bad news, or tone, such falling intonation to show it as a genuine question (as is with w/h-word questions), or speaking more quietly. Authenticity of the question can also be emphasised by the addition of the word "feeling" ("How are you feeling?").
Phatic expressions in various languages
Danish Danish has several phatic greetings:
Hvordan går det? 'how goes it?'. Possible answers are: Det går godt/fint 'it goes good/fine'. Hvor'n skær'en? 'how does it cut?' Informal greeting between close friends. Hvad så? 'what then?'. Similar to the English greeting what's up?. More often used in Jutland. A possible answer is Ikke så meget 'not that much'. Hej is a common informal greeting and equivalent to the English hi, pronounced almost the same. Single-word greetings with approximately the same meaning include hejsa (from combining hej with German sa from French ça), dav, davs (both reduced forms of dag meaning 'day'), goddag, halløj, halløjsa, halløjsovs (Pun greeting. Made by combining halløj and løgsovs 'onion sauce'), pænt goddag 'nice good day' is a more formal greeting. Hallo is only used when the speaker is not sure they can be heard. Examples when saying/yelling hallo is appropriate: Trying to find out if someone else is in a seemingly empty room/building; using it as an initial phone greeting; checking if the person you're calling can still hear you (when experiencing a bad phone connection); trying to get the attention of a listener that appears to not pay attention. Mojn is only used in Southern Jutland. It comes from North German moin from the German word Morgen meaning 'morning'. Despite its original meaning it is used as a greeting throughout the day. Hej hej or farvel are common ways to say goodbye. Vi ses 'we will see each other' is used as a farewell greeting in face-to-face conversations while vi snakkes 'we will speak each other'/vi snakkes ved 'we will speak to each other by' are used in both face-to-face and phone/text conversations. Kør forsigtigt 'drive safely' is said to a person leaving the place where the speaker is located and going to drive/bike to another location. Kom godt hjem 'come well home' is said in the same situation whatever the method of transportation. God arbejdslyst 'good lust for work' is said when parting with a person who is either currently at work or leaving to go to work. Tak for i dag 'thanks for today' is often said in more formal contexts of prolonged interactions like at the end of a meeting or the end of a class. Tak for sidst 'thanks for the last time that we were together' acknowledging that the people were together somewhere God bedring 'good recovery'. Said when leaving a sick person. Ha' det godt 'have it good' or du/I må ha det godt 'you (sg./pl.) may have it good' is a farewell phrase wishing for the other's well-being. A joke variant of this is Ha' det som I ser ud 'have it as you look' (literally: 'have it as you look out'). By not saying the expected adjective godt 'good', the speaker is violating the maxim of quantity and thereby inferring that they do not think the listener looks good. This can be understood as an insult and is therefore mainly used informally between friends. Some phatic greetings are only used in writings such as letters, e-mails and speeches read aloud:
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