VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL FORMS OF GREETING/PARTING IN THE CONTEMPORARY DANISH LANGUAGE

Abstract

The article examines the main tendencies in the use of various forms of greeting and parting in the contemporary Danish language – both verbal and non-verbal. The change in the system of salutation at the end of the 1960s could not help but influence the Danish speaking etiquette. The shift to ‘thou’ affected the rules of using verbal and non-verbal forms of greeting thereby blurring the lines between them, so the native speakers have to show discrimination in the choice of the form. The choice of the form of parting proves more predictable since the manner and style of communication has already been established. The research is based on continuous sampling from four detective novels, a series of teenage books from six novels, and a number of serials. Moreover, a survey (2017) was carried out among native speakers of different age brackets (21 to 78), which allowed for revealing recent tendencies in the use of verbal and non-verbal forms of greeting/parting. A prevalent neutral form of greeting in the contemporary language is the hitherto vernacular word hej, and hej or hej-hej for parting. The younger generation uses the forms goddag, dav, farvel less frequently than those on the elderly side, while godaften for parting is practically never used at all by any respondents. A whole host of forms specific to informal communication occurs more frequently in the speech of youngsters. The recent tendencies in the use of greeting revealed the turn to the duplicate form dav dav, as well as a number of foreign forms. Non-verbal forms of greeting/parting include a nod, wave of the hand, handshake, hug, and kiss on the cheek. Hand shaking and hugging is the major sign language usually going along with the verbal greeting, and the younger generation, when greeting coevals, chooses hugging, while handshaking is taking a new lease of life.