Greeting

GREETING

Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings  intentionally make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship or social status between individuals or groups of people coming in contact with each other. While greeting customs are highly culture- and situation-specific and may change within a culture depending on social status and relationship, they exist in all known human cultures. Greetings can be expressed both audibly and physically, and often involve a combination of the two. This topic excludes military and ceremonial salutes but includes rituals other than gestures. Greetings are often, but not always, used just prior to a conversation. Some epochs and cultures have had very elaborate greeting rituals, e.g., greeting of a king. Secret societies have clandestine greeting rituals that allow members to recognize common membership.

Ø  Formality

Informal greetings often use non-words and short forms like 'Hi', 'Watcha', 'Yay' and so on. Formal meetings use more formal language, such as 'Hello', 'Greetings', 'Good day' and so on. In some cultures, greeting is very formal and a fixed set of words are required in specific situations, 'Greeting, O holy one, father of us all and master of the world'.

Ø  Facial signals

The face is used a great deal in sending greeting signals, and accompanies other greeting activity for example saying:

  * Smiling: I am pleased to see you.

  * Frowning: I am angry with you.  

  * Raised eyebrows: I am surprised to see you.

  * Eyebrows together: I do not know your name.

  * Looking down: I am inferior to you.

  * Expressionless: I do not care about you.

Eye contact is particularly important in greeting and is usually held for a socially prescribed period. Prolonged eye contact can indicate both affection and dominance. Little or no eye contact can indicate timidity ('I dare not look at you'), dislike ('I do not want to see you') or dominance ('You are unimportant and below my interest.'). As with the handshake, a dominant signal may be sent under cover of the 'friendly' greeting.