“Negative face was defined as ‘the want of every ‘competent adult member’ that his actions be unimpeded by others’, or ‘the basic claim to territories, personal preserves, rights to non-distraction—i.e. the freedom of action and freedom from imposition’. Whereas positive face involves a desire for connection with others, negative face needs include autonomy and independence.”
—Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, s.v. “Politeness Theory,” (accessed January 14, 2019), https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politeness_theory#Positive_and_negative_face
cafebedouin.org 