THE PHENOMENON OF “POLITENESS” IN MODERN LINGUISTIC THEORY

Abstract

The article examines the linguistic theory and substantiates the need to study the phenomenon of «politeness» from a moral, moral-ethical, linguistic and cultural aspects. The relevance of the article lies in the insufficient study of the phenomenon of «politeness» in a comprehensive approach, taking into account both verbal and non-verbal features of the expression of politeness in modern linguistic theory. The contradiction lies in the fact that, on the one hand, many works are devoted to the study of the category of politeness, and on the other hand, the complex study of verbal and non-verbal means of its expression in different cultures, using the example of individual language genres, is covered in the linguistic literature somewhat separately and not generalized. The object of the article is defined as the communicative category of politeness, and the subject of research are presented by the approaches to the definition of politeness in modern linguistic theory in the context of Englishspeaking culture. The purpose of the study is to determine the main general and nationally specific features of the functioning of the politeness category in the English language. The set goal is achieved by solving the following problem: to consider the main areas of study of the category of politeness in linguistic theory. It has been established that in linguistic theory there is a significant interest in verbal and non-verbal features of expressing politeness in different cultures. It was determined that the concept of «politeness», from the position of a cultural approach, explains the character of its representation from the cultural features of different cultures of the world. In particular, it was found that the concept of «politeness» can be perceived simultaneously as a moral quality and a manner of behavior. The study presents that politeness as a behavior is a means of maintaining communication for people belonging to different groups of society. The article states that the ways of polite communication depend on the etiquette situation and are not perceived out of context. It was concluded that all cultures understand and express politeness differently, which means the need to study the cultural features of politeness taking into account the peculiarities of language in etiquette situations of a particular nation. Further studies of the phenomenon of «politeness» can be seen in the analysis of different verbal forms of its expression in different languages of the world.