Mandagumas kaip reliatyvus kalbinis, socialinis ir kultūrinis reiškinys
Politeness as a Relative Linguistic, Social and Cultural Phenomenon

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the pragmatic notion of linguistic politeness, encompassing more than just language etiquette. Politeness is viewed as determined by the speech situation, in which, for the realisation of his communicative purposes, the speaker can avail himself of virtually any verbal means to convey respect or friendliness. Merely on the basis of the linguistic expression of politeness no cultural community can be considered more or less polite than others. Different cultural groups may prefer different politeness strategies and their realisations. The final section of the article presents a small qualitative investigation into the way requests are made in service encounters in Vilnius. The negative evaluation of Lithuanian politeness in the said situations results from different sociocultural notions about what communication in such situations should be like.

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