Expressing Politeness and Impoliteness in Modern English

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Contents

politeness english rudeness

Introduction

1. Expressing Politeness and Impoliteness in Modern English

1.1 The Rise of Politeness as a Linguistic Phenomenon

1.2 Politeness - as a Linguistic Category in Modern English

1.3 Ways of expressing politeness

1.4 The Brown and Levinson's Classification of Politeness

2. Practical Study of the Lexico-phonetical Expression of Politeness and Impoliteness in Modern English

2.1 Greeting

2.2 Leave-taking

2.3 Thanks

2.4 Forms of address

2.5 Apology

2.6 Request

2.7 Asking permission

2.8 Offers

Conclusions

Bibliography

Introduction

Politeness is a practical application of good manners and etiquette. It is a culturally defined phenomenon, and what is considered polite in one culture can often be quite rude in another.

Politeness is taken as the object of analysis, because it is very important for those who learn the English language to know the etiquette rules of this language which regulates the speech behavior of people. Our purpose is to distinguish the main criteria of the English etiquette, because, as foreigners, our stereotypes of expressing politeness are different. That is why we are going to study and analyze English stereotypes.

We are not the first who began the research in this field. Politeness as a linguistic category attracted the attention of such scientists as Brown and Levinson in the last decades of 20^th century. The methods of our research are synthesis and analysis. We synthesize the nature of politeness from different sources and from the points of view of some linguists. Also in this work we analyze politeness as speech etiquette.

Our work consists of two chapters theoretical and practical. The first chapter is dedicated to the expressing politeness and impoliteness in modern English and it consists of 4 sub points in which we study politeness as a linguistic category from lexical, grammatical, phonetic and stylistic points of view. To the first chapter there is added the classification of politeness according Brown and Levinson. In the second chapter we distinguish the main stereotypes of expressing politeness in different situations such as greeting, leave-taking, gratitude etc. by means of examples.

1. Expressing Politeness and Impoliteness in Modern English

1.1 The Rise of Politeness as a Linguistic Phenomenon

Politeness, as an ethical category, is the object of study by many fields of science. The interest towards politeness as a social and linguistic phenomenon arose in last two-three decades of XX century. This acknowledged by a great number of articles and monographs dedicated to the study of politeness. Judging by those articles and monographs we may find that the main interest towards politeness falls on the 80-s and 90-s, besides number of works arose in last several years. In general we may observe the rising interest towards politeness during all this period.

Bar graph 1

It is connected not only with the rising attention towards etiquette in different spheres of social life. Of great importance are the questions about cross-cultural communication. Research workers affirm that there are different forms of expressing politeness in language. Thus politeness becomes the object of linguistics and other adjoining disciplines.

On the Diagram 1. the Russian scientist Yashina gives us the statistics in which we may see that in comparison with such sciences as psychology, sociology and communication politeness is studied more in language and linguistics.

The cross-cultural aspect of politeness is the object of the highest interest of research workers alongside with the study of politeness as the social category. A great number of works is dedicated to comparison of expressing and perceiving politeness in different languages and at the same time in most cases authors make comparison with the English language.

1.2 Politeness - as a Linguistic Category in Modern English

Politeness as a linguistic category has been significant last three decades of the XX century. The main founders are Leech, Brown and Levinson.

The origin of the word polite: Middle English: polit, polished, the word came from Latin poltus.

The Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia gives the definition of politeness as:

Politeness - is the practical application of good manners or etiquette. It is a culturally defined phenomenon, and what is considered polite in one country can often be quite rude in another.

The Webster dictionary (1913) gives another definition:

Politeness - is the quality or state of being polite; refinement of manners; urbanity; courteous behavior; complaisance; obliging attentions. Politeness denotes that ease and gracefulness of manners which first sprung up in cities, connected with a desire to please others by anticipating their wants and wishes, and studiously avoiding whatever might give them pain.

Politeness is marked by or showing consideration for others, tact, and observance of accepted social usage.

Formanovskaya defines politeness as - a behavior, when the addressee is given an inferior position. That is why the break of etiquette means disrespect and impoliteness.

Politeness - is a display of respect.

Politeness - is the eagerness to do an addressee a good turn, is a delicacy and tact.

There are some words synonymous to the adjective polite:

Civil suggests only the barest observance of accepted social usage; it often means merely neither polite nor rude.

Courteous implies courtliness and dignity.

Genteel, which originally meant well-bred, now usually suggests excessive and affected refinement.

Gallant means refined-polite and kind with reference to woman.

Correct implies to be respectful to etiquette rules, to observe them, to be courteous, polite.

The synonym of the word politeness is etiquette.

Etiquette - came from French (label) - and means the totality of behavior rules, concerning outward display of people's attitude to each other (forms of greeting and address, behavior, manners and clothes). However, the speech etiquette conducts the rules of speech behavior; it gives language riches which exist in every society. These rules help people to have the benevolent attitude to each other.

Each day we use phrases of speech etiquette in the cases of greeting, parting, gratitude, apology, etc. we say Sorry when we are sorry, we invite each other, ask for something taking into consideration formal and informal state of communication, and our own roles according the roles of the company and the concrete situation of the conversation. Because of repetition these typical cases the speech etiquette has personified in stereotypes in set-expressions, in formula of communication, which we do not create again, when we need to use them, but we use the already made phrases of polite communication. Based upon this Speech etiquette - this is the zone of steady, stereotype, communicative units of language, although each concrete choice in each concrete situation is the creative action. Speech etiquette on one hand regulates and on the other hand shows the attitude of members of the society by such points as: known - unknown, senior - inferior, parent - child, teacher - pupil and even pleasant - unpleasant. The usage of speech forms and paralinguistic signs underlines respectful and polite attitude to the addressee and vice versa.

1.3 Ways of expressing politeness

The units of speech etiquette are presented as ready formulas not only from the point of morphology and syntax, but also from the lexical, phonetical and grammatical structure. These are the speech stereotypes, which are regularly used in speech in the made forms in the process of communication.

Firstly, in conveying a message, we should think about more than just “who did what to whom”. We also have to keep in mind what our listener know already, and how to present the message in an intelligible and coherent manner. We should assume that our listener has particular knowledge. Even if we are sure they do have knowledge of something about which we wish to speak, we may need to introduce it, or recall what they already know. Similarly, we should not introduce familiar things as if they were new. This may seem patronizing, but can also be confusing, since our listeners may try to find a new interpretation to match our implication of novelty.

To make a conversation or speech action the following model is needed: there should be a speaker (Me), his addressee (You), the place of their meeting (here), the moment of the contact (now).

Some languages have different forms for you (French tu/vous, German du/Sie, for example). These may originally have indicated number (vous and Sie) used for plural forms, but now show different levels of formality, with tu and du being more familiar, vous and Sie more polite. In English this was shown historically by the contrast between you and thou/thee. The thou form survives in some dialects, while other familiar pronoun forms are: youse (Liverpool) and you-all (southern USA). Where it is possible to make the distinction, this is known as T/V system of address. In this system the V form is a marker of politeness or deference. It may also be a marker of status, with the V form used to superiors, the T form to equals or inferiors. T forms are also used to express solidarity or intimacy. The T form is also found in `frozen' language forms, such as the stylized speech of Quakers or other non-conformist groups in orders of service and prayers. Oddly, many modern speakers think that thou (being archaic) is more formal or courteous than you - when the reverse in the case.

One more lexical method of expressing politeness is adding to a phrase the word please. Please depending on the sentence may be placed either in the beginning, middle or end of it.

Stylistically politeness is expressed by Euphemism - this is a stylistic device which denotes the use an inoffensive expression in place of an unpleasant one. (Ex.: to pass away - to die).

Phonetically politeness is expressed through the Intonation. Intonation - is a complex of prosodic features, it is a unity of rhythm, sentence and word stress, speech melody, temporal characteristics (duration, system of pauses, tempo), timbre and voice loudness. The intonation of English sentence plays a very important role in the speech behavior as an element of communication. It is one main extra linguistic characteristics of speech communication, which reflects the national-cultural specific of English speech behavior. The main model of expressing politeness is `fall-rise' tone, however there are some variations in intonation, it depends on the sentence.

To underline the intonation we may use some non-verbal signs such as smile, eye-brow-flash, shake of the shoulders, nod, and flexion of head.

Grammatically politeness may be expressed in different ways:

Subjunctive mood	In requests and asking permission	Would you please give me your dress for tonight? I should like to speak to you.
Modal verbs: will, would, can, could, may, might, should	In interrogative sentences which express request	Could you make me a pair of Russian leather boots? (J. Galsworthy) May I come, Mr. Doolittle? (B. Show)
Modal adjuncts: probably, possibly	In requests or in expressions of disagreement	Could you possibly write a report by tomorrow? The food is wonderful but it's probably a little bit expensive.
Comment adjuncts: I think, I guess	In expressing one's opinion	I think you'd better stay at home.
Yes/No tag questions	In interrogative sentences	He's gone, has he? He's gone, hasn't he?

Impoliteness - this is the behavior when an addressee is given an inferior position. That is why the break of etiquette rules means disrespect and impoliteness.

Lexically impoliteness is expressed by mixing formula of etiquette, formal and informal situations, avoiding saying please. For example, naming the older person by name (without Mr., Mrs.) is the break of etiquette rules, that is impolite.

Phonetically impoliteness is expressed by the specific intonation. Pronouncing phrases with low tone we may sound rude, abruptly impolite. English speech behavior does not allow the categorical tone, the categorical statements because it is considered to be impolite towards the interlocutor.

1.4 The Brown and Levinson's Classification of Politeness

According to Brown and Levinson, politeness strategies are developed in order to save the hearers' "face." Face refers to the respect that an individual has for him or herself, and maintaining that "self-esteem" in public or in private situations. Usually we try to avoid embarrassing the other person, or making them feel uncomfortable. Face Threatening Acts (FTA's) are acts that infringe on the hearers' need to maintain his/her self esteem, and be respected. Politeness strategies are developed for the main purpose of dealing with these FTA's.

There are four types of politeness strategies, described by Brown and Levinson that sum up human "politeness" behavior: Bald On Record, Negative Politeness, Positive Politeness, and Off-Record-indirect strategy.

Bald on-record: These provide no effort by you to reduce the impact of the FTA's. You will most likely shock the person to whom your are speaking to, embarrass them, or make them feel a bit uncomfortable. However, this type of strategy is commonly found with people who know each other very well, and are very comfortable in their environment, such as close friends and family).

An Emergency: HELP!!

Task oriented: Give me that!

Request: Put your coat away.

Alerting: Turn your headlights on! (When alerting someone to something they should be doing)

Positive Politeness: It is usually seen in groups of friends, or where people in the given social situation know each other fairly well. It usually tries to minimize the distance between them by expressing friendliness and solid interest in the hearer's need to be respected (minimize the FTA).

Attend to the hearer: "You must be hungry, it's a long time since breakfast. How about some lunch?"

Avoid disagreement:

A: “What is she, small?”

B: "Yes, yes, she's small, smallish, um, not really small but certainly not very big."

Assume agreement: "So when are you coming to see us?"

Hedge opinion: "You really should sort of try harder."

Negative Politeness: The main focus for using this strategy is to assume that you may be imposing on the hearer, and intruding on their space. Therefore, these automatically assume that there might be some social distance or awkwardness in the situation.

Be indirect: "I'm looking for a comb".

In this situation you are hoping that you will not have to ask directly, so as not to impose and take up the hearer's time. Therefore, by using this indirect strategy, you hope they will offer to go find one for you.

Forgiveness: "You must forgive me but...."

Minimize imposition: "I just want to ask you if I could use your computer?"

Pluralize the person responsible: "We forgot to tell you that you needed to by your plane ticket by yesterday".

This takes all responsibility off of only you and onto "we", even if you were the person responsible for telling the hearer when the deadline was to buy the ticket.

Off-Record (indirect): You are removing yourself from any imposition whatsoever.

Give hints: "It's cold in here."

Be vague: "Perhaps someone should have been more responsible."

Be sarcastic, or joking: "Yeah, he's a real rocket scientist!"

2. Practical Study of the Lexico-phonetical Expression of Politeness and Impoliteness in Modern English

2.1 Greeting

Lexico-phonetical representation:

Good morning - until lunch-time

Good afternoon - until 5-6 p.m. formal

Good evening - until 10-11 p.m.

Good morning - low fall - for formal greeting

Good morning - low rise - for less formal and warmer greeting

Good morning - fall rise - for greeting by the friendliest tone

Morning

Afternoon -semi-formal

Evening

Used, for example, to neighbors, colleagues and other people whom one sees regularly, but does not know well.

Hallo- semi-formal, informal

Hi - American variant for `Hallo'

Hallo…. - nuclear situation “fall-rise”

The universal form of greeting. The usage of `Hallo' is so wide-spread, that we nay use only this form of greeting.

How do you do?

This is the interrogative construction but not the question. The idea that phrase `How do you do?' is used in greetings is not quite correct. The usage `How do you do?' limits itself in the situation of `acquaintance'. The unknown or less known people use this phrase when they are presented to each other in spite of usual `Hallo'. But between friends and acquaintances the phrase `How do you do?' is not used.

Non-verbal means.

While saying `Hallo' or `Good morning' to be more polite and friendly we may add a smile. One more typical mimics `eye-brow-flash' may be added. And with the help of hand we can make a kind of friendly gesture: right hand is bent in the elbow and lifted to the level of the head with palm in front.

Usual answers.

To answer the greeting means to underline the `polite' contact between the addresser and addressee. The addressee repeats the forms of greeting or alternates them a little, or he may use a synonym.

- Hallo! - Hallo, Clara.

- Hallo, Jack. -Hallo!

To nuclear the situation, to express pleasure at seeing someone we may say:

Nice to see you!

Glad to see you!

Impoliteness.

In the situation of meeting someone we may seam impolite if:

we does not answer the greeting

we pronounce phrase with an impolite manner, low fall tone or with sad and unkind mimics.

2.2 Leave-taking

Lexico-phonetical representation.

Some phrases which we say when we leave:

Good-bye - formal, semi-formal

(Good)-bye for now

Bye (then) semi-formal

Bye now informal

Bye-bye

See you. - very colloquial. Used mainly by young people to their friends.

See you later. - colloquial, informal variant. It is used very often between friends and well-known people

So long

Bye +name. - colloquial variants. The last phrase shows close, friendly attitude to the interlocutor, expresses a kind disposition to the addressee.

Good night. - used when leaving someone late in the evening, or before going to bed. Used in all styles.

Farewell. - is snow confined to poetry and is not used in conversation, even when parting with someone for ever Good-bye is used.

Cheerio (Cheers). - informal colloquial variant, used by young people, teen-agers, friends.

Good morning/afternoon/evening. - formal

Good morning - is a double-meaning phrase: greeting and parting. In the first case it is pronounced by the descending intonation, in the second - ascending. Used in formal situations.

Some additional phrases to leaving.

When we want to take our leave of someone it would be polite to use some introductory sentences such as:

I'm afraid I must be going (now).

It's time I was going/off.

I'd better be going.

I must be off now.

To show the friendly favor or to express politeness to addressee we may add to the forms of the leave-taking some wishes as:

Have a good time!

Have a nice weekend!

All the best!

Good luck!

When leaving someone to be tactful and polite we may send greetings to some members of the family of addressee or to a mutual friend or acquaintance. The following phrases are used for this purpose:

(Please) give my kind regards to… - formal

(Please) remember me to… -formal, semi-formal

Give my love to… -informal, for close friends and relations

The person addressed usually answers;

Thank you (Thanks), I (certainly) will.

Non-verbal means.

To the ritual of take-leaving may be added gestures and mimics description of which coincides with the description of gestures and mimics of greeting: smile, eye-brow-flash, gesture of hand, a nod.

Impoliteness

It is impolite when we use an informal form of take-leaving in the formal situations or vice versa. To pronounce phrases of leave-taking by low fall also means impoliteness.

2.3 Thanks

Lexico-phonetical representation.

Thanks

This neutral form of gratitude may be accompanied by the prepositive intensificators, such as: (very) many/best a thousand thanks; or postpositive, such as: thanks a lot/very much/awfully. If the concrete service is made, then the form Thanks may be accompanied by the `for-phrase'. Synonymic formula of gratitude Thank you is very often used.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

The main and the most often used speech form, which expresses the gratitude is Thank you. The variants Thank you and Thank you very much show the transition from the etiquette politeness to the expression of great thankfulness.

From the point of view of phonetics the fall of the intonation at the end of the phrase Thank you very much underlines the abnormally high politeness emotional satiation in comparison with Thank you.

Some other variants of gratitude.

Formal:

Thanks, very much indeed.

I can assure you I'm most grateful (to you).

Oh, my deep gratitude.

I have no words to express my (deep) gratitude.

Many thanks.

I'm very grateful to you.

That's very kind of you.

How kind of you.

Informal:

Thank you ever so much.

Thanks a lot.

Ta. [ta:] - slang - colloquial variant, used between friends, teen-agers.

Non-verbal means:

Smile, eye-brow-flash, nod, wave of hand.

Usual answers.

The expressiveness of gratitude - is the one of the most often used expressions in English communication. The reaction of addressee has its own etiquette rules. The rules of politeness require certain answers:

You're welcome.

Not at all.

Not a bit.

That's all right (OK). - informal, casual

Don't mention it. - rather formal

It's nothing. - semi-formal, informal

Think nothing of it. - informal, casual

Impoliteness.

We may be impolite when we don't express the gratitude at all.

Using the low fall while pronouncing gratitude means impoliteness.

Some phrases also may sound impolite:

Little thanks to you.

Thank you for nothing.

2.4 Forms of address

Lexical representation

The address to the interlocutor - is the most common speech unit connected with the etiquette signs. The main function of the address - is the attraction attention. The forms of address not only appeal but denote the addressee. Appealing to the addressee we choose the form of address according to his social status, relative relations, profession, age.

To enumerate forms of address we should take into consideration that there are known and unknown addressee.

If addressee is unknown, usually it happens on the street, in public conveyances, in markets, the appealing is neutral, short. For the short conversation with an unknown addressee it is not important to know his age, sex, social rank, he is just an addressee whose attention we want to attract, certainly, politely. In those situations we use such forms as: Excuse me. To make an address more polite we add to a phrase the word please, or ask something with the help of Subjunctive mood:

Excuse me, please.

Excuse me, couldn't you say…

When addressing people in English we usually call our friends by their first name. Young people can address to each other by such names as: guy (Am.), old chap, old girl, old boy, dear fellow.

Men sometimes call each other by their surnames; it shows the friendly, familiar attitude.

If we are speaking to someone whom we know less well we use:

Mr. [mistэ] + surname - to a man

Mrs. [misiz] + surname - to a married woman

Miss + surname - to a girl or unmarried woman

Ms [miz, mэz] + surname - is increasingly used in writing about a woman when it is not known (or not important) whether she is married or not. However, as a form of address it is comparatively rare. Although Miss is generally accepted as a form of address to a woman-teacher by primary school children.

Sir - used to a man who is clearly older and/or more senior than oneself. Sir is also used:

by shop assistants, waters, etc to their customers;

by schoolchildren to men-teachers;

c) as a polite form of address to a stranger, even if not older or more senior. However, this is not common nowadays in Britain, where the usual way of addressing a stranger (either a man or a woman) is Excuse me, please. In America sir is more common in this situation.

in the armed forces, to an (superior) officer;

as a title (for knights and baronets), followed by the first name.

Madam - used by shop assistants, waters, etc to their female customers. Except for this type of situation, however, madam is less widely used than sir.

Doctor - used alone to medical practitioners. When addressing a person with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy or Doctor of Science, for example, the surname is always included.

Professor - used either with or without the surname, depending on how formal or informal one wishes to be. (Simply Professor is more formal.)

Ladies and Gentlemen - to an audience.

Waiter/Waitress/Porter/Nurse - to people in certain occupations. However, this usage now becoming rare, at least as regards Water/Waitress and Porter. Instead people simply try to catch the water's eye, for example, or say Excuse me, (please).

Officer - to a policeman.

Forms of address within the family.

Mummy, Daddy - said by small children

Mum, Dad - said by teen-agers addressing to parents

Mother, Father - said by adults

Granny, Granddad - by children addressing to

Grandmother, Grandfather - by adults grandparents

Aunt and Uncle are usually addressed as:

Auntie + name by children

Uncle + name

Aunt + name - by adults

Impoliteness.

To address somebody we should be very careful choosing the form of address, because we can offend the addressee. We cannot mix the stereotypes of addressing given above. There are some impolite forms we should avoid while addressing:

The usage name + surname points out the negative attitude, irritation, indignation towards the addressee.

The usage of surname towards a woman without traditional forms of politeness (Miss, Mrs.) is impolite.

Such forms of address as boy, man, girl, woman negative connotation, however, they are very often used in Modern English.

Such form of address as Hey is substandard, familiar, used only between friends, that is why we should be careful using it.

2.5 Apology

Lexico-phonetical representation

The basic form of apology is

I'm sorry

However, there are several variations which make an apology more or less emphatic.

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry. more emphatic

I'm very sorry.

I'm over so sorry. - less formal

I'm terribly/awfully/dreadfully sorry.

So rry. - less emphatic, often casual.

Only for relatively unimportant things. It is the most common form among educated people nowadays. Pronounced with a high rise, very fast, not clear. If the cause of apology is more serious the speaker would use the form I'm sorry.

These forms are often followed by `for-phrase':

Sorry for +gerund

I'm sorry for +gerund

Excuse me (for) …. - is an alternative here.

However, Excuse me alone (or with please) is usually either the way of indicating politely that you want to pass, at same time apologizing for any inconvenience you may cause, or a way of attracting the attention of a person, whose name you do not know.

I beg you pardon. - formal

It is rarely used nowadays, except as an apology for not hearing something (and thus a request for repetition). Even here, however, other forms given here are much more common.

Pardon. - an abbreviated form of I beg you pardon.

It is often used in Britain, but tends to be avoided by educated people, who generally prefer Sorry.

I hope you don't mind… - used when one has done something without first asking permission.

I apologize for.. - formal

I must/do apologize for..

Must is not usually stressed here. I must apologize is hardly more emphatic than simply I apologize . Do, however, is stressed and makes the apology more emphatic.

Non-verbal means:

To make an apology more polite we may smile, shrug our shoulders, or clasp palms to our breast.

Usual answers

When Sorry belongs rather to the etiquette expression of politeness, than to the apology, the addressee may repeat the phrase: Sorry - Sorry.

When this is an apology the addressee may answer with smile and gestures:

It's all right.

Don't worry.

No trouble at all.

That's quite all right.

Never mind.

Impoliteness.

We may be impolite when we don't apologize in situations which require apology.

The expression of apology in the categorical tone or intonation means impoliteness, because English speech etiquette does not admit the categorical tone. It is impolite with reference to the interlocutor.

There are some impolite answers:

Oh, you are, are have you? - in reply to I'm sorry

You, have you? - in reply to I'm sorry, (but) I've.

Being sorry won't help.

You should be more careful.

2.6 Request

Lexico-phonetical representation:

From the point of view of the category of politeness it is curious to study a situation when people request something. In this case speaker tries to observe the rules of the politeness, because he is interested in the result of the request. That's why to reach something for `himself' the person should be polite.

The forms of request depend on social position and age of addressee and of the importance of the request. So, very often in the case of positive request we use the imperative form:

Ex: Sit down.

But this is not quite polite, that's why we supplement it with please.

Sit down please.

Please sit down.

Please in initial position tends to be more emphatic. Note that there is no pose after it. Nor there a pause before please in the first type of sentence, in spite of comma.

Another way of expressing polite request is a large number of clichй-questions:

Will you … (please)?

Would you (please)?

Could

Do you think you could…?

Would you mind …-ing?

Will you be so kind as to…? - very formal

Would

These are not questions, but polite requests. The intonation rises.

The choice between the various alternatives given above depends on:

how large the request is (and therefore how much trouble or inconvenience it will cause);

how well we know the person we ask.

Thus the same request may be formulated with different degrees of politeness:

Ex: a) Open the window, please.

b) Will you open the window?

c) Would you open the window?

d) Would you mind opening the window?

e) Would you be so kind as to open the window?

Negative requests - these are the requests which ask not to do something. For the negative request we may use such phrases as:

Please don't…

Would you mind not … -ing? - more polite

Try not to…

Usual answers:

To show kind and warm attitude to the speaker proposing us something we should use such replies as:

(Yes,) certainly. - formal

(Yes,) of course. - semi-formal, informal

All right. - expressing a lesser degree of willingness

OK. - informal, casual (among friends)

(Yes,) here you are. - when handing someone something he has asked for not at all

Not in the least - in reply to Would you mind…?

a bit

I'm afraid I can't. - formal, semi-formal

(I'm) sorry, I can't. - semi-formal, informal

Impoliteness

As it was said above at first we express impoliteness by the intonation - low tone. Secondly if we use imperative request without please or question without Subjunctive I, we also seem impolite. In many situations, however, the imperative with please is not considered polite enough.

Replying negative to the request we will be impolite when we use

No, I cannot/won't

This is a point-blank refusal. Pronouncing it with abrupt, possibly rude low ton we are impolite.

2.7 Asking permission

Lexico-phonetical representation.

The clichй- forms of asking permission are interrogative that is why they are pronounced as questions with ascending intonation.

For asking permission to do something we may use the most common ways, such as:

May I…? - formal

Can I…? - semi-formal, informal

Could I…? - more polite

Could I possibly…? - emphasized that one is asking a favour.

Do you thing I could…? - tentative

I wonder if I could… - tentative

Do you mind if I…? (+ Present Indefinite) - implies that speaker intends to do what he asks.

Would you mind if …? (+Past Subjunctive) - does not implies this.

It is all right if I …?

(for me) to…?

Usual answers.

To grant permission the following words are used:

(Yes,) certainly - formal

(Yes,) of course - semi-formal, informal

Go ahead - formal

If you like - often implies an element of reluctance

Not at all. in reply to Do/Would you mind…?

No, that's all right.

To refuse permission we use:

(No,) I'm afraid not

(No,) I'm sorry. You can't.

No, of course not.

I'd rather you didn't - tactful

Impoliteness

Impoliteness in this case is to act without asking permission or to ask with low tone, rude, abruptly. In reply to Do/Would you mind…? answering Yes, I would mind,

and in reply to Is it all right if…? answering No, it isn't all right,

we are impolite and rude.

2.8 Offers

A Offers of help.

Lexico-phonetical representation.

When we want to offer someone our help and do it polite we can say:

I'll… (if you like).

Shall I…?

Let me…

Would you like me to…?

Do you need any help?

Can I help you (at all)?

Is there anything I can do (to help)?

Can you manage?

Usual answers

Acceptance:

Yes, please. - in reply to offers in the form of a question

Thank you (very much).

That's very kind of you (Thank you).

If (you're sure) it's not too much trouble.

If (you're sure) you have got time.

Well, perhaps you could… - in reply to Is there anything I can do (help)? or

Do you think you could…? Can you manage?

Refusal:

No, thank you. - in reply to questions

Oh, please don't bother.

No, it's/that's (quite) all right, (thank you).

Thank you, but there's really no need (to). I can easily…

I (think I) can manage all right, thanks.

B Offers of Food, Drink, etc.

Lexico-phonetical representation

When offering someone such things as food, drink we want to do it pleasantly and polite. In this case we may use such phrases as:

Would you like…? - the most widely used form

Will you have …? - formal

Would you care for…? - very formal

Have… if one is actually holding something out

Do have … - more emphatic, persuasive

(Please) help yourself (to) - used when the food, for example, is on the table but one is not going to hand it round. Help yourself (without to) refers to everything on the table; Help yourself to - to something specific.

Usual answers

The clearest and most usual replies to the interrogative forms are:

Yes please. ….. ….. pronounced with rising intonation

No, thank you. ……… and no pause between the words

Other possible replies are:

(Yes,) that would be very nice/lovely.

Please. …. - pronounced with a fall rise

Thank you. - as one takes something, especially in reply to (Do) have or Help yourself (to). In other situations Thank you alone is ambiguous and should be avoided.

Thank you, but… - a refusal followed by the explanation

Conclusions

In our work we give different definitions of politeness. We found that politeness maybe expressed grammatically with the help of Subjunctive I, modal verbs, modal adjuncts, comment adjuncts and tags; phonetically - with high tone; lexically - with the word please; and stylistically - with euphemisms. Besides, there are some non-verbal means of politeness which underline the kind attitude, amiability towards the addressee.

In the first chapter we analyze politeness according to Brown and Levinson who divides politeness into four categories: Bold-on Record, Negative Politeness, Positive Politeness and Off-Record. Brown and Levinson represented politeness in such classification easy-understandable for them, as they are native speakers of English, but for us, who study English as a foreign language, it is quite difficult to understand their classification without analyzing main stereotypes of expressing politeness. That is why the second chapter we dedicated to the practical work in which we gave examples of the most widespread stereotypes of greeting, leave-taking, gratitude, forms of address, apology, request, asking permission and offers. With the help of 225 examples we showed the way of expressing polite and impolite stereotypes of politeness.

Analyzing all above said we may say that to know usage of etiquette rules of the language is as well important as to know the usage of grammatical ones. That is why we should not limit our knowledge only in grammatical structure of expressions, but also take into consideration the adopted rules of speech etiquette. We should choose each stereotype of politeness depending on the formal or non-formal situation, on neutral, elevated or colloquial-friendly style of communication, on that fact weather the addressee is known or unknown. The culture of communication is concentrated on that fact that the speaker in one or another situation could choose the most appropriate speech way of demonstrating the polite and respectful attitude towards the addressee.

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