Category of politeness as a guarantee of successful business communication: linguistic aspect (based on the material of the English language)

The article examines the category of politeness as a guarantee of successful business communication from a linguistic perspective. It notes that the category of politeness is of social nature, based on the individual perception of communication participants regarding their own speech behavior and that of their interlocutor. At that, politeness is not necessarily perceived equally by all members of a given community. The study reveals that politeness functions in communication, aims to achieve a pragmatic effect, and draws upon the rules of speech etiquette, social status, ethical standards, and attitudes accepted in a given society. It determines that politeness is most clearly manifested in business communication and reflects the following aspects: the national and cultural characteristics of the language and its speakers; norms, rules, values, attitudes and stereotypes of linguistic culture; a focus on maintaining communicative interaction through various cooperative communicative strategies; and compliance with the rules of speech etiquette. We conclude that English-language business letters of request typically express politeness and aim for successful communication through the following: direct address to the addressee by name, which confirms the author’s desire to comply with the norms of politeness in the English-speaking culture and achieve success; conditional sentences used to soften the request; the presence of multiple polite phrases, which reflects a certain redundancy in expressing politeness; and the use of the imperative mood.