“NEGATIVE POLITENESS” STRATEGIES IN THE ENGLISH VERBAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

The article deals with the notion of “negative politeness” within the context of Anglo-Saxon cultural ethos and considers its linguistic realization in the English language. The article reviews a substantial part of the research on linguistic
politeness, with the objective to examine the principles and practices of current politeness strategies in the English verbal
discourse. The paper extends the validity of Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory with reference to the Anglo-Saxon
“prototypical “negative face” culture with a strong emphasis on indirectness and politeness in interpersonal communication.