Communicative and speech category of "friendship"

The article deals with the concept of the communicative speech category friendship. Sources of the concept are traced back to the works by M.Bakhtin and some modern researchers. On the data of epistolary texts specificity of verbal manifestation of amicable feeling is analysed, thematic and tectonic means of formation of the category are examined. It is shown that norms of friendly behavior determine a choice and use of linguistic means in text production. Sense structures of epistolary texts reflect mutual affection of communicators, commonality of their interests and mutual intention to be enriched intellectually and spiritually.