Linguistic exponents of politeness in business request letters: a contrastive study (English, Arabic and Russian)

The article focuses on the linguistic exponents of politeness in business letters. The notion of politeness in general and in three cultures under consideration (English-speaking, Arab and Russian) is specified. Linguistic exponents of politeness in business request letters in three languages are studied. The system of lexical and grammatical exponents of politeness is established. A contrastive analysis of linguistic exponents of politeness is carried out in three languages with respect to their universal and culture-specific characteristics. Perspectives of further research are outlined.