Intense debate still exists concerning whether politeness should be viewed as universal to all languages or as a language-specific phenomenon. Considering both sides of the debate, this article examines two intertwined aspects from a language-specific and universal perspective: politeness as a concept and politeness as a term. The article firstly focuses on universal aspects by elaborating on the etymological development of various words for politeness in different European languages as well as the origin and historical development of the concept of politeness. This is followed by a more language-specific analysis of the meaning and implications of the German term Höflichkeit and of German address pronouns.
Politeness across languages: Universal and language-specific aspects
Ehrhardt, Claus
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2026
Abstract
Intense debate still exists concerning whether politeness should be viewed as universal to all languages or as a language-specific phenomenon. Considering both sides of the debate, this article examines two intertwined aspects from a language-specific and universal perspective: politeness as a concept and politeness as a term. The article firstly focuses on universal aspects by elaborating on the etymological development of various words for politeness in different European languages as well as the origin and historical development of the concept of politeness. This is followed by a more language-specific analysis of the meaning and implications of the German term Höflichkeit and of German address pronouns.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
