Anthropologists Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson identified four kinds of politeness, deriving from Erving Goffman's concept of See more

During the Enlightenment era, a self-conscious process of the imposition of polite norms and behaviors became a symbol of being a genteel member of the upper class. … See more

Besides and additionally to the above, many languages have specific means to show politeness, deference, respect, or a recognition of the See more

• Confirmation bias
• Courtesy
• Formality
• Intercultural competence See more

There is a variety of techniques one can use to seem polite. Some techniques include expressing uncertainty and ambiguity through See more

Brown and Levinson's theory of politeness has been criticised as not being universally valid, by linguists working with East-Asian languages, including Japanese. Matsumoto and Ide claim that Brown and Levinson assume the speaker's volitional … See more

• Brown, P.; Levinson, S. (1987). Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Holmes, J. (1995). Women Men and Politeness. London: Longman.
• Axia, … See more