Managing the Expression of Politeness. A Diachronic Approach to the German and Romanian Professional Correspondence

The present study aims to explore the linguistic journey of polite communication in the last two centuries. For this purpose, the article scrutinises German and Romanian professional correspondence and identifies the transformations letter writing has undergone by defining the most relevant patterns of politeness: semantic typology, idiosyncratic language, epistemic and deontic modalities. We conclude that polite interactions unfold in a multitude of eloquent and expressive formulations in earlier letters, whereas modern writings orientate themselves towards the mundane, seek simplicity and are stripped off from ornaments and redundant formulations.

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