Osobennosti rečevogo etiketa i kommunikativnogo povedeniya russkiсh i ital’janсev (na primere rečevych aktov pros’by i izvinenija)

This paper presents a contrastive analysis of linguistic means of category of politeness expression in Russian and Italian cultures. Its specificity is determined by the cultural type, which, in turn, rests on the concrete meaning of the cultural values. The means of expression of politeness reveal considerable similarities that are based on the systems of values largely shared by these two nations. Yet, on the other hand, these two are not fully equivalent. As a universal category, politeness is also characterized by ethno-cultural specificity, which is bound to be taken into account as a precondition of successful intercultural communication. concrete means of politeness expression require proper study for the practical purposes of both foreign language and translation instruction. Presently, interpretation of national specificity of speech etiquette is actual on the basis of the contrastive analysis of concrete speech acts. The paper presents universal features and national specificity of etiquette phrases of apology and request in the Russian and Italian languages. This study demonstrated similarities and differences in Russian- and Italian-language communicative behaviors, as well as general speech strategies and tactics employed in performing speech acts of request and apology. These data can be used in teaching intercultural communication and translation.