Multilingual Associative Thesaurus Of Politeness: Stage 1

Abstract

The article focuses on compiling multilingual associative thesaurus of politeness. At the first stage of the project the list of word cues was obtained by mutually verifiable methods. The procedure of selecting cues started with component and definition analysis which were used to reveal the semantic components of politeness fixed in the lexicographical sources. It was followed by free word association experiment which is considered to be an effective tool for studying organization of lexicon. In order to clarify and supplement the free association data the method of mind maps was used. It extended the number of prospective links that the cue word activated. The multilingual associative thesaurus based on the systematization of associative data dedicated to politeness makes it possible to reveal not only universal, but also ethnic patterns of associative norms, which reflect linguistic and cultural stereotypes of politeness. This project would contribute to the solution of fundamental problems connected with the correlation of universal, ethnic and individual in speech activity and the content of the images of the world of representatives of different cultures. It would help eliminate semantic “gaps” in the field of polite behavior and diminish intercultural communicative failures in the period of rude and unfriendly moods in modern multicultural society.