THE CONCEPT OF LANGUAGE ETIQUETTE AND ITS ROLE IN INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

The article examines language etiquette as a system of conventional verbal and non-verbal means through which speakers establish, maintain and close contact in accordance with the social norms of a given community. Drawing on politeness theory and the comparative analysis of etiquette formulas in English, Uzbek and Russian, the study identifies the main areas in which etiquette norms diverge and shows how these divergences give rise to pragmatic failure in intercultural interaction. The results indicate that differences in greetings, forms of address, requests, offers and apologies are rooted in deeper cultural values such as hierarchy, collectivism and the preferred degree of directness. It is argued that knowledge of etiquette conventions should be treated as an integral component of intercultural communicative competence rather than as an optional supplement to grammar and vocabulary.