ETIQUETTE AND COURTESY CLICHÉS IN‘PISMOVNICHE’ (1870) BY STEFAN POPOVAND PETAR AVRAMOV

Abstract

In the proposed article, the grammatical and lexical means of expressing politeness are subjected to analysis by means of the descriptiveanalytical method, asare the clichés for endingin 60 sample letters, recommended in the ‘Pismovniche’ tutorial. The authors, Stefan Popov and Petar Avramov, advise using second-person pronouns and plural verbs in all letters addressed to parents, close relatives, and other people to whom students in grades 5 through 8 send letters.This recommendation is interpreted as being introduced by certain French sources used in compiling the tutorial; it is also influenced by trends in the last decade of the Bulgarian Revival. The lexical means of courtesy (address and title) are an episode of the gradual imposition of the titles Mr. (господин) and Mrs. (госпожа); the vocative forms of nouns naming the addressees are a natural norm in the language. The clichés at the end of the letters help their addressees to master the art of correspondence.