Features of Politeness Structures in the Kazakh Language

Abstract

This article examines the national-cultural specificity of politeness structures in the Kazakh language within the framework of the linguistic worldview theory. The relevance of the study stems from the role of language as an important cognitive tool that preserves the historical experience, cultural values, and worldview of an ethnic group. The aim of the study is to identify the connection between politeness structures in the Kazakh language and the national cultural code, and to determine their place within the linguistic worldview. The scientific significance of the work lies in the comprehensive application of the principles of anthropocentric linguistics, cognitive linguistics, and linguoculturology to the study of the category of politeness, while its practical significance lies in the potential use of the results in teaching Kazakh, translation studies, and intercultural communication. The research material comprises lexical, grammatical, and pragmatic linguistic units collected from fiction, media texts, samples of colloquial speech, and dictionaries; the analysis was conducted using descriptive, semantic, conceptual, and linguocultural methods. The findings show that politeness structures in the Kazakh language (the pronoun «сіз», honorific suffixes, forms of address, formulas of request and apology, and expressions of gratitude) are organized around four core conceptual models: respect, modesty, social harmony, and gratitude. The value of the study lies in treating politeness in the Kazakh language not merely as a grammatical phenomenon but as a reflection of the national worldview. The results obtained can serve as a basis for comparative research on the Kazakh politeness system in relation to other Turkic, Western, and Eastern languages.