The given article dwells on the comparative analysis of speech etiquette and politeness theories in Tajik and English. Using qualitative content analysis, the author of the article examined dialogues from Sadriddin Aini’s seminal Tajik novel “Ghulomon” (2019) alongside English conversational corpora. The adduced results reveal that Tajik politeness is deeply rooted in hierarchical social structures and Islamic norms, emphasizing deference (ehtirom) and ritualized humility (ta’arof), while English prioritizes individualism, negative face, and pragmatic indirectness. The study contributes to cross-cultural pragmatics by challenging universalist assumptions and highlighting sociocultural constraints in politeness realizations.