Principles of delimitation of speech genres expressing a positive assessment

We consider the possibility question of an unambiguous distinction between genres close in meaning, included in the same thematic group. The aim of the study is to describe the rhetorical parameters of the genres of praise, approval, compliment and flattery, which are included in the genres group of a positive assessment of a person and his actions, as well as to develop criteria for distinguishing between these genres. All genres belonging to this group are united by the addresser position: he experiences (or pretends to experience) one or another positive attitude, which he wants to notify the addressee about. The rhetorical features of all genres of the group are described in detail and the characteristics by which they can be distinguished are highlighted. Praise is considered to be the group central element of positively evaluative genres. A comparison of praise with other genres shows that the differences most often relate to the object of evaluation (in praise, the object is a person, and in approval, ideas, projects and other products of intellectual activity) and the nature of the assessments used (praise is based on objective assessments, and compliments are based on subjective assessments).