Th e article focuses on the speech behavior of A. P. Sumarokov. Based on the individual character of the poet, it correlates with various speech practices of the noble society: court etiquette described in the books about the art de parler and art de plaire dans la conversation”, and the causerie of the 18th-century
salons. Sumarokov’s speech behaviour was perceived ambiguously by his contemporaries but infl uenced the formation of norms of Russian high society communication and the individual manner of some writers, for example, D. Fonvizin.