Philology
Candidate of
philological sciences, Olena Yemelyanova,
Yuliya Yurko
Sumy State University
Foregrounding of the category of
emotiveness in the modern English publicistic discourse
Summary. This article deals with the problem of peculiarities of emotiveness
foregrounding in the modern English publicistic discourse.
The issue of the differentia of notions emotiveness and emotivity is studied.
The main principles of foregrounding of the category of emotiveness at different
language levels: phonetic, morphological, lexical and semantic are
characterized. The key role of emotiveness in the English publicist discourse
is proved.
Key words: emotiveness,
emotive, emotional, publicist discourse, language / speech category, linguistic
level.
Emotiveness is an
important direction of research in modern linguistics. The last twenty years,
this issue has been studied with increased attention: domestic and foreign
researchers attribute the problem of emotiveness to the primary tasks of
anthropocentric linguistics. This issue was studied by V.
I. Apresian, A. G. Baranov,
V. I. Bolotov, E. M. Wolf, M. V. Malinovich, V. A. Maslov, V.
I. Shakhovskyi and others.
Despite the
recognition of the importance of emotional factors for the language study, this
area of research remains one of the most complex and controversial.
Approaches to the
problem of the relationship between rational and emotional aspects in language
and speech, the ways of verbalization of emotions are rather contradictory. The
contradictions are induced,
on the one hand, by the difficulty of resolving the fundamental linguistic
tasks and, on the other hand, they are the consequences of the absence of one
psychological concept of emotions, upon which the linguistic research of
emotiveness could be based.
A long time ago
textology focused on the problem of emotions in text. The ability of text to
excite, influence, experience the depths of the content, give pleasure was
always recognized as their inherent quality. But emotiveness as the
implementation of emotions in the language even today remains one of the most
uncertain qualities of the text.
The aim of this
research is to establish the unique specifications and ways of foregrounding of
emotiveness in the modern English publicist discourse.
The object of the
research is emotiveness as the leading feature of modern English publicist
discourse.
The subject of
the research is the peculiarities of foregrounding of emotiveness in modern
English publicist discourse.
It is important
to distinguish between two types of emotions for understanding of revealing of
emotions in different cultures: emotions “as relatively short emotional stages
with partly uncontrolled psychological components and with partly controlled
expressive components” [2: 16]. In the first case emotions have natural,
unexpected character, they are open demonstration of feelings. In the second
case demonstration of emotions has early-prepared character and it is a certain
strategy of communicational behavior, they are used to predict and estimate the
situation, and, of course, to influence the behavior of other participants of
the communicative process. Such demonstration of emotions is offered to name
emotiveness [6: 12]. For better understanding we can take the example with a
smile, then we can define more exactly that English smile more often is
emotive, while Russian smile − emotional.
Emotions
as well as emotiveness are used for communicative purposes, but their direction
and aims are different. Emotions are instinctive, unknown, unplanned
demonstration of emotions, concentrated in the majority of cases on the object
itself (they are emotions for itself).
Emotiveness is understandable, planned demonstration of emotions directed to
the addressee (they are emotions for others). Thus, emotiveness is language
category, while emotions – speech category.
English
publicist style includes mass media language, used during the discussion of
public relationships: political, economic, cultural, religious, sport and others.
While characterizing the texts of this style it is important to take into
account genres in which they are foregrounded and also functional constituents:
communicative situation, content of transferred information, speech functions
and peculiarities of language structures usage.
English publicist
texts can be referred to two types of discourse. To the first group may be
referred newspaper texts, in which referential element has dominant place,
while subjective opinion recedes into the background. The second group of
discourse includes texts in which dominates obviously expressed attitude of the
speaker to the referent and estimation of this facts is present in the text. In
the first case, estimation is not dominant pragmatic function of the text, thus
it has unobvious character (it is implicit). In the second case estimation is
the main dominant function of the text, demonstrated obviously (explicitly) by
the expressive means.
In
the information society the function of influence is the basic function of mass
media. A recipient is considered as a subject of influence in such situation.
In the majority of cases influence depends on the usage of expressive and
estimation language means. Especially vivid it appears in such genres as an
analytical article and an interview. In such a way, the newspaper tries to
influence on the readers’ opinion as strong as it is possible. In such
conditions, informative function becomes somewhat additional to influential
function.
Emotiveness is
inherent to all linguistic levels: phonetic, morphological, lexical and
syntactical. Each has its own system of expressive means. There is an
assumption that there is some relation between a specific sound of the word and
its meaning. According to this assumption, the sound can cause in the speakers’
minds a certain meaning, that is to substitute an object or effect, becoming
their symbol.
At present stage
of development it can be confirmed that phonemes contain mainly information of
sensory and emotive nature. For example, the sound combination [sl]
conveys unpleasant associations: slack, slouch, slush, sludge, slime, slosh,
slash, sloppy, slug, sluggard, slattern, slut, slang, sly, slither, slow,
sloth, sleepy, sleet, slink, slip, slipshod, slope, slit, slay, sleek, slant,
slovenly, slab, slap, slough, slum, slump, slobber, slaver, slur, slog, and
slate.
For example: Beef worker sues
Diane Sawyer, Jamie Oliver over "pink slime" [7].
Negative feelings
have also sound combination [kr]: crash, crack, crunch, and
others.
The emotional
component of value is
often expressed by morphemes. Emotive English suffixes include - y, - ling,
- let, - ster, - kin, - ette, - ard.
For example: Previous reports
said the couple would be giving their child a moniker that begins with a
"K," just like mommy, daddy, grandma Kris and aunties Kourtney
and Khloe have [9].
If emotive
neutral root morpheme ties with emotive affixes, lexical unit gets emotional
coloring: daddy, kiddy, girlie, mommy. In some cases, the same suffix
foregrounds derivative polar emotiveness: dafty, softy and daddy,
birdy. Such suffixes are potentially ambivalent.
For the
expression of emotions at the syntactical level can be used exclamation,
interrogative, elliptical, inverted sentences, additional elements. The higher
the degree of emotional intensity is, the higher is the degree of
disorganization of syntactic structures. Interruptions, repetitions,
unconcluded syntactical constructions are specific for the high concentration
of emotions. For example, expression of a surprise is usually introduced by
interrogative, negative patterns, repetitions, interrupted and elliptical
sentences.
Presentation of
emotiveness on the lexical level draws attention of many linguists [1:
235]. Depending on the type of emotive
semantics, all emotive word are divided into effectives in which emotive
semantics constitutes unique content of words semantics (Ah! Gee! Why!),
and connotatives in which emotive themes accompany basic logical and
substantive meaning.
For
example: rascal, rogue, scamp.
These
two groups belong to emotive vocabulary both in language and in speech.
The main means of
creation of emotive effect in the English-speaking journalistic discourse are
stylistic, such as periphrasis. Periphrasis allows reflecting in the text the
author's attitude to the fact described in the article most effectively.
For example: The host of the show
said that the lady who hopes that at least her cell phone is bug-proof, even
from US intelligence services will be interviewed later...[10]
In
this case, the lady who hopes that at least her cell phone is bug-proof is Angela Merkel.
Epithets add to
the language units beauty and richness or particular semantic nuance, and
sometimes even change their meanings completely.
For example: Not because she is
the most powerful female politician, but because she is one of the closest
allies the US has in Europe, trusted friend [10].
In British
journalistic discourse comparison makes an object which is described more
visible, shows the writer's attitude to it:
For example: She wouldn't
endanger the Swift data exchange agreement and negotiations on a free trade
zone between the European Union and the United States, just to demonstrate that
she is a strong leader or to strengthen her position at home, which is as
stable as the stone at the moment [10].
An important
differential feature of journalistic discourse is its tendency to the usage of
simple syntactic forms – elliptical and simple sentences. The tendency to
simplify the structure impacts the structure of complex sentences, resulting in
eliptization.
For
example: On the 3rd of March, the captains got together and ... before
leading their soldiers into battle [8].
We
observe the deliberate interruption of expression, which indicates that the
thought is incomplete, but from the context, we can guess what the author
wanted to say.
Polysyndeton is
used to emphasize the simultaneity of the described actions, reveal a
subjective attitude of the author towards statements in order to create a
rhythmic effect.
For example: We lived and
laughted and loved and left [4].
Graduation
provides a gradual increase in the value, importance or emotional tension in
the utterance.
For example: "Little by
little, bit by bit, and day by day, and year by year the baron got the worst of
some disputed question" [4].
Talking about the
structural features of transmission emotiveness in modern English journalistic
discourse it should be noted that among stylistic means, by which emotiveness
is implemented, are the following: litotes, aposiopesis, inversion, and many
others. The main function of these stylistic devices is to influence the reader
in such a way as it was planned by the author, the reader must subconsciously
absorb all the information exactly as the author wants.
During our
research we found out that the main feature of the English journalistic
discourse is the inseparable unity of informative and influential functions.
This is what determines the priority of emotiveness in the content structure of
such types of texts.
The desire to
achieve maximum expressiveness becomes a main motif in the search of emotive
means of language that can create an emotional effect and cause in the reader’s
mind an appropriate emotional response. This task the journalist can solve
involving various expressive means of the language.
Emotiveness in
contemporary English journalistic discourse is an effective means of speech
influence and is presented by the selection and classification of facts and
phenomena in their description at a certain angle, by the distribution of
evaluation information, and by the ratio of negative and positive details in
specific linguistic means.
The analysis of
the research material indicates that emotiveness is inherent to all linguistic
levels: phonetic, morphological, lexical and syntactical. Each has its own
system of expressive means.
References
1. Арнольд
И. В. Стилистика.
Современный английский язык: [учеб. пособ.] / И. В. Арнольд.
– [5е изд., испр. и доп.]. – М.: Флинта:
Наука, 2002. – 384 с.
2. Гнезділова Я. В. Лексико-стилістичні особливості
емоційного та емотивного дискурсів. Проблеми семантики слова, речення і тексту
/ Я. В. Гнезділова: зб.
наук. пр. – К.: Вид. Центр КНЛУ. – Вип. 13. – 2005. - 18 с.
3.
Літвінчук
І. М. Прагматика емотивного тексту : автореф. дис. на здобуття ступ. канд.
філолог. наук / І. М. Літвінчук. - К., 2000. - 231 с.
4. Цыбулевская
А. В. Эмотивный арготический лексикон 10.02.19 – теория языка. Дисс. на соиск.
уч. степ. канд. филол. наук. – Ставрополь, 2005 // Режим
доступу: http ://orel 3.rsl.ru/dissert/EBD 834 cybulevskaya
AV .pdf.
5. Шаховский В. И. Категоризация эмоций в
лексико-симантической системе языка / В. И. Шаховский. – Воронеж: Изд-во
Воронежск. гос. ун-та, 1987. – 192с.
6. Шаховский В. И. О лингвистике эмоций. Язык и
эмоции. / В. И. Шаховский – Волгоград: Перемена. – 1995. – С. 3-15.
7. Former Beef Worker Sues Chef Jamie Oliver, ABC News & Diane Sawyer Over “Pink Slime” [Електронний ресурс] / Режим
доступу: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-20701981
8. Journal
of American Studies. Warring
in America: Encounters of Gender and Race.
[Електронний ресурс] /
Режим доступу: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27556967
9. Kanye West, Kim Kardashian
choose baby name North West. Stop laughing. [Електронний ресурс] / Режим
доступу: http://articles.latimes.com/
2013/jun/21/entertainment/la-et-mg-kim-kardashian-baby-name-north-west-kanye-west-20130621
10. Merkel's
indignation is genuine and right. [Електронний ресурс] / Режим доступу: http://www.ky3.com/news/nation/Merkel-s-indignation-is-genuine-and-right/-/21049024/22681096/-/r6n4ym/-/index.html