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EUPHEMIZATION INSTINCT // Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin. 2016. Issue 3 (168). P. 15-19

The article presents an overview of rationales for euphemisms usage. We consider the problem from the point of psycholinguistics, social psychology, evolutionary biology and ethology. Biological researchers believe that a need for euphemisms could be one of the earliest linguistic imperatives imposed by disgust, thus euphemisms present a verbal hygiene strategy. Psychologists state that it is a distancing strategy, a means to manage human terror at the prospect of death. The article also considers the central role of politeness and cooperation principle in euphemistic and off-record indirect speech generation. From the perspective of the theory of strategic speaker indirect communication does not always involve pure cooperation between speaker and hearer but a mixture of cooperation and conflict and euphemising can be used to negotiate this uncertainty. Therefore, euphemism as a form of indirect proposition can allow for plausible deniability and has a strategic rationale.

Keywords: euphemism, indirect speech, instinct, theory of strategic speaker, principle of cooperation, politeness

NATIONAL AND CULTURAL SPECIFICITY OF INDIRECT STATEMENT (BASED ON AMERICAN ENGLISH) // Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin. 2017. Issue 11 (188). P. 85-89

The paper focuses on national and cultural peculiarities of indirect euphemistic expressions in American English. The author suggests that euphemism is a strategic communicative device varying within and under the influence of the historic, socio and cultural linguistic context. The major emphasis of the article is the concept of “American football” as a means of understanding American cultural mind set and source of equivocal euphemistic vocabulary. The paper explores some American cultural traits and values (related to sports traditions and rules) that are deeply impressed in mind and influence language choice: individualism, high risks, strategic planning, obsession with technology, competitiveness, religious affiliation, nationalist beliefs and aggressive business behaviour. The article highlights the popularity of American football and sports in the USA that results in the corresponding euphemistic vocabulary generation. Some sports terms borrowed from American football get in general use and are widely employed in political rhetoric and everyday speech. Therefore, American euphemisms are believed to be a class of their own, principally because they involve American realia and appeal to basic American values, thus becoming challenging to decipher for outsiders and at the same time sounding familiar and picturesque to American English speakers. Accordingly, euphemisms under study provide cultural insight and bespeak cultural identity.

Keywords: culture, indirect statement, euphemism, sports term, culture metaphor

ANTAGONISTIC GAME COMMUNICATIVE RESOURCES IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN POLITICAL DISCOURSE // Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin. 2019. Issue 9 (206). P. 84-91

Introduction. The article considers communicative instrumentarium of political interaction treated in game theory as antagonistic game. Material and methods. Analysis of political non-cooperative game linguistic constituent is implemented on the basis of game theory model and it reveals: 1) the peculiarities of game pursued by players in the political interaction under study; 2) communicative strategies specific for the politician discourse; 3) linguistic formalization of the speech strategies and tactics under analysis. The research focuses on Trump political discourse material manifesting noncooperative game strategies. Results and discussion. Game theory is a ubiquitous tool of players strategic behaviour forecasting and can be implemented in political linguistics since political discourse aims and content imply communication strategic planning. Trump discourse analysis reveals active incorporation of strategies common for antagonistic game (noncooperative zero-sum game). In effort to achieve the biggest pay-off the politician considers it expedient to employ communicative strategies of conflict and unpredictability in any political collision of interests. The strategy of confrontation in Trump discourse is manifested through various kinds of active and reactive speech aggression realized by means of incompetence assertion tactic, tactics of accusation, reproach, offence, ridicule and irony. The strategy of unpredictability and ambiguity employs contradictory utterances complicating political forecasting. These communicative strategies are rational in short-term interactions, e.g., presidential elections. Antagonistic games communicative strategies are not effective in long-term practice of foreign relations regulation and state governance. Conclusion. Donald Trump considers antagonistic game to be the most effective scenario of any political interaction. The USA president’s dominant communicative strategies are the ones of confrontation, unpredictability and ambiguity. Rational-heuristic type of speech aggression dominates the discourse of the politician.

Keywords: game theory, antagonistic game, political discourse, communicative strategy, zero-sum game, verbal aggression