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EXPRESSION OF ALLUSION BY MEANS OF METAPHOR IN THE HEADLINES OF POLITICAL ARTICLES (ON THE MATERIAL OF FRENCH PRESS) // Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin. 2016. Issue 7 (172). P. 179-183

The article analyses the headlines based on metaphorical allusion to the content of political articles in the modern French Press. The aim of political discourse is to persuade the reader and to rouse him to some action. Allusion is considered to be an indirect speech act implicitly reflecting the gist of information, realized with the help of different linguistic means. The headline of the article contains main information about some event and is presented in the subtitle of newspaper article. In the full text of the article the headline is exposed to detail examination by the author. The headlines are classified in accordance with types of metaphors: “Anthropomorphous metaphor”, “Nature metaphor”, “Social metaphor”, “Artefact metaphor” and “Irreality metaphor” with their conceptual spheres. The metaphors are considered to be a reflection of political life, they give presentation about a character of State functioning and influence will, feelings and mentality of the reader.

Keywords: allusion, metaphor, newspaper discourse, indirect speech act, concept, metaphorical expansion

EUPHEMIZATION OF THE HEADER STRUCTURES OF POLITICAL ARTICLES (ON THE MATERIAL OF CONTEMPORARY FRENCH NEWSPAPERS) // Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin. 2017. Issue 6 (183). P. 91-95

The paper deals with the header structures of political articles, which include euphemisms and are taken from contemporary French newspapers. Considering the tense political situation in the world, euphemistic titles in the articles on political topics become increasingly relevant. They provide a smoothing effect of the emotional impact on the political discourse. Mass media titles and headers serve to partially reveal the text’s information and make a certain impact on the reader. Euphemism is considered as a word used for the sake of decency and discretion, to avoid mentioning unpleasant or shocking reality. As used in the press language, euphemisms render negative referents in terms of information. Their task is to modify the situation through a process of denomination and alleviative processing. Headers of political articles are classified by the type of negative revaluation of referents: understatement, axiological neutralization, improvement. Understatement in the French-language journalism is often implemented through euphemisms formed by meiosis, because they contain inherently weak negative denotation. Axiological neutralization contributes to veiling the true situation. Titles of articles are included in the policy framework shaped euphemistic statements, which make reality less dramatic, and are an essential component of the text itself. They embody a certain judgment about the current political situation. Authors neutralize the negative characteristics contained in the original concept, causing less dramatic reality that promotes the manipulation of mass consciousness. When using the improvement technique, negative formulation gives way to a more positive. Thus, the euphemisms substitute for unwanted words or expressions, which could cause a backlash in a particular situation, for the ones with a neutral connotation.

Keywords: political discourse, euphemisms, meiosis, meiotic euphemisms, negative referent, understatement, axiological neutralization, improvement

On the typology of telescoped words (based on the material of French journalism) // Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin. 2023. Issue 4 (228). P. 76-83

The vocabulary of any language is updated from time to time. The mass media contribute quite effectively to this process, especially in the field of word formation. One of the ways of word formation in the language of French journalism is blending, which seeks not only to emotionally influence the recipient, attracting his attention to events, but also to use speech means economically. French newspapers aimed at a wide range of readers served as the material for the study. The empirical base of the study was formed by using the means of random sampling. Based on the research work of John Algeo, who studies the means of forming telescoped words in English, the study made it possible to identify and compile a typology of telescopic lexical units used in the language of modern French journalism: 1) lexical units obtained by merging complete initial components; 2) lexical units with truncation of finite elements of the first initial components; 3) lexical units with complete coincidence of individual elements of the initial components and their overlap; 4) lexical units with the finite element truncation of both initial components. The analysis of the vocabulary of each type by lexical meanings, morphological features and grammatical categories made it possible to develop the models of French blend words. In all models, parts of speech expressed by nouns, adjectives and verbs are involved in the process of merging. The first type of blend formations includes a model based on the combination of two nouns, which, as a result, give a new word, also expressed by a noun. The most widespread model in the language of the French journalism is the second type, with the truncation of the second element of the first component of the initial lexical units. Five models of telescoped units have been registered in this type. The components of these word formation models are nouns, adjectives and verbs. When two words expressed by a verb merge, as a result of addition the suffixes ment/age, a telescoped word expressed by a noun is formed. The third type of telescoped words includes a model that connects adjectives and nouns. In this case, the middle part of the newly formed word is a complete coincidence of the two initial components. The fourth type is characterized by two models: the first of them is based on the creation of a noun due to the combination of two verbs, and the second includes terms formed from Greek components.

Keywords: information space, blending, telescoped units, word-play, word formation