Evaluative adjectives as a factor of realizing the influencing mechanism in Russian and English-language military-political discourse

Aim is to identify the mechanism of speech influence implemented through evaluative adjectives in Russian and English-language military-political discourse.
Methodology. The methodological framework of the research is based on discourse analysis with elements of pragmalinguistic and semantic approaches. The empirical material includes official public speeches by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation S. V. Lavrov, and the U.S. Secretary of State A. Blinken, media communications from Telegram channels, and a social media posts. The analysis involved identifying evaluative adjectives, determining their semantic polarity, classifying them according to N. D. Arutyunova’s typology, establishing emotional connotations based on L. G. Babenko’s thesaurus, and interpreting communicative strategies and tactics following O. N. Parshina’s model with consideration of factors of communicative effectiveness.
Results. It is established that evaluative adjectives function as a significant element of the influencing mechanism by shaping the interpretive frame of utterances. In the analyzed discourse instances, adjectives serve to enhance semantic emphasis, provide emotional marking, construct the opposition of “us” vs. “them,” and contribute to strategies of argumentation, discrediting, and emotional framing. Their use correlates with the pragmatic aim of shaping a predetermined perception of political events.
Research implications. The findings contribute to the development of methodology for analyzing military-political discourse, particularly within the scope of strategic communication. The proposed algorithm for analyzing evaluative lexis may be applied in linguistic expertise of media texts, and in studies on political linguistics, conflict rhetoric, and media rhetoric.

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