On the grammar of inducement utterances in English-speaking media discourse (based on headlines in the Guardian on-line version)

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On the grammar of inducement utterances in English-speaking media discourse (based on headlines in the Guardian on-line version)

Zaluzhna O.

Vinnytsia, Ukraina

Introductory notes

Inducement is an essential element of human speech in general and each language in particular which is predetermined by the fact that motivating for an action is an indispensable important part of human communication. This type of speech act is acknowledged to be the language universal found in all the languages of the world and all types of texts (the term which in this realm viewed in its broader meaning as a communication system (either spoken or written) in a given communicative context irrespective of its length).

The study of inducement utterances proves to be highly productive in terms of discourse analysis approach. The present paper focuses on the media discourse as it is, on the one hand, `a public, manufactured, on- record, form of interaction' (O'Keeffe, 2012, p. 441) which provides an easy access for a researcher. On the other hand, the printed media discourse is oriented to a non-present reader who cannot immediately interact with the inducer of the action; thus, it is developed keeping in mind that it should first attract the reader's attention through the headline and keep it further making the recipient finish reading the text.

The present paper aims at outlining the inventory of grammar patterns and defining the core, the closest periphery, and the distant periphery of the inducement utterances deployed in English-speaking media discourse (i.e., the headlines used in the Guardian on-line version).

The unit of the research is the media headline, irrespective of its length, but restricted by its functional load, which is following Merriam- Webster's definition is termed as `a head of a newspaper story or article usually printed in large type and giving the gist of the story or article that follows'.

The empiric database includes 100 research units selected by continuous sampling from the Guardian on-line version (the period is limited by 2015-2020).

Discussion

In modern linguistics, there exists certain degree of confusion between terms `imperative' and `inducement', i.e., they are sometimes used interchangeably. The statement can be proved by the thought expressed by

V.S. Khrakovsky and O.P. Volodin who claim that imperative or inducement sentences express the speaker's message to the interlocutor intending to cause them to perform an action (Khrakovsky & Volodin, 1986, p. 4). However, presently a clear borderline must be drawn between imperative constructions which are viewed within the grammatical approach to the language study (Potsdam & Edmiston, 2015) and miscellaneous constructions with the meaning of inducement which become the focal point of research in terms of the speech acts theory. Those two linguistic notions naturally overlap (with inducement imbibing imperatives) as the meaning of imperative constructions inherently presupposes direct inducement to action, but they do not fully coincide as indirect inducement can be transmitted not by imperative sentences only but by declarative and interrogative ones, thus significantly enlarging the inventory of the language means expressing inducement.

In addition, means expressing inducement are recurrently mistakenly replaced by the notion of causative constructions which also partially overlap but are in no way identical to each other (Zaluzhna, 2019, p. 13-14), i.e., inducement utterances can be inherently causative in their nature (see (1)), but not all causative constructions possess the meaning of inducement (see (2)) and vice versa (see (3)), cf.:

1. Don't spill the milk? (inducement utterance containing a causative construction);

2. John spilled the milk (a causative construction without inducement meaning);

3. You shouldn't talk now (inducement utterance without causative construction).

Results

persuasive headline english media guardian

It is noteworthy that the core of the inducement means in media discourse is constituted by indirect inducement utterances, cf. the results obtained by A. E. Volkova for the language at large (Volkova, 2010).

Indirect means of inducement in media discourse headlines include but are not limited to:

- interrogative sentences of different types (e.g., Can we please stop talking about Adel's body?; Why Don't You Just Die! review - ingenious drama with hints of Tarantino);

- elliptical sentences devoid of the verb (e.g., No More Bovs and Girls: Can Kids Go Gender Free? review - reasons to start treating children equally);

- set phrases with inherent inducement semantics (e.g., Ben Kingsley: `Do you mind if I finish what I was saying?');

- constructions with the verb to suggest (e.g., How do you acquire and keep rich friends? I suggest dinner);

- Complex Object constructions with the verb to want (e.g., We don't want billionaires' charity. We want them to pay their taxes);

- constructions with the Subjunctive Mood after the verb to wish (e.g., I wish more people would read. Damon Runyon's short stories);

- constructions with causative verbs to make, to get, to help, to have, etc. (e.g., Strategy board games to help you escape Covid);

- passive construction with the verb to allow (e.g., UK lockdown rules: what you are allowed to do from Monday).

Direct means of inducement in media discourse headlines include but are not limited to:

- constructions with the synthetic imperative (e.g., Help us to stop the war);

- constructions with the analytical imperative (e.g., Let's move to Rotterdam: Eurovision's new home);

- constructions with modal verbs which are characterised by inherent inducement semantics should, need, must and their equivalents to have to, to be necessary, etc. (e.g., We can't rely on the media to call the election fairly. Here's what we need to do about it).

Conclusion

1. Inducement utterances are closely connected to the language phenomena of the imperative mood and causative constructions, overlapping with both but fully coinciding with neither of them.

2. Media discourse represents a specific field of discourse analysis in terms of inducement utterances as it is characterised by specific conditions of its functioning and peculiar communicative aims and goals which becomes crucial for the headlines as the focal point of the media text.

3. The core of the inducement means within the media discourse headlines is constituted by indirect inducement (interrogative sentences of different types; elliptical sentences devoid of the verb; set phrases with inherent inducement semantics; constructions with the verb to suggest; Complex Object constructions with the verb to want; constructions with the Subjunctive Mood after the verb to wish; constructions with causative verbs to make, to get, to help, to have, etc.; passive construction with the verb to allow) whereas direct means of inducement form the periphery (constructions with the synthetic imperative; constructions with the analytical imperative; constructions with modal verbs which are characterised by inherent inducement semantics should, need, must and their equivalents to have to, to be necessary, etc.).

References

1. Khrakovsky, V.S., & Volodin, A.P. (1986) Semantika i tipologiya imperativa: russkiy imperative [Semantics and Typology of Imperatives: Russian Imperative]. Moscow: URSS. 272.

2. O'Keeffe, A. (2012) Media and Discourse Analysis. The Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Chapter: Institutional Applications. Oxon: N.Y.: Routledge. 441-454.

3. Potsdam, E., & Edmiston, D. (2015) Imperatives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

4. Volkova, A.E. (2010) Pobuditel'nost' kak grammaticheskoe i funkcional'no-semanticheskoe javlenie [Inducement as a Grammatical and Functional-Semantic phenomenon]. Vest. Volgogr. gos. un-ta. Ser. 2, Jazykoznanie. №1(11). 31-36.

5. Zaluzhna, O.O. (2019) Leksyko-stylistychni ta strukturno-syntaksychni osoblyvosti pryvatyvnykh diyesliv v anhliys'kiy ta ukrains'kiy movakh [Lexical, Stylistic, Structural, and Syntactic Peculiarities of Privative Verbs in English and Ukrainian]. Vinnytsia: TOV «Nilan- LTD». 316.

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