Emotional Constituent of Rhetorical Questions (Based on the Lyrics of English Songs)

  • Irina Alekseevna Shirokikh Altai State University Email: shirokih.irina@mail.ru
Keywords: the author’s perception of the situation (context), rhetorical questions, lyrics, grammatical level, emotional constituent

Abstract

The article deals with rhetorical questions whose importance is evaluated, while interpreting the speaker’s psychological and emotional state. The author of the article offers theories about this grammatical unit, provided by foreign linguists. The theoretical aspects are supported with the examples from English songs of two long-plays A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships (2018) and Notes On A Conditional Form (2020), performed by the band The 1975. While writing lyrics, the author of the songs uses this or that type of rhetorical questions: the ones connected to the communicative function of preference (preference structure) or to the one of favour; either positive or negative rhetorical questions; or the questions starting with why question-word (wh-question). It is the diversity of emotions he wants to present to the audience that determines the author’s choice. Rhetorical questions help to realize the correlation of the author’s choice of a definite rhetorical question to the emotions of this very author.

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References

Библиографический список

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Список источников

[The Sound Lyrics // The 1975 // Genius / Genius Media Group Inc. URL: https://genius.com/The-1975-the-sound-lyrics].

References

Kochkinekova A.V. Proyavlenie fasadnosti v angloyazychnoj kul'ture // In: Filologiya i chelovek. [Philology & Human]. 2017. No. 1.

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Bardenstein R. Constructionalized Rhetorical Questions // R. Bardenstein // Tel Aviv University, 2015.

Blakemore C. et al. Narrating psychological distress: Associations between cross-clausal integration and mental health difficulties / C. Blakemore et al // Applied Psycholinguistics // Oxford University, 2011.

Breeze R. Balancing neutrality and partiality in arbitration: discursive tensions in separate opinions / R. Breeze // Text & Talk, 2016.

Harrison V. et al. Are you serious?: Rhetorical Questions and Sarcasm in Social Media Dialog / V. Harrison et al // Proceedings of the 18th Annual SIGdial Meeting on Discourse and Dialogue., 2017.

Hartshorne J. K. et al. Linking Meaning to Language: Verbs of Psychological State and the Linking Problem // J. K. Hartshorne et al // Massachusetts Institute of Technology. – 2010.

Heinemann T. ‘Will you or can’t you?’: Displaying entitlement in interrogative requests / T. Heinemann // Journal of Pragmatics, 2006.

Koshik I. Beyond Rhetorical Questions: Assertive questions in everyday interaction / I. Koshik. – Amsterdam / Philadelphia : John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2005.

Min H.-J., Park J. C. Analysis of Indirect Uses of Interrogative Sentences Carrying Anger // H.-J. Min, J.C. Park // KAIST, 2007.

Rexach J. G. Rhetorical Questions, Relevance and Scales / J. G. Rexach // Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses, 2018.

Rohde H. Information Theoretic Approach to Rhetorical Questions // H. Rohde // University of California San Diego, 2018.

List of sources

[The Sound Lyrics // The 1975 // Genius / Genius Media Group Inc. URL: https://genius.com/The-1975-the-sound-lyrics].

Published
2023-05-14
How to Cite
Shirokikh I. A. Emotional Constituent of Rhetorical Questions (Based on the Lyrics of English Songs) // Philology & Human, 2023, № 2. P. 145-152 DOI: 10.14258/filichelfilichel(2023)2-11. URL: http://journal.asu.ru/pm/article/view/12546.
Section
Научные сообщения
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