Means of implementing the category of dialogue in the epistolary text of the second half of the 18th century

Abstract

The aim of the research is to determine the role of means of representing the textual category of dialogue in the private-business epistolary of the 18th century when characterising the communicants of correspondence, particularly Nikita Akinfievich Demidov (1724-1787), a Ural factory owner. The scientific novelty of the paper lies in examining linguistic markers of the category of dialogue peculiar to the business language of the 18th century and to N. A. Demidov as a linguistic personality. As a result of analysing the form of documents sent to higher authorities, it has been determined that the category of dialogue is represented even in the initial block of the letter – in the document requisites “sender” and “recipient”, whereas in letters sent to lower authorities, the requisite “sender” is contained within the requisite “recipient”. In the main part of the analysed documents and letters, the category of dialogue is represented by core markers: interrogative, imperative and negative constructions, references to documents initiating business communication (new speech subjects) presented in the form of indirect speech using the subjective particles де and якобы that indicate the unreliability of the information provided. In the business correspondence sent to lower authorities represented by a collective subject or a specific individual, N. A. Demidov uses both core and peripheral means of expressing the category of dialogue (parenthetical words and phrases, evaluative vocabulary) characteristic of the Russian language of the 18th century.