Semantic Modeling of Ways to Verbalize Emotions in the Political Discourse of Germany

Abstract

The article deals with methods of verbalization of various emotions, considered on the material of authentic texts related to the political discourse of Germany. There is a predominance of the emotional component over the rational one in modern political communication, therefore there is a need for a comprehensive study of the technique of nominating various emotional states. The purpose of the analysis is to identify the features of the semantic aspect of the linguistic representation of emotions in German-language political texts. This study is carried out using the method of semantic modelling according to five parameters reflecting the main types of syntagmatic relations between the meanings of words within one speech segment (a word combination or a sentence): «signs of emotion», «activity of emotion», «manifestation of emotion», «carrier of emotion», «cause of emotion». The following conclusions were obtained in the course of this study: the parameters «signs of emotion» and «activity of emotion» are the most productive within the framework of German political discourse; within the parameters mentioned above, the phenomenon of metaphorization is noted, which can also be considered as one of the productive means of verbalization of emotions; according to the type of evaluation sign, the predominance of negative emotions is observed in the political discourse of Germany. The results of the research conducted in this article can be used in research and teaching activities related to the study of the features of the emotional aspect of modern communication from a linguistic point of view.