LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF UNDERSTATEMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH

The article focuses on the concept of Understatement as a lingua-cultural category and analyses the main linguistic means of realization of this phenomenon. Besides, some stylistic and pragmalinguistic aspects of Understatement are analyzed from the perspective of a distancing strategy. The research...

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Autor principal:	V. G. Ivanova
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN RU
Publicado:	MGIMO University Press 2013
Materias:	understatement negation downtoning approximation detensifiers hesitation distancing litotes meiosis International relations JZ2-6530
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/da300910cac147a4b2f9fe7702f42a39
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:da300910cac147a4b2f9fe7702f42a39
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:da300910cac147a4b2f9fe7702f42a392021-11-23T14:50:55ZLINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF UNDERSTATEMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH2071-81602541-909910.24833/2071-8160-2013-5-32-252-260https://doaj.org/article/da300910cac147a4b2f9fe7702f42a392013-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.vestnik.mgimo.ru/jour/article/view/1235https://doaj.org/toc/2071-8160https://doaj.org/toc/2541-9099The article focuses on the concept of Understatement as a lingua-cultural category and analyses the main linguistic means of realization of this phenomenon. Besides, some stylistic and pragmalinguistic aspects of Understatement are analyzed from the perspective of a distancing strategy. The researcher is primarily interested in Understatement as a lingua-cultural category relying on historically stipulated cultural traditions of Anglo-Saxon society which gave rise to the forming of the British national character, and which reflect age, gender and social differences of the English. The author does not use the Russian variants of the translation of Understatement in the article, as they do not fully convey all the aspects of denotative and connotative meaning of this concept. Further on it is emphasized that the structure of Understatement is complex, diverse and can be expressed by a variety of lexical as well as grammatical means, among which double negation, modal verbs, the adverbs of degree and particles can often be encountered which are in most cases dependent on the context. From the pragmatic angle Understatement can be used to conceal embarrassment, anxiety or offence. Moreover, Understatement is used while singling out the positive aspects of the communicative situation. The understatement of the positive characteristics of the speaker is reflected in the so called «effect of modesty », which finally boils down to such a strategy as «fishing for compliments», that is an intentional understatement of one’s positive qualities in order to «fish for compliments». Understatement used to and continues to play a special role in the English speech behavior. Its aim is to minimize the impact of the negative factors on the message addressee, to lower the categoricity of the utterance and to take the interlocutor’s interests into account.V. G. IvanovaMGIMO University PressarticleunderstatementnegationdowntoningapproximationdetensifiershesitationdistancinglitotesmeiosisInternational relationsJZ2-6530ENRUVestnik MGIMO-Universiteta, Vol 0, Iss 5(32), Pp 252-260 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN RU
topic	understatement negation downtoning approximation detensifiers hesitation distancing litotes meiosis International relations JZ2-6530
spellingShingle	understatement negation downtoning approximation detensifiers hesitation distancing litotes meiosis International relations JZ2-6530 V. G. Ivanova LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF UNDERSTATEMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH
description	The article focuses on the concept of Understatement as a lingua-cultural category and analyses the main linguistic means of realization of this phenomenon. Besides, some stylistic and pragmalinguistic aspects of Understatement are analyzed from the perspective of a distancing strategy. The researcher is primarily interested in Understatement as a lingua-cultural category relying on historically stipulated cultural traditions of Anglo-Saxon society which gave rise to the forming of the British national character, and which reflect age, gender and social differences of the English. The author does not use the Russian variants of the translation of Understatement in the article, as they do not fully convey all the aspects of denotative and connotative meaning of this concept. Further on it is emphasized that the structure of Understatement is complex, diverse and can be expressed by a variety of lexical as well as grammatical means, among which double negation, modal verbs, the adverbs of degree and particles can often be encountered which are in most cases dependent on the context. From the pragmatic angle Understatement can be used to conceal embarrassment, anxiety or offence. Moreover, Understatement is used while singling out the positive aspects of the communicative situation. The understatement of the positive characteristics of the speaker is reflected in the so called «effect of modesty », which finally boils down to such a strategy as «fishing for compliments», that is an intentional understatement of one’s positive qualities in order to «fish for compliments». Understatement used to and continues to play a special role in the English speech behavior. Its aim is to minimize the impact of the negative factors on the message addressee, to lower the categoricity of the utterance and to take the interlocutor’s interests into account.
format	article
author	V. G. Ivanova
author_facet	V. G. Ivanova
author_sort	V. G. Ivanova
title	LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF UNDERSTATEMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH
title_short	LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF UNDERSTATEMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH
title_full	LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF UNDERSTATEMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH
title_fullStr	LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF UNDERSTATEMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH
title_full_unstemmed	LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF UNDERSTATEMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH
title_sort	linguistic aspects of understatement in modern english
publisher	MGIMO University Press
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/da300910cac147a4b2f9fe7702f42a39
work_keys_str_mv	AT vgivanova linguisticaspectsofunderstatementinmodernenglish
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LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF UNDERSTATEMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH

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