| Abstract [eng] |
The important ideological micro- components of political discourse derive from its representation of the future and the rhetorical functions those representations serve in implying the discursive actions. The purpose of this study is to explore the semantic and structural features of the grammatical metaphors in the rhetorical genre of the inaugural addresses of the US presidents. An attempt was made to analyze the micro- structures of the said genre, namely – verb-based nominalizations. The purpose of using a grammatical metaphor is to get the lexis and the grammar the way the speaker wants it in order to produce a certain effect. The analysis commences with Theodore Roosevelt’s address, followed by all subsequent presidents’ inaugurals – finishing with George Bush’s inaugural address. The analysis is based on a corpus of selected examples (2,035 grammatical metaphors in a corpus of 56,387 words) drawn from the inaugural addresses delivered by the presidents of US. Due to the time limits of the speeches, the inaugural texts are cohesive and concise. Thus grammatical metaphors demonstrate preconstructed, i.e. already existing notions. Nominalizations (i.e. a type of grammatical metaphorization) examined presented two categories: partially substantivized and fully substantivized. From the structural point of view, nominalizations used in the corpus were of two types: absolute (with ‘zero’ modification) and non-absolute (with ‘material’ modification). To sum up, grammatical metaphors are crucial, ideal for the discourse which places a premium on the transference of information in an economical and condensed way. |
