Verbalization of Emotions in Royal Discourse: A Gender Aspect

Abstract

This article dwells on the gender aspect of the English-language royal discourse at the emotive level. The specifics of public speeches of members of royal families are considered in the context of their role as nominal political figures symbolizing the country’s traditions and values. The author addresses linguistic, stylistic, syntactic and gender-related peculiarities of royal speeches, emphasizing universal emotions manifested through the choice of vocabulary and syntactic structures. The emotional and emotive potential of language units is unlocked in speech and can be considered crucial for identifying the dominant features of the royal linguistic personality. The paper examines how basic emotions such as happiness, sadness, fear, and anger are verbalized in male and female speech using the example of official statements by Princess Diana and Prince Harry on a similar topic. The analysis of emotiveness in royal speech is aimed to identify language units having emotive components at the lexical and syntactic levels. It is pointed out that in male speech emotions are explicit, while in female, implicit. Further, emotive emphasis is considered and the uniqueness of its verbalization by an individual speaker is determined. The study of gender-related differences in the communicative behaviour of members of the British royal family sheds some light on the specifics of their value orientations. A conclusion is drawn that speeches of male royals are filled with a desire to serve society, which is hindered by the framework of established royal traditions, as well as determination to overcome fear and find new ways of self-realization and identification. At the same time,
speeches of female royals are distinguished by the prevalence of family values over social obligations. The results of the study can be of use for diplomats, linguists, political scientists, specialists in intercultural communication and English teachers in determining strategies for effective cross-cultural interaction and formulating principles of cooperation taking into account the identified specific features.