Phatic means in media text headlines (based on the material of the Russian, English and Chuvash languages)

Abstract

The aim of the study is to identify the phatic language means used in the headlines of media texts posted on the Internet in Russian, English and Chuvash. The paper characterises in a comparative aspect the features peculiar to the repertoire of the phatic means that are in demand among modern journalists, representatives of different national-linguistic communities. The paper is novel in that it is the first to analyse phatic means using the material of Russian, English and Chuvash media speech in order to determine language specificity of the linguistic phenomenon under consideration. As a result, it has been found that colons, contextually conveying expression, as well as stylistically modified precedent phenomena are used in the phatic function in the headlines of media texts in Russian. Informal syntax constructions are employed in this capacity in the English-language and the Chuvash-language headlines, the latter also use intentionally distorted precedent vocabulary and the technique of citation. The fact that in order to establish contact with readers, the headlines are formulated according to the principle of language game represents the basis of interlanguage similarity.