Media-Discourse Poetics: Linguocognitive Grounds for Pun and Wordplay Demarcation (Based on the Material of English Language Press)

Abstract

Pun and wordplay are to be regarded as some of the most striking linguistic means of creating expressiveness and forming media discourse poetics. However, despite the significant amount of previous research into these devices, many aspects of their formation and functioning still remain unclear. First and foremost, it concerns the definition of pun and wordplay, and their respective demarcation. This article, in addition to the widespread formal (structural) demarcation criterion, considers the linguo-cognitive grounds for such a division. The study was conducted on the material of English-language media headlines based on the frame analysis method. The research has identified three frame models of pun and wordplay formation: two frames overlapping on the basis of (a) common terminal(s) (M1), one frame expanding due to the emergence of a new frame focus (M2), and conceptual integration of two frames (M3). Based on the analysis of examples of these models actualized in Englishlanguage mass media headlines, it has been concluded that the frequency of a particular form of realization of a stylistic device based on the corresponding structural and frame (linguo-cognitive) model may indicate whether it is an instance of the pun or wordplay.