Hundarenko O. Contemporary American Сeremonial Speech: Linguistic, Cultural and Pragmatic Perspectives

This thesis focuses on linguistic, cultural and pragmatic peculiarities of ceremonial speeches of contemporary American public figures. From linguistic and cultural perspectives it is assumed that concepts and precedent phenomena are the main units of structuring, preserving and transmitting cultural information implied in American ceremonial speech. The system of concepts that actualize the American culture core values in the texts is developed; the key concept TOGETHERNESS is singled out and its structure is depicted via analysis its means of verbalization. The precedent phenomena in American ceremonial speeches - precedent name, precedent situation, precedent utterance, and precedent text - are classified according to the types and frequency of their usage; their role in American ceremonial speeches is defined. The status of American ceremonial speech as a culturally-marked text is established. Key words: American ceremonial speech, culturally-marked text, cultural concept, concept TOGETHERNESS, precedent phenomena, integrative function, persuasive function, inspirational function.