Chetaikina V. Semantics and functions of religious vocabulary in the American presidential discourse

The thesis studies religious vocabulary functioning in American political presidential discourse. The analysis was conducted in two aspects - diachronic,based on US presidentsinaugural speeches of the XVIII-XXI centuries, and synchronic, based on ritual, orientation and agonal genres of the XXI century presidential discourse. The religious vocabulary used in the analysed speeches is divided into the following groups: general religious vocabulary, bibleisms, and scripture quotations. The obtained quantitative data indicate that the share of religious vocabulary doubled in the twentieth century compared to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as maintained a high trend of its use in the twenty-first century. The scope of application - higher school.