CC BY
39
DOI: 10.24234/wisdom.v26i2.1022
A LINGUISTIC-PRAGMATIC STUDY ON COLLOCATIONS IN BUSINESS MEDIA DISCOURSE
Elena N. MALYUGA 1 * E> | Elena I. MADINYAN 1
1 RUDN University, Moscow, Russian
Federation * Correspondence Elena N. MALYUGA, 6 Miklukho-Maklaya St, Moscow, 117198, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: This study investigates the linguistic-pragmatic characteristics of "conflict activity" (CA) collocations in English business media discourse through a lexical-semantic analysis. By examining a corpus of articles from prominent American business news outlets, we identified 426 collocations that constitute the CA lexical-semantic field. These collocations were scrutinized for their expressiveness, cultural markers, appellative function, and their role in conveying business realities. The research found that language in American business media discourse exhibits a blend of informative and expressive functions, prevalence of clichés, engagement techniques, culturally marked units, and a dominance of the appellative function. The study also highlighted how stylistic devices like metaphor, metonymy, antithesis, and hyperbole endow expressiveness to the core lexemes. Findings contribute to our understanding of the lexical-pragmatic characteristics of business media discourse and offer a nuanced insight into their role in shaping readers' perceptions and attitudes.
Keywords: linguistic manipulation, business media discourse,
collocations, lexical-semantic field, linguo-pragmatics.
Introduction
Over the past 20 years, there has been a significant shift towards the study of semantic relationships, fields, and groups of lexical units. The investigation of these connections within the framework of linguo-pragmatics has gained particular significance in order to track and identify patterns between semantic features of words and their pragmatic potential. Language is considered one of the tools for exerting influence in business media discourse. Through the analysis of speech by individuals or groups, their interests, evaluations, and perspectives are revealed. Influence
can be achieved through the use of special linguistic formulations aimed at implanting specific judgments and opinions into an individual's consciousness.
In contemporary English business media discourse, linguistic-pragmatic features play a significant role in shaping reader understanding and influencing perception. Collocations, common pairings of words that convey more than the sum of their meanings, are one such feature. They offer valuable insights into how language is used to portray conflict activities (CA), which is the focus of this lexical-semantic study.
The term "collocation" has emerged relatively
recently and is primarily associated with the studies that attempted to define the term "collocation" and characterize it from the perspective of syntax, combinatorics, and the connection of these aspects with the meaning of a phrase. However, the functioning of collocations in the linguo-pragmatic aspect, especially in the realm of business media discourse, remains insufficiently explored, highlighting the relevance of this research.
In the field of business media discourse, conflict activity is a recurrent theme, often painted through the use of figurative language and stylistic devices such as metaphor, metonymy, antithesis, and hyperbole. Thus, collocations constitute an essential area of interest for scholars examining the lexical-pragmatic field of business media, primarily given their inherent pragmatics and potential to subtly or overtly manipulate reader perception.
Importantly, the study of language within the business media discourse extends far beyond mere linguistics, intersecting with areas of philosophy and the methodology of science (Mal-yuga et al., 2016; Grishechko et al., 2021). Through the lens of philosophy, we can investigate the underlying principles governing the use and interpretation of language in the business media context. It invites us to probe the notion of truth and its manifestation in discourse, understand the ethics behind persuasive communication, and contemplate the impact of societal, cultural, and ethical norms on language usage. Simultaneously, from the perspective of the methodology of science, the systematic examination of lexical-semantic properties of collocations offers insights into the nature of knowledge creation, validation, and dissemination within business media discourse.
Presently, the interplay of language and influence in media discourse has become a focal point of concern within the broader scope of communication studies. Amidst an era of increasing dig-italization, the omnipresence of media content and the heightened importance of effective business communication, understanding the subtle manipulations and implications of language use in the business media discourse is more critical than ever (Malyuga et al., 2019). This study contributes to these pressing concerns by conducting a rigorous analysis of "conflict activity" collocations in American business media discourse, fo-
cusing on the pragmatic characteristics of related collocations, their cultural connotations, and their impact on shaping reader perceptions and attitudes. It is thus intended to expose the nuanced ways in which language in business media can inform, influence, and engage the audience.
Theoretical Background
Linguo-pragmatics emerged as a field of study in the second half of the 20th century. According to Crystal (2003), linguo-pragmatics investigates language from the perspective of its use in different communication situations, specifically the selection of particular lexical and grammatical means during speech and the impact of this choice on the recipient.
Malyuga & McCarthy (2020) state that lin-guo-pragmatics examines the speech situation, which consists of an utterance, its meaning and context, as well as the speaker and the recipient. Linguo-pragmatics is thus viewed as a science that presents language as a tool used by individuals in their activities, studies the behavior of signs in real communication situations, and emphasizes the study of the relationship between signs and their users. Extra-linguistic factors such as the speaker's intention, the conditions of utterance, and the social relationship between the speaker and the recipient help to understand the processes of language functioning.
Linguo-pragmatic research can be divided into two types: (1) the investigation of the pragmatic potential of lexical and grammatical means that constitute texts, sentences, words, and others; and (2) the study of the functioning of language means in different types of discourse, which are an integral part of human speech during interaction. The linguo-pragmatic approach in business media discourse allows for the integration of the aforementioned directions to some extent, considering the specific nature of print business media discourse. This study examines the linguistic means that are of interest for their functioning in media discourse and their manipulative impact on the recipient. Therefore, the lin-guo-pragmatic approach in business media discourse represents a combination of these two directions and merits further detailed examination.
The linguo-pragmatic approach to studying
lexical units in business media discourse is justified and substantiated by its ability to analyze not only the form of lexical units but also their content, intended usage, and various means of influencing the audience .
Proper perception and scientific description of the processes of information creation and transmission are essential for successful social development, particularly in an era of increasing influence from mass media on all aspects of life in an information society.
One of the most significant applied aspects of linguo-pragmatics in media discourse is the exploration of mechanisms for shaping the information worldview and, consequently, influencing individual and mass consciousness. Skillful manipulation of discourse directs the reader's attention to specific messages while veiling unfavorable information. These intentions are facilitated by various language functions, including emotional, expressive, evaluative, informative, communicative, and appellative functions, which, along with other persuasive techniques, are examined within the framework of manipulative rhetoric.
Ponomarenko (2017) notes the prevalence of the appellative function in business media discourse, supported by the notion that even an article or news report containing dry facts assumes persuasive characteristics. In these genres, the author or presenter's primary task is to employ verbal means to create the illusion of addressing each reader. This technique, accomplished through the use of imperative mood and emphasis on the recipient's personal experience, contributes to the reader perceiving the text as a personal address and is an effective method of audience opinion management.
In addition to language functions, scholars also identify lexical-stylistic means of manipulative rhetoric, such as synonyms, epithets, personification, metaphors, euphemisms, allusions, repetitions, hyperbole, antithesis, and others (see Malyuga & McCarthy, 2021; Sibul et al., 2019). A notable feature of these means is that they are typically realized within one to four words. This allows for their examination through the lens of collocations, which serve as building blocks in both business media discourse and professional communication.
The social conditioning and pragma-semantic features of business discourse shape the proper-
ties of linguistic phenomena encountered within it. This influences the selection of lexical items and their combinations, leading to the formation of collocations. The formation and use of collocations in business discourse are influenced not only by syntactic and lexical parameters but also by speech traditions and the linguistic thinking of the speaker.
Defining and studying collocations in business discourse allows for the analysis of the meanings of their components and the identification of their impact on the recipient, thereby helping to determine the lexical-semantic and linguo-pragmatic characteristics of collocations.
There are various interpretations of the term "collocation". Akhmanova (2004) views it as "a lexically and phraseologically determined com-binability of words in speech as a realization of polysemy" (p. 193). Patekar & Kosuta (2022), define collocation as a weakly idiomatic phraseological unit predominantly with the structure of a word combination. Kjellmer (2013), considers collocation as a "grammatically correct sequence of words that occurs more than once" (p. 124). According to Nesselhauf (2004), a collocation is "a type of fixed word combination allowing for some freedom" (p. 20).
Thus, scholars view collocations either within the framework of phraseology, emphasizing their idiomatic nature, or within the framework of combinatorial linguistics, relying on the frequency of occurrence of collocation components and their semantic connectedness, which, however, preserves relative combinatory freedom. In this study, collocations are described from the perspective of combinatorial linguistics since this study assumes that idiomaticity is not an inherent characteristic of collocations, unlike their semantic and grammatical conditioning.
This study draws from a corpus of articles from a leading American business news outlet CNN. The time frame for the articles was January 2023 to April 2023. A qualitative content analysis approach was adopted for identifying CA-related collocations within these texts. Initially, lexical units associated with conflict activities were determined. These lexical units were categorized into a three-tiered structure: the core, the close periphery, and the far periphery, based on their relevance and reliance on context for semantic understanding.
Collocations were identified using AntConc,
a freeware corpus analysis toolkit, which allowed us to extract two-word and three-word collocations based on frequency and MI score (a measure of collocational strength). In the analysis of collocations, the close periphery and the far periphery represent different degrees of semantic connectedness and relevance to the core components of a collocation. The close periphery refers to lexical units that have a direct and immediate association with the core collocational components. These units contribute to the primary semantic interpretation of the collocation and play a crucial role in its overall meaning. They are characterized by a high degree of semantic cohesion and exhibit a strong semantic relationship with the core components. The close periphery can include words or phrases that are closely related in meaning, syntactic function, or thematic context to the core collocational units.
On the other hand, the far periphery includes lexical units that are indirectly related to the core collocational components. These units provide additional contextual information and contribute to the overall interpretation of the collocation but have a weaker semantic connection compared to the close periphery. They may introduce nuances or contextual variations to the collocation without being essential for its immediate comprehension. The far periphery can consist of words or phrases that are thematically related, but their semantic connection to the core components is less prominent.
Differentiating the close periphery and the far periphery in two-word and three-word collocations involves examining the strength and directness of the semantic relationships between the components. The close periphery elements are typically more tightly connected and have a greater impact on the core meaning of the collocation, while the far periphery elements contribute to the overall contextual understanding but are less central to the core semantic interpretation.
This differentiation helps in analyzing the collocational structure in more detail, understanding the varying degrees of semantic cohesion within a collocation, and capturing the nuanced semantic and pragmatic characteristics of the collocational units.
The identified collocations were then examined for their lexical-semantic characteristics and pragmatic potential. Linguistic pragmatic analy-
sis involved the study of expressiveness, cultural markers, and appellative function.
Material and Methods
This study also delved into the stylistic devices employed in these collocations, such as metaphor, metonymy, antithesis, and hyperbole. The aim was to understand how these devices enriched the expressiveness of collocations and influenced their pragmatic potential.
Finally, case studies were selected to provide in-depth analysis and illustration of the identified characteristics of the CA lexical-semantic field in American business media discourse.
It should be noted that different criteria exist for identifying lexically and semantically related groups of lexical items due to the various approaches and methods used by scholars in their works. Therefore, there is currently no unequivocal definition of this phenomenon, which, however, is crucial for lexical-semantic studies as it provides systematization through the grouping and organization of words connected in content and helps identify semantic nuances of lexical units. The identification of core and periphery within semantic groups, in turn, contributes to linguo-pragmatic analysis by allowing for the differentiation of lexemes into neutral and emotionally charged ones.
In choosing the lexical-semantic group, we relied on the study by Malyuga and Aleksan-drova (2020), which identified five most frequent semantic groups in English business discourse: (1) a group in which business processes are attributed human properties; (2) a group in which business relationships are compared to marital ones; (3) a group that highlights similarities between business processes and features of military actions; (4) a group related to the process of being in transit, moving forward; (5) a group that draws parallels with activities of tracking and acquiring something.
Although these semantic groups possess pragmatic potential and are indispensable for speech manipulation, which plays an important role in business discourse (Akopova, 2013; Malyuga & Orlova, 2016), the CA lexical-semantic group is of greatest interest for the present study. Firstly, empirical sampling revealed that this group contains the largest number of colloca-
tions. Secondly, the analysis of collocations containing conflict sememes allows for the identification of methods and tactics of pragmatic influence on the recipient through precedence (Mal-yuga & Akopova, 2021), primarily aimed at instilling negative perceptions about a particular event into their consciousness.
Study Results
Through the analysis of articles from American business media discourse, the study identified 426 collocations that form the CA lexical-semantic field.
The goal of articles in these journals is to convey information related to various business realities to potential readers, considering their social and cultural background when selecting language means for informing and influencing.
Linguistic-pragmatic analysis of language means, particularly collocations, allowed us to identify five key characteristics of language in
The core of the CA lexical-semantic group are hypernyms for many other lexemes that constitute the close and far periphery. The close periphery includes independent units that do not require context to manifest their pragmatic potential within the examined semantic group,
American business media discourse: (1) combination of informative and expressive functions; (2) presence of clichés; (3) use of language means to engage and retain audience attention; (4) utilization of culturally marked units; (5) dominance of the appellative function.
As mentioned in the theoretical overview, the expressiveness of collocations largely depends on whether at least one of their components belongs to the far periphery, as components that constitute the core and close periphery and are used in their literal sense are less likely to realize their pragmatic potential. However, the analysis revealed that collocations within the CA lexical-semantic field in business media discourse are formed through stylistic devices such as metaphor, metonymy, antithesis, hyperbole, and others, which endow expressiveness even to the lexemes forming the core of the semantic group. The core, close periphery, and far peripheries of the CA lexical-semantic group are presented in the following table (Table 1).
Table 1
while for the lexemes in the far periphery, context is necessary for them to fully reveal their pragmatic possibilities. Culturally marked allusions are included in both the close and far periphery, indicating their diversity and primarily presented as collocations that cannot have one of
Lexical Units in the CA Lexical-Semantic Group
Core Close periphery Far periphery
Conflict Force Peace
Fight Engage Backlash
Hostility Encounter Cut
Violence Aggression Campaign
Confrontation Resistance Action
Struggle Offensive Raid
Clash Defense Crisis
Standoff Skirmish Information
Feud Antagonism Win
Tension Dispute Lose
Combat Aggravation Propaganda
Showdown Aftermath
Competition
Trigger
Target
Catapult
Beat
Miss
Tit-for-tat
their components removed or replaced without losing the meaning and allusiveness of the phrase. Therefore, the manipulative intention of the author would not be achieved.
Selected examples below are intended to illustrate and clarify the key points of the study results.
(1) The reaction to Best Buy's move mirrored customer backlash after changes to Dunkin' and Starbucks' rewards programs last year (Meyersohn, 2023b).
In (1), "customer backlash" implicitly draws the reader's attention to the fact that the changes in the bonus program were met with resistance. The lexeme "backlash" carries pragmatic connotations and creates a vivid representation in the recipient's mind of opposition, aligning with the etymology of the word itself (the reaction of the wheels of a machine to each other caused by an unstable load). Due to its vividness and metaphorical nature, this collocation serves to fulfil expressive and appellative functions.
(2) A supply shock triggered by the deadliest outbreak of a highly pathogenic avian influenza in US history has driven up prices (Meyersohn, 2023a).
In (2), the collocation "triggered by outbreak" is formed through a metaphorical transfer of the lexeme "trigger", denoting a device that releases a latch or spring and activates a mechanism. This meaning has given rise to related collocations such as "to pull the trigger" and "trigger-finger". The collocation "triggered by outbreak" conveys the sharpness and unpredictability of the situation through an implicit comparison to pulling the trigger of a gun. It also carries a pragmatic charge and serves as an example of an expressive function.
Moving forward, collocations with the lexeme "target" are widely used in business media discourse due to their semantic and linguo-pragmatic features. The lexeme "target" originally meant "the edge of a shield". The meaning of "a round object to aim at when shooting" was first recorded in 1757 and used in relation to shooting with a bow. Therefore, this lexeme reflects the goal-oriented nature and sharpness of the business world, carrying a pragmatic charge. Also of note is the collocation "target audience", which refers to the intended recipients of a message or marketing efforts.
(3) In December last year, Twitter was also
accused by dozens of former employees of various legal violations stemming from Musk's takeover of the company, including targeting women for layoffs and failing to pay promised severance (Reuters, 2023b).
In (3), a literal translation of the collocation "to target women" reflects the process of selecting women for dismissal. Presenting the selection process as a purposeful activity adds expressiveness to the collocation and creates an association in the reader's mind with the inevitability of the situation.
(4) Bankruptcy isn't a good thing for shareholders, who are typically the last to be paid out if a company goes out of business. In many cases, they don't get anything at all. But investors appear to be betting that the retailer will somehow avoid that fate, and their bets are catapulting the stock upwards (Goodkind, 2023a).
In (4), the author choses to use the collocation "to catapult the stock". The verb "to catapult" originated in the English language in the 1570s from the French "catapulte" meaning "a machine for hurling" and it means "to throw or launch something using a catapult at high speed". In this collocation, it is used metaphorically, allowing for an implicit parallel between the rapid increase in stock value and the principle of a catapult's operation which is fraught with an ensuing conflict. This comparison serves an expressive function as it reinforces the author's message about the speed and rapidity of growth.
(5) Both chains increased the threshold to earn rewards, part of what Liu-Thomp-kins said was a larger trend of companies devaluing points, miles and other benefits to combat higher costs (Meyersohn, 2023b).
In (5), the author uses the pragmatically charged collocation "to combat costs" to convey the information to the reader in the most expressive way that the listed measures were indeed taken to combat costs. The comparative adjective "higher" further strengthens this collocation, emphasizing the increasing trend of prices and the need to specifically combat them.
(6) "We expect earnings to take the center stage going forward," wrote Bank of America strategists Savita Subramanian
and Ohsung Kwon in a note on Friday. They noted that over the last three quarters, S&P 500 reactions to earnings beats and misses have soared higher and have now surpassed the one-day market reaction to both CPI inflation and Fed policy meeting decisions (Goodkind, 2023b).
In (6), the collocation "beats and misses" represents an antithesis and exerts a significant pragmatic impact on the recipient through the effect of contrast. This effect is also achieved by the presence of both positive and negative connotations within the phrase. The expressive function and pragmatic charge of the collocation draw attention to the gap in profit indicators and their volatility, thereby reflecting the market situation.
(7) While some in Scholz's coalition government are growing nervous about Germany's economic ties with China, Berlin is hardly in a position to rock the boat with Beijing as it grapples with the challenge of reviving its struggling economy (Madhok, 2023).
In (7), the collocation "struggling economy" serves an emotive-evaluative function due to the nature of the adjective "struggling", which means "making great efforts to succeed despite difficulties" Similar to the previous example, it carries both positive and negative connotations. The author also employs this collocation to personify the economy, attributing human qualities to it, which evokes feelings of compassion and empathy in the reader.
(8) Analysts had said the Chinese price cuts would boost demand and increase pressure on its rivals there, including BYD (BYDDF), to follow suit in what could become a price war in the largest single market for electric vehicles (Reuters, 2023a).
In (8), the author uses two collocations related to the CA lexical-semantic field: "price cuts" and "price war". By repeating the word "price", the author directs the reader's attention to the fluctuating situation surrounding prices, emphasized by the components "cuts" and "war". In the collocation "price war", there is also personification of the lexical unit "price", adding an emotional component to the phrase. These collocations carry a pragmatic charge and serve emotional and
expressive functions.
(9) Scholz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said talks with the United States to find a solution are ongoing. But EU leaders stressed the need to quickly roll out a bold investment package of their own, raising concerns that a tit-for-tat subsidy fight may be brewing (Horowitz, 2023).
In (9), the pragmatically charged collocation "tit-for-tat fight" performs expressive and cona-tive functions due to its component "tit-for-tat", which is a distortion of the expression "tip for tap" (meaning retaliation in kind). The collocation carries a negative connotation and is used to emphasize that any action by a competitor will be met with a corresponding response.
Among the culturally marked collocations of the CA lexical-semantic field are proper names, geographic names, and military-historical periods. Below are a couple examples of the most representative collocations.
(10) "Our government invited us and others to step up, and we did, " said JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. He said the deal is also a good one for his bank's shareholders and fails are just Vietnam flashbacks (Isidore & Dmitracova, 2023).
In (10), the allusive collocation "Vietnam flashbacks" serves as a powerful metaphorical reference to vivid recollections triggered by traumatic events in people's minds. These events, known for their lasting impact on American society and collective memory, are often associated with a range of emotions, including trauma, disillusionment, and the sense of an enduring and painful legacy. By employing this collocation, the author aims to convey a sense of negativity and draw attention to the potential negative consequences or memories associated with the mentioned "fails". The strongly negative connotation of the collocation carries a pragmatic charge, serving the emotive-evaluative function, and shaping readers' perception of the failures mentioned in the discourse.
Another example is the comparison of article subjects with well-known figures from a particular era that helps succinctly characterize and convey perception of the individual. One of the most common allusions is the comparison to Marcus Junius Brutus, the assassin of Julius Cae
sar.
(11) Iran's clerical leadership is either unwilling or unable to address its festering economic problems, exacerbated by a US sanctions regime and by Brute-like behavior of some politicians (Karadsheh et al., 2023).
In (11), the collocation "Brute-like behavior" employs a proper name, "Brute", as a metaphorical allusion. The name "Brute" is synonymous with "traitor" and is often associated with the historical figure Marcus Junius Brutus, who famously assassinated Julius Caesar. By utilizing this collocation, the author seeks to characterize certain politicians through a negative allusion, evoking a strong negative connotation and manipulating readers' perceptions. The use of "Brute-like behavior" suggests a comparison between the behavior of the mentioned politicians and the treacherous act committed by Brutus, thereby portraying them as disloyal or untrustworthy. The collocation carries a negative pragmatic charge and serves an emotional-evaluative function, emphasizing the author's negative perspective on the politicians in question.
These examples highlight the power of culturally marked collocations in evoking emotions, shaping perceptions, and influencing the overall persuasive and evaluative impact of business media discourse. By drawing upon shared cultural knowledge and allusions, authors can tap into readers' existing associations and manipulate their interpretations. This contributes to our understanding of the nuanced ways in which language is employed in business media discourse to convey meaning, evoke emotional responses, and shape reader perspectives.
Our qualitative analysis of the identified collocations in American business media discourse has revealed several significant linguistic-pragmatic characteristics. These findings deepen our understanding of the language use within this context and provide interesting data on the communicative strategies employed to inform, engage, and influence readers.
One prominent characteristic observed in the analyzed collocations is their blend of informative and expressive functions. Business media
discourse aims to convey information about various business realities while also employing vibrant language to captivate and retain readers' attention. The expressive elements within collocations serve to evoke emotional responses, enhance the overall impact of the discourse, and contribute to reader engagement.
Another noteworthy aspect identified is the presence of clichés within collocations. These recurring phrases and expressions create familiarity for readers and facilitate comprehension. While clichés aid in conveying information efficiently, they may also lead to a sense of predictability or monotony, potentially diminishing readers' interest and reducing the novelty of the content. It is important for business communicators to strike a balance between using clichés for accessibility and ensuring fresh and engaging language.
The use of various stylistic devices, such as metaphor, metonymy, antithesis, and hyperbole, is prevalent in the collocations analyzed. These devices enhance the expressiveness of the language and contribute to the vivid portrayal of business realities. Metaphorical and figurative language captures readers' attention, adds depth and nuance to the discourse, and facilitates a more memorable and engaging reading experience.
Cultural markers also play a significant role in the analyzed collocations, highlighting the influence of social and cultural contexts on language use. The inclusion of culturally marked units in collocations allows for a more nuanced understanding of the discourse. These units encapsulate cultural connotations and references that subtly shape readers' perceptions and contribute to the overall meaning and impact of the language used.
Moreover, our analysis revealed the dominance of the appellative function in business media discourse. Language is strategically employed to shape reader opinions, attitudes, or behaviors. The use of emotionally charged words, persuasive language techniques, and strategic framing of information within collocations exemplifies this function. Business communicators employ such techniques to shape readers' perspectives and elicit desired responses.
The findings of this study contribute to the existing body of knowledge on lexical-semantic analysis in the context of business media dis-
Discussion
course. By exposing the linguistic-pragmatic characteristics and communicative strategies employed, this research provides valuable findings for business communication practitioners, journalists, and educators. These findings can furthermore serve as a foundation for future comparative studies, exploring similar characteristics in different contexts or across various media types. Such studies can uncover broader patterns and data-driven conclusions unveiling language usage and communicative strategies employed in business media discourse.
Conclusion
This research set out to explore the linguistic-pragmatic characteristics of "conflict activity" (CA) collocations in English business media discourse, recognizing a notable research gap in this area. While substantial work has been done in the field of linguistics and media discourse, there has been a dearth of targeted studies examining the pragmatic features of collocations in the business media discourse, specifically within the CA lexical-semantic field. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to identify and analyze the lexical-pragmatic properties of CA collocations within this specialized discourse, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of how language is manipulated in business news outlets to inform and influence reader perceptions.
To achieve this aim, the research adopted a lexical-semantic approach, which involved analyzing a broad corpus of articles from American business media discourse. The analysis sought to identify key collocations that form the CA lexical-semantic field and further scrutinize their characteristics and functions in the discourse.
The results of the study yielded a total of 426 collocations, further classified into core, close periphery, and far periphery lexemes within the CA lexical-semantic field. The analysis unveiled five key characteristics of language usage in American business media discourse: the combination of informative and expressive functions; presence of clichés; use of language means to engage and retain audience attention; utilization of culturally marked units; and dominance of the appellative function.
The findings highlighted the importance of stylistic devices such as metaphor, metonymy,
antithesis, hyperbole, and others, which were observed to endow expressiveness even to the lexemes forming the core of the semantic group. This underlines the intricate complexity of the business media discourse, where even ostensibly straightforward terms are laden with layers of expressiveness, shaped by stylistic choices that enhance the pragmatic potential of the collocations.
In addition, the research findings draw attention to the subtle manipulation of language in business media discourse. The utilization of culturally marked units and the dominance of the appellative function underscore the pervasive influence of cultural and social contexts on language use, as well as the strategic manipulation of language to influence readers' attitudes and behaviors.
Implications of this research are manifold. Firstly, it provides a rich understanding of the language usage within American business media discourse, offering valuable insights for business communication practitioners, journalists, and educators in the field of business and media studies. Secondly, this study contributes to the broader field of linguistics, offering an in-depth examination of the linguistic-pragmatic characteristics of CA collocations, which can serve as a foundation for future comparative studies in different media discourses or across various cultural contexts. In this context, the possibility of these tasks and implications being rendered less relevant due to the emergence of language models might become a topic of debate. However, while language models have indeed revolutionized natural language processing and have the ability to generate human-like responses, it is important to note that they are trained on large datasets and do not possess domain-specific expertise or contextual understanding beyond what has been learned during training. Therefore, there remains significant value in conducting empirical research, such as the one presented in this study, to investigate specific linguistic-pragmatic characteristics within targeted domains like American business media discourse. This study provides findings that go beyond the capabilities of language models by examining actual language usage within a specific context and capturing the nuances and intricacies of collocations within that domain. The findings of this study offer practical implications for business communication practitioners, journal-
ists, and educators, as they provide a deeper understanding of the language patterns and conventions prevalent in American business media discourse. Moreover, this research contributes to the broader field of linguistics by offering an in-depth analysis of collocations in the context of conflict activities. While language models can assist in generating language, they do not offer the same level of analytical depth or contextual understanding as empirical studies. Therefore, this study serves as a foundation for future comparative studies across different media discourses or cultural contexts, enabling researchers to explore variations in language usage and linguistic-pragmatic characteristics.
In conclusion, this study underscores the intricacy of business media discourse, characterized by a fine balance of information provision and expressive engagement, underscored by cultural markers and strategic language manipulation. It is hoped that this exploration will inspire further research into the fascinating interplay between language and influence in business media discourse, and the wider implications it holds for reader perceptions and decision-making.
Acknowledgements
The article was prepared with the support of the Russian Science Foundation Project No. 23-2800505 "Manipulative rhetoric in modern English business media discourse: the functional pragmatic analysis".
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