DOI: 10.5176/2251-3566_L316.10
Authors: Tatiana A. Ivushkina
Abstract: The paper presents the results of social class study carried out on the basis of fiction and media texts both of the previous epochs (X1X-XX centuries) and modern period. Although recent publications in the field have shifted to such questions as gender, ethnicity, net working, political discourse, it does not mean that social classes have vanished. Social differences permeate our societies, they reflect values, educational, historical and cultural backgrounds of the speakers, and for this reason it seems topical and opportune to continue further investigation of their manifestations in speech. At the core of the research are the upper classes of the English society, or A class according to NRS social grade, the implicit character of their social identification. Seemingly neutral and unmarked, their speech, however, is permeated with subtle, not-lyingon- the-surface class indicators at all levels, which reflect their cultural code resting on literature and art and an indirect, implicit way of communication, which create social distance and obscurity for those who do not share it. Despite all democratic processes and technological advances this code remains quite stable and enduring. Among social markers of the upper class speech portrayals is the abundant use of allusions referring a reader to the world of literature, ethics and aesthetics, and serving as a code for those who belonged; the use of adjectives with positive (meliorative) connotations such as beautiful, brilliant, splendid, perfect, delightful, charming, pleasant, wonderful, and most frequently used negative (pejorative) connotations like awful, dreadful, horrible, terrible, horrid, terrible, adjectives in the comparative and superlative degrees to be traced in British literary texts, letters, and novels of different historical periods. Adjectives used in modern newspapers are prevalently neutral in both a broadsheet and a tabloid, although those of foreign origin are more typical of a broadsheet and the percentage of adjectives is higher by 1.5{6e6090cdd558c53a8bc18225ef4499fead9160abd3419ad4f137e902b483c465}. Socially marked are the categories of understatement / overstatement, abstract nouns, foreign words, as well as original and extended metaphors and epithets, underlying sense of humor and creativity of the speakers.
Keywords: sociolinguistic approach, speech portrayals, social markers in speech, the upper classes, allusions, adjectives, understatement, overstatement, abstract nouns, the culture of the upper classes, English literature, media texts
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