PRAGMATICS OF ENGLISH COLLOCATIONS OF THE ADVERB SLIGHTLY WITH VERBS (BASED ON THE DATA OF THE BRITISH NATIONAL CORPUS, IMAGINATIVE WRITING DOMAIN)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the pragmatic functions of the use of the adverb slightly in modern English based on the material of the British National Corpus (Imaginative Writing Domain). The choice of the subject of the study is stipulated by the need to determine, based on a large database, the functional features of a separate linguistic unit in order to establish its usage as the basis for a practical understanding of real life language functioning. The corpus search resulted in finding out 319 contexts of the combination of slightly with verbs, participles, and adjectives. As a result of the study, it was found that the most frequent model is slightly + verb (205 contexts), in particular in combinations with verbs denoting non-verbal reactions (smile, move, nod, raise, tremble, shiver, sway, twist, crane, wince, move, vary). Such constructions implement two-vector pragmatic functions: those aimed at detailing the description of the characters for their better understanding by readers and those that act as means of developing the context, ensuring its narrative consistency. The first vector includes the functions of minimizing movement or cognitive action, emotional restraint / controllability of action, insignificance of action, tact, emotional restraint, psychological tension of the character; the second - narrative detailing, expressive accuracy. It is proven that slightly functions not only as a marker of gradational meaning, but also as a pragmatic modifier that conveys the cognitive strategy of accuracy of the narrative or experiences, actions, reactions of the character. The work clarifies the role of intensifiers in the system of English pragmatics in general and confirms the effectiveness of the corpus approach in establishing a taxonomy of pragmatic meanings of individual linguistic units.