Media as a collective interpreter (definitions of words in the materials of the publishing house "Kommersant" 1994–2024)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of word interpretations in media texts of recent decades. The goal is to identify the main techniques for presenting word meanings in the materials of «Kommersant» Publishing House in 1994–2024 and to characterize the pragmatic potential of this type of metalinguistic activity. The researcher considers microcontexts that include the construction “word meaning” and notes that the speech move “interpretation” is used infrequently but consistently in the source materials. Interpretations are mainly applied to such types of lexemes as not generally known words of foreign origin, including terms and jargon, as well as commonly used words with an interesting etymology so as those that have become the object of linguistic expertise or are used in a new meaning. In some cases, the definition of a concept is replaced by a pseudo-interpretation that generates wordplay or produces comic effect. In the studied material, there is also such type of micro text as discussion about the meaning of a word. Absentee dispute with a specific or general opponent has a clearly expressed ideological subtext. The author of the article concludes that the interpretation of words in media text can perform various functions – informational, educational, ironic, socially evaluative, and ideological. The variety of options for using the technique corresponds to the dual nature of a media text, aimed simultaneously at informing and influencing, appealing to a mass audience and individual-authorial self-expression, a combination of deep analysis of problems with their ironic interpretation. The author outlines prospects for further analysis of the pragmatic side of the metalinguistic activity of journalists.