Pragmatics of disgusting words. Distribution of negative adjectives in a contemporary media text

Abstract

The article considers the functioning of synonymous negative evaluative adjectives in the texts of ideologically opposite media.The author shows that the expressive negativity prevail in the pro-communist nationalistic newspaper “Zavtra”, where journalists actively use such-like vocabulary for the sarcastic imitation of the speech of a political opponent. In the liberal, pro-Western “Novaya Gazeta” the number and variety of negative epithets are somewhat smaller, they often serve to direct negative evaluation of various phenomena. In general, the use of negative evaluative vocabulary contributes to the creation of general aggressive tone in contemporary mass communication.