AGE-RELATED SEMANTIC AND STYLISTIC FUNCTIONS OF PRONOUN I-ONE IN THE SPEECH OF UPPER-CLASS ENGLISHMEN

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of previously unstudied age-related specific in functioning of the subject pronoun I-one in the speech of British social elite. The aim of the study is to conduct sociolinguistic analysis of Tom Stoppard’s play “The Invention of Love” to identify age groups of prestigious social layers that use pronoun one in the meaning of “I”, and describe its functions. The main methods used in the study include sociolinguistic analysis of character’s speech by means of sociolinguistic categories. Results. Analysis of the contexts, where pronoun I-one is used, allowed us to come to conclusion that in youth this pronoun functions as a means of social and cultural self-identification, in maturity as a way of self-expression and in old age as method of self-esteem and teaching experience. Practical implications. The data, obtained in the process of research, can be used in teaching translation, stylistics and semiotics.

Keywords

• местоимение я-one
• язык аристократии
• высшие классы
• семантико-стилистические функции
• возрастные характеристики речи