Dualistic character of evaluative utterances in English drama discourse

The article is devoted to the problem of interaction between emotional and rational aspects of evaluative utterances within English drama discourse. The aim of the study is to analyze the dualistic nature of evaluative messages and develop a set of demarcation criteria which would contribute to their classification. The material for the analysis is a sample of 2,000 evaluative utterances presented in the plays by contemporary British and American playwrights. The study was carried out in line with the linguoaxiological approach and employed the corresponding methods. On the basis of linguoaxiological interpretation, the following criteria were developed: 1) the hierarchical relationship of subjective and objective factors in the evaluative utterance; 2) the level of spontaneity and situational awareness; 3) the degree of addresseraddressee pragmatic interaction. Linguistic characteristics were mapped to determine the communicative specifics of the designated types of evaluation in a stylized dialogue. The typical lexical means of evaluative modulation were identified, as well as syntactic models which act as the nuclear characteristics of emotionalevaluative and rational-evaluative messages at the linguistic level; phonographic and enantiosemic means which determine the emotional orientation of a judgment were analyzed. The presented statistical data reflect the frequency ratio of positive and negative evaluative utterances according to the superiority of the emotional evaluative or rational evaluative aspect. It is concluded that predominance of the relevant side in the evaluative utterance determines the complex verbal representation of the evaluative attitude and generates the pragmatics of evaluative utterances as reactions or opinions within stylized communication in English.