Author(s)

Yitong Zhu ¹, Hongqiang Liu ¹, Yitong Zang ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ School of Foreign Languages, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, China

Corresponding Author

Yitong Zhu

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes political speech texts from the perspective of systemic functional grammar. Through the exploration of the personal pronouns and modality in the speech draft, it reveals how the speaker uses speech to establish his own authority, but also to eliminate the strangeness with the public, and gain their approval and support. The study found that, in their speeches, speakers frequently employ the first-person subject "we" to cut down the distance between themselves and the audiences; they use the second-person subject "you" to improve the impact of their speeches and inspire the audience; they use the third-person subject "they" to highlight their political leadership position. In addition, median-value modal verbs are used the most frequently and low-value modal verbs are used the least in the text, so as to form a reasonable modal to reflect the national will.

KEYWORDS

Interpersonal function, personal pronoun, modality, political speech

CITE THIS PAPER

Yitong Zhu, Hongqiang Liu, Yitong Zang, Interpersonal Function Analysis of Political Speech. Lecture Notes on Language and Literature (2022) Vol. 5: 27-32. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/langl.2022.050206.

REFERENCES

[1] Thompson, Geoff. Introducing Functional Grammar. Routledge. 2013
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[3] He Yongmei. An analysis of the interpersonal function of modal verbs in English political speeches [J]. Journal of Yangtze University (Social Science Edition), 2009,32(05):80-82.
[4] Gao Yanjie, Ding Yi, Jiang Yue. The interpersonal significance of modality in English political interview texts [J]. Contemporary Foreign Language Studies, 2020, (06): 50-58+100+2.
[5] Yang Min. Analysis of the Will to Power in the Interpersonal Function of Legislative Discourse [J]. Foreign Languages and Foreign Language Teaching, 2008, (04): 5-8.
[6] Li Jiao, Cui Xuehai. Political speech discourse from the perspective of systemic functional linguistics [J]. Literary Education (Part II), 2018, (11): 24-26.

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