FEATURES OF THE FUNCTIONING OF INTERJECTIONS IN MODERN ENGLISH (BASED ON DIANA SETTERFIELD'S NOVEL “THE THIRTEENTH TALE”)

Abstract

The article considers the peculiarities of the functioning of interjections in modern English on the material of Diana Setterfield's novel “The Thirteenth Tale”, characterizes their linguistic nature and provides classifications of the units under investigation according to various lexical and semantic criteria. Interjections are an integral part of colloquial vocabulary, and, therefore, of oral speech in general, in the very nature of which expressive and emotional features are laid down. In modern linguistics, the interpretation of interjections is quite contradictory, the status of this part of speech is not definitively defined, quite different definitions of interjections are given, which are not always complex and do not take into account all the features characteristic of interjections. Following academic grammars, we interpret interjections as a special lexical and grammatical class of invariant words that do not belong either to notional or structural words, the main function of which is to express emotions, feelings, expressive assessments and volitional motivations of speakers. The semantics of interjections with its concrete-situational character is revealed mainly in the context, which testifies to the contextual conditionality of interjections. Another integral feature that comprehensively characterizes the semantic-syntactic qualification of interjections is intonation, which plays an important role in determining the semantic nuances. Thus, the various emotions conveyed by interjections are the result of the contextual environment, arising from the situation of speech and their intonation contour. In regard to the functions of interjections, the main ones are communicative and stylistic. In relevance to the lexical and semantic character, interjections are classified according to various criteria and features, first of all, according to emotional content, functional orientation, illocutionary force, sphere of use, etc. Interjections are multifaceted units of any modern language, among the communicative and pragmatic functions of which the expression of emotions, feelings, desires of the addressee, the attitude to the addressee, to the surrounding reality, the impact on emotions, feelings, etc. can be distinguished.