The implementation of the verbalizers of concept VALUES in the transcripts of British politicians’ speeches

Abstract

The article examines the verbalizers of the British value system through the concept VALUES and their implementation in political speeches. Theoretical approaches to the topic are analyzed and research methods are proposed. The key verbalizers of the concept are singled out as: Work, Patriotism, Public institutions, Democracy, Rights and responsibilities, Family values, Cooperation, Freedom, Market economy, Consumerism, Success, Respect / pride, Science, Private property, Values, Rule of law, Community, Health, Tolerance, Justice, Honesty, Wealth, Money, Happiness. Various aspects of values are studied, including their role in shaping the image of a politician, reproduction of ideological attitudes, and correlation with public expectations. Specific examples of British politicians’ speeches illustrating the importance of different values in political speech are analyzed. An extensive corpus of speech text data is presented, which includes speeches of key political figures, from the Prime Minister to the leaders of the opposition. An in-depth analysis of selected verbalizers of values in British political speeches is carried out with an emphasis on the flexibility of these verbalizers depending on different political leaders, political, socio-cultural and historical changes in British society. It was established that the structure of the concept VALUES in the British linguistic culture is somewhat different from the structure of this concept in the texts of British political speeches. However, there is a balance between internal values, which concern the country itself and its citizens, and external values, which reflect its attitude to international partners and world events. The cognitive features of the components of the VALUES concept in the texts of British political speeches represent the transition from individual values to the plane of collectively important ones, which is connected with the peculiarities of the research material.