Hint in the paradigm of communicative linguistics

Go Indun ORCID: 0009-0006-1235-5783 PhD in Philology Postgraduate student; Oriental Institute - School of Regional and International Studies; Far Eastern Federal University 690922, Russia, Primorsky Krai, Vladivostok, Campus DVFU str., building D, room 913 go.in@dvfu.ru

Nikolaeva Ol'ga Vasil'evna Doctor of Philology Associate Professor; Department of Romano-Germanic Philology; Far Eastern Federal University 690922, Russia, Primorsky Krai, Vladivostok, DVFU Campus str., building D, room 913 nikolaeva.ov@dvfu.ru

Introduction

This study is broadly devoted to the problematic issues of indirect communication. The relevance of the research is primarily related to the appeal to the modern paradigm of communicative linguistics. The social demand to study the processes of communicative interaction in and between societies, to critically comprehend it and highlight its patterns in the context of a huge information flow has generated a high scientific interest in various types of verbal communication.

Special attention is paid to the types and types of indirect communication. V.V. Dementiev notes that no communication is complete without indirect communication, without additional semantic load, which requires additional interpretative efforts of the addressee ^{[8, p.425]}. Communicative linguistics as a synergetic field applies a wide range of interdisciplinary research paradigms for a comprehensive study of the problems of hidden meaning.

The relevance of the study of indirect communication is also related to the practical need to recognize implicit persistence in order to form the skill of critical understanding of the information flow, identification of manipulative technologies. Modern communication in different languages and formats is increasingly moving away from direct directive formulas and resorting to more sophisticated and implicit ways of conveying meaning.

Within the framework of the extensive research field of indirect communication, the category of "hint" deserves a separate study, and its nature and essence are considered from the point of view of semantics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, cognitive linguistics, linguistic pragmatics, and other areas.

The purpose of this article is to perform an analytical review of linguistic concepts put forward to study the category of "hint" as a means of indirect communication.

The objectives of this study are:

generalization of the degree of study of the category "hint" in linguistic paradigms;

comparison and comparison of methodological principles and methods of hint analysis.

Research methods include descriptive method, comparative analysis and generalization method.

A hint in the light of the modern communicative multi-paradigm

Communicative linguistics has acquired the status of a synergetic direction, searching for patterns of modern communication within the framework of both traditional paradigms, or their dichotomies, and through the formation of new interdisciplinary paradigms.

The means of indirect communication, for example, have been considered in the dichotomy of approaches of semiotics and semantics, or in the dichotomy of semantics and pragmatics.

Based on E. Benveniste's ideas about the dichotomy of semiotics and semantics, V.V. Dementiev notes that "the meanings expressed by units of language are much less direct than the meanings expressed by symbols of formalized codes. The phenomena of indirect communication can be interpreted as a manifestation of the "non-semiotic principle in language, belonging of language to systems of a special, "semantic" type" ^{[8, p. 376]}. In the dichotomy of semiotics and semantics, according to E. Benveniste, the semiotic represented by signs should be recognized, and the semantic represented in speech should be understood ^{[3, pp.69-89]}.

The dichotomy of semantics and pragmatics examines the understanding and analysis of words and sentences in specific speech situations, as opposed to their semantic invariants. In light of this dichotomy, the means of indirect communication are categories of pragmatics. So, for example, speaking about a hint, M.M. Kadar notes that to understand hints, only the meaning of words is not enough, it is also necessary to know the specifics of the speech situation, information about its participants, even their mood at the moment of speech. These pragmatic factors contribute to a much deeper understanding of the hint ^{[10, p.4]}.

Among the interdisciplinary approaches that study the means of indirect communication, which is also a hint, it is worth noting the areas of psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, cognitive linguistics and others.

Thus, within the framework of the psycholinguistic direction, a hint is studied from the point of view of speech production with an emphasis on the intentions of the speaker and speech perception from the perspective of the listener's routine intent analysis.

In the process of speech production, the speech intention is determined by the speaker's motive and determines the communicative purpose of the utterance. The intention has a volitional attitude, planning the impact on the addressee and subsequent interaction with him, anticipating the possible result of interaction ^{[17, p.263; 19, p.97]}. A hint is an indirect method of influencing the psychology and behavior of people in non–confrontational conditions in accordance with the intentions of the interlocutor ^{[13, p.2]}. Thus, the intention of the speaker should be available for interpretation by the listener.

M. Green experimentally confirms that the uncertainty and ambiguity of words and statements (as opposed to precise, clear and detailed ones) on the part of the speaker leads to a decrease in mental and mental efforts to interpret them on the part of the listener: "A possible benefit for vagueness in cooperative situations is that vague expressions may be easier for the hearer to process than precise expressions. <... > We shall refer to this characterization of the utility of vague language as the 'cost reduction hypothesis'" ^{[33, p.23]}. It is emphasized that a decrease in cognitive load is accompanied by a decrease in cognitive alertness ^{[34, pp.530-538; 37, pp.560-572]}.

As a result, the paradigm of cognitive linguistics is also used as a theoretical basis for the study of hint. Native speakers' understanding of a hint is a function of their own cognitive mechanism. In his dissertation "The study of symbols from the point of view of cognitive linguistics", Chinese scientist Wang Xiaojing writes that a symbolic (linguistic) hint is a symbol ^{[5, p.38]}, and its interpretation is carried out as a reaction of the listener's cognitive system.

Psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics provide a significant theoretical basis for the study of hint, which is significantly complemented by the paradigm of sociolinguistics.

A hint is often found in everyday informal communication or, conversely, in official communication, where politeness and etiquette are required, in such types of communication as, for example, diplomatic communication or political speeches.

Thus, in the field of politics, a hint is considered as one of the methods of political manipulation ^{[27, p.220]}. A hint can be realized through the transformation of information, its distortion, concealment, its tendentious presentation, all this is a sign of modern political discourse ^{[18, pp.202–209]}. This indicates that the hint plays an important role in political discourse. A.V. Antonova believes that when implementing political manipulation, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of mass consciousness ^{[1, pp.79-83]}.

The forms and frequency of the use of the hint depend on the culture of each country [Federica Cominetti, Doriana Cimmino 31, p. 61]. Thus, Chinese scientists note that indirect speech acts (hints) are conditioned by the history of the development of Chinese speech culture and are used not only for the purpose of implementing the category of politeness ^{[25, pp.31-32]}. The hint is an integral part of the traditional highly contextual Chinese speech-thinking tradition, so indirect expressions in Chinese discourse are extremely common.

All these interdisciplinary areas make a significant contribution to the formation of the theoretical foundations of hint research, creating a comprehensive multi-paradigm research field. At the same time, linguistic pragmatics probably unites different approaches with a single problem.

The study of hints cannot be separated from context and intention, which are the focus of pragmatics. George Yule defines pragmatics in terms of the environment and purpose of using language, Jenny Thomas defines it in terms of dynamic communication, and Jeff Verschueren defines it in terms of a comprehensive view of the functioning of language. Although each of these definitions has its own focus, what they all have in common is that they all revolve around the center of “meaning in language communication.”

As Z.L. Novozhenova noted, the pragmatic load of linguistic signs in the text and discourse is determined by emotional, emotional-evaluative, modal-voluntary and other factors ^{[15, p.6]}. In other words, pragmatics studies not only the semantic content of statements, but also their purpose, intentions, emotionality, circumstances of communication, i.e. all aspects of communication related to the influence of communication subjects on each other. Such aspects can be directly related to the personality characteristics of each communicant, to the relationship between them, as well as to the communication situation ^{[16, pp.4-9]}.

A hint in linguistic pragmatics

In the field of pragmatics, there are discrepancies in the interpretation of the category of hints itself and in the allocation of their types and types.

Let's consider the problem of defining a hint. Thus, a hint in the works of Western scientists is most often associated with the rejection of the ”principle of cooperation" by H.P. Grice [Grice]. In his opinion, in the process of communication between people, both sides of the dialogue consciously or unconsciously follow certain principles in order to cooperate effectively to accomplish a communicative task. The "principle of cooperation" in conversation, according to Grice, is determined by quantitative, qualitative, relational and modal criteria. Signals arise when people violate these criteria ^{[32, pp.41-58]}. This served as the basis for the development of the theory of associations ^{[38, pp.40-41]} and the joint component model of communication (the Conjoint Co–Constituting Model of Communication) ^{[29, 119-154; 30, pp.121-150]}.

In the works of Russian scientists, the hint is interpreted in two ways. Some represent a more traditional point of view, according to which the listener is the passive recipient of the hint, and the speaker is the active party ^{[9, p. 376]}.

E.P. Shtukaturova analyzes the hint at three levels: the level of illocution, locution and perlocation, and the results show that in the expression of the hint, the relationship between the “level of illocution” and the “level of locution” is very close ^{[28, pp.92, 100]}.

Another view is that at a hint, the speaker and the listener interact ^{[22, pp.35-73]}. Thus, I.Y. Artemova notes that a hint is a form involving the transfer of intentional meanings from the speaker to the listener with the expectation of their extraction by the latter in the form of implications. A hint qualifies as a change in the information state of the interlocutor and a change in the emotional state of the interlocutor ^{[2, p.8]}. It is assumed that the listener has sufficient cognitive space, personal experience and forms his own interpretation of the semantics of discourse, filling in the gaps in the discourse. Thus, a special meaning is given to the discourse ^{[36, pp.33-34]}.

The views of Chinese scientists, as well as Russian ones, are divided into two categories: on the one hand, a hint is considered as a kind of transcendental connection between the form and content of discourse, which helps to increase the effectiveness of utterance ^{[7, p.388]}.

On the other hand, Chinese scientists still define a hint in the aspect of speech acts, recognizing that the essential difference between a hint and other speech acts is that the hint is able to "influence the behavior of the addressee," i.e. the level of perlocation. The hint and the influence on the addressee's behavior are closely related ^{[6, p.12; 20, p.16]}.

So, a hint is considered as a speech act. The above definitions of a hint in pragmatics differ mainly in terms of the relationship between the addressee and the addressee. Among the two main points of view, the first defines a hint as a speech act of the speaker, while the second indicates that the hint arises as a result of cooperation between the speaker and the interlocutor. The second point of view is consistent with the position of Western scientists.

However, the specific factors and conditions under which the addressee understands the hint are still under further investigation. In addition, the limited receptive abilities of the addressee cannot exclude the possibility of failure to interpret the hint in communication,

Being an indirect speech act, a hint that has not received a response from the addressee can nevertheless be interpreted as a hint.

Thus, a hint is one of the types of indirect speech acts that can indirectly convey information and emotions, affecting the recipient's condition.

The typology of the hint

The ways of expressing a hint are different in different languages and contexts, cultures of different countries and may not be the same. There is no single classification of the hint, the types of hint are put forward on different grounds. So, based on the interpretation of the hint as a violation of the "principle of cooperation" by H.P. Grice, J. Leach proposed the "principle of politeness" as an explanation for the violation of the "principle of cooperation". The theory of "politeness" has formed politeness as a special kind of hint ^{[35, pp.84-110]}.

In N.A. Kachalova's dissertation, four categories of hint are distinguished based on the material of the German language: hint-reproach, hint-advice, hint-warning, hint-threat, depending on the speaker's intentions ^{[11, p.23]}.

I.Y. Artemova develops the categories of hint to six: hint-indication, hint-condemnation, hint-conviction, hint-objection, hint-consent, hint-request ^{[2, pp.156-157]}.

Russian scientists V.N. Kondrashova and A.G. Pospelova also noted that a hint can be used to express reproaches, threats, complaints, messages that may offend the addressee, compliments, requests and advice ^{[12, p.108]}.

The Chinese scientist Sun Zhukei classified the hint as follows: euphemism, indirection, symbolism, irony, similarity and antithesis ^{[21, pp.29-30]}.

Qian Guanglian divides the hint into the following types: observance of etiquette, refusal of compliments, compliments, treating the addressee as a third person, expressing one's opinion through the words of a third person, criticism on the surface, but praise in reality, praise on the surface, but criticism in reality, presentation of a point of view through a narrative ^{[26, p. 164]}.

Thus, some scientists pay more attention to specific contexts, while others pay more attention to the intentions of the speaker. This allows us to conclude that the typology of the hint should focus not only on the context, but also on the intention. As noted by the Chinese scientist He Zhaoxiong, the speaker who performs speech acts always expresses his attitude and state of mind to the content of the utterance ^{[24, p.348]}.

So, the way a hint is expressed is determined by context and intention. Depending on the intention and context, a hint can be divided into an "intentional hint" that conveys an "expressible meaning" and an "aesthetic hint" as a translator of "inexpressible meaning" ^{[14, p.68]}.

On the one hand, "expressible meaning" represents intentions that must be expressed implicitly and euphemistically. This kind of hint is also the most common type.

A.N. Baranov divides a hint into true and regular, a regular hint is easily recognized by the addressee as an expression of politeness, the message is realized only in an indirect grammatical form ^{[4, pp.46-50]}.

On the other hand, the "inexpressible meaning" represents the special emotions, the feelings of the context of the speakers. This point of view is consistent with the opinion of Tseng Ping ^{[25, pp.31-32]} that the hint is often used in high contexts, such as official speeches, to reflect the expressive abilities of the language,” and with the opinion of A.N. Baranov ^{[4, pp.46-50]} that the true hint that is, the hint hidden in the statement is that "the listener must suspect the presence of a certain intention, for example, the intention to evoke or reveal a certain belief" ^{[23, p.144]}."

Summarizing what has been said, we conclude that, depending on the context and intention, the classification of a hint may include two main categories: a subjective hint and an objective hint. A subjective hint is interpreted as a speech act used in a certain context with the intention to subjectively enhance the emotional effect of the sentence. An objective hint is presented as a speech act used in a certain context, since the speaker, for some reason, cannot provide accurate information, and therefore passively changes the sentence to an indirect expression.

Conclusion

This article summarizes and analyzes the definitions and types of hint as a means of indirect communication within the framework of various linguistic paradigms.

Linguistic pragmatics is recognized as a comprehensive theoretical platform for the study of hint, capable of integrating different concepts and offering an optimal categorical apparatus.

In linguistic pragmatics, a hint is interpreted as one of the types of indirect speech acts, indirectly transmitting information and emotions, affecting the state of the addressee.

It is concluded that the study of hints is mainly focused on two aspects – “context" and “intention". According to these two criteria, the main types of hint are distinguished: objective hint and subjective hint.