INAUGURAL SPEECH IN GERMAN AND ITS PROCEDURE IMPLEMENTATION

Abstract

The article highlights the results of the study conducted to disclose the rhetorical potential of prosody
in an inaugural speech. The material for the study was the speech delivered in 2017 by the President of
the Federal Republic of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier. In this paper, prosody is considered from the
standpoint of pragmaphonetics as one of the effective rhetorical means of persuasion, which not only
forms the expressiveness of speech and makes political speeches more attractive to listeners, but also
helps to achieve pragmatic goals of the speaker.
The article analyzes the peculiarities of functioning of certain prosodic means (stress, pausation,
speech melody, tempo and rhythm) during a politician’s public speech and defines the role of prosody
in the implementation of functions specific to inaugural rhetoric. Through changes in the prosody of
the speech some prosodic contrasts are created, which perform an expressive function, provide contact
between the speaker and the audience, allow to avoid monotony and further enhance certain fragments of
the message, thus drawing the listeners’ attention to the key concepts of the speech.
According to the results of the experimental phonetic research, the importance of modifications of
prosodic parameters for the realization of the communicative intentions of the speaker has been illustrated
on the example of some fragments of the German president’s inaugural speech. It has been found that in
order to increase the listeners’ attention, the speaker uses such prosodic means as more frequent emphasis,
slowing tempo, frequent use of longer pauses, and speaking fragments of the message in an extended tone
range.