A Phono-Pragmatic Analysis of Assertive Speech Acts in English and Arabic Political Discourse

This study investigates the phonological characteristics that support assertive speech acts in English and Arabic political discourse, emphasizing how prosodic aspects extend the pragmatic force of political claims. Political discourse extensively employs assertive speech acts as strategic communicative tools, yet a significant research gap exists in understanding how phonological features systematically enhance the pragmatic force of political assertions across different languages. While extensive research has examined political discourse through pragmatic lenses, particularly focusing on semantic and contextual aspects of speech acts, the crucial role of prosodic elements, including intonation patterns, pitch variations, and acoustic features, in strengthening the illocutionary force of assertive utterances remains underexplored. This study addresses fundamental research questions: (1) What phonological features characterize assertive speech acts in English and Arabic political discourse? (2) How do politicians manipulate prosodic elements to enhance the effectiveness of their assertions? The research aims to identify the phonological characteristics of assertive speech acts in both languages, analyze how these features contribute to pragmatic force in expressing commitment, certainty, authority, and persuasive intent, establish systematic correlations between phonological patterns and pragmatic functions, and compare language-specific patterns while identifying cross-linguistic similarities. The study hypothesizes that assertive speech acts exhibit distinctive phonological patterns that systematically contribute to their pragmatic force, with different types of assertive acts (asserting, boasting, affirming, denying, concluding, claiming, stating, and lamenting) displaying distinct phonological signatures reflecting their specific pragmatic functions. Employing a convergent parallel mixed-methods design, this research combines quantitative acoustic analysis with qualitative pragmatic interpretation. Arabic exhibits higher intensity and broader F0 variation compared to English. The findings reveal both universal and language-specific prosodic strategies that politicians utilize to enhance the persuasive effect of their assertions. While both languages employ similar prosodic strategies to strengthen the pragmatic force of assertions, reflecting universal trends in political communication and cross-cultural pragmatics

Assertiveness · Indirect speech · Modern Standard Arabic · Politics · Pragmatics · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Phonetics and Phonology Research