TEMPORAL ORGANIZATION OF ORAL ENGLISH AND GERMAN RELIGIOUS SERMONS (THEOLINGUISTIC APPROACH)

Abstract

The article is dedicated to exploring the temporal organization of texts in Anglican and Lutheran sermons, which are an integral part of worship in their respective churches. The study of homiletic and theolinguistic literature, along with an examination of the compositional features of the analysed sermons, has allowed for the identification of four compositional parts present in both types of sermons (theme manifestation, citation, interpretation, conclusion). Each part is characterized by relative semantic and structural autonomy, serving specific pragmatic purposes. The research material, consisting of oral English and German sermons, underwent perceptual, auditory, and instrumental analysis. A comprehensive auditory and instrumental analysis of the temporal characteristics of the preachers’ speech allows the conclusion that there is unity not only in the pragmatic directives of preachers in the two most widespread Protestant traditions but also in the prosodic structure of oral sermons. Among the integral temporal parameters at the perceptual level, pauses and contrasting tempo play a leading role in creating the influential effect of sermons. Regarding integral objective temporal parameters, common patterns in the temporal organization of the introductory and main parts of the text are identified. Differentiating features include significant differences between Anglican and Lutheran sermons in the concluding part. Lutheran sermons demonstrate relatively stable use of a normal tempo with a tendency toward slowing down, while Anglican sermons exhibit contrasting use of both slowed and accelerated tempo, creating a “broken” rhythm of articulation that enhances the influential effect of this part of the sermon. Based on the identified integral temporal means involved in the construction of the analysed texts, it can be stated that Anglican and Lutheran sermons belong to the same type of homiletic discourse.