TRANCE-TERMINOLOGIZATION IN THE RESEARCH SPACE OF LEGAL LINGUISTICS: THE CONCEPTS OF DOMINANT AND RECESSIVE GROUPS

Abstract

A term as a linguistic unit has many functions, including the ability to differentiate conceptual categories, display the results of scientific knowledge, be a tool for scientific research, and form the basis for communicative interaction. It is also necessary to highlight the predictive ability of the term, which becomes apparent through identification of research lacunae. This function lays the foundation for the development of conceptual systems of new scientific directions. An example of this can be legal linguistics. The experience of conducting special applied research has revealed that lack of an adapted system of terminology makes it impossible to verify certain methodological approaches and procedures of expert textual analysis. This problem has proved particularly acute in analyzing speech within extremist discourse. From the point of view of linguistic expert analysis, the most significant categories of extremist discourse are the concepts of dominant and recessive groups. These terms have long been cultivated in the paradigm of the natural sciences, as well as in the humanities. The dominant trait is regarded as predominant, whereas the recessive one – as suppressed. The addressees of extremist discourse are, as a rule, potentially like-minded people (“friends”) acting as recipients of “disturbing” facts about their opponents. Their opponents (“foes”) are, on the other hand, the objects targeted by extremist speech. Thus, “the friends” make up the dominant group, while “the foes” – the recessive group. From within the members of the dominant group, the author of an extremist text spreads information that sows discord and creates hostility. Discord sown by extremist texts urges the members of the dominant group to recognize the fact that they have diverging interests with the members of the recessive group. Hostility generated through extremist texts encourages the members of the dominant group to resort to struggle against the recessive group.