SPEECH VERBS EXPRESSING EMPATHY IN SPANISH

Abstract

The article analyzes the role of speech verbs in the implementation of verbal empathy in communication in Spanish, describes their meaning in speech activity as cognitive and evaluative predicates. There are studied the existing approaches to the definition and classification of speech verbs and the features of their use in the process of dialogue communication. The use of speech verbs is considered in terms of their functionality in the implementation of empathic speech acts. On the basis of existing research, we propose our own classification of speech verbs, allowing one to express empathy better, taking into account the specifics of vocabulary, grammar and syntax of the Spanish language. The examples describing empathic processes in Spanish communication using speech verbs are taken from the novel by a Spanish writer Torquato Luca de Tena “Tortuous ways of God’s Providence” (Torcuato Luca de Tena “Los renglones torcidos de Dios”), as the content and language features of the novel give extensive material for research. The conclusions made are about the special functions of speech verbs as units that formalize empathic statements that contribute to the establishment and maintenance of harmonious communication, and also about significant differences in the linguistic forms of empathy in Spanish and Russian.