The Role of Intonation in Identifying the Non-domination in Political Speech

Abstract

     Intonation is a key supra segmental feature that transmits strategies for communication in political language. It is critical in representing implicit meaning since it depicts the movement of pitch or melodic patterns, as well as the various motions that are employed by people's voices in conversation .This study fills a gap in the literature since it seeks to identify  the role of dominance and non-dominance factors in shaping the ideological strategies of self/other in Bush’s speech after September 11 attacks based on an eclectic model  of  Van Dijk's (2006) model of ideological square and Brazil’s  (1997) model of discourse intonation.  The major findings  show that Bush takes on the role of non-dominance  during his speech with the audience. This means that Bush seeks to capture Americans' attention by expressing sympathy, compassion, and a sense of support for the majority of them throughout his speech. It has also meant developing a negative  attitude against terrorists, particularly Muslim people. It is represented through the use of more impressive lexical expressions that positively help to portray the self-representation, particularly the good characteristics of the Americans to affect psychology of his listeners in contrast to the bad actions of the terrorists. Such an act gives the Americans the feeling of strength and encouragement towards the community and intense hostility towards Muslims. It has further been noted that Bush uses pathos and a religious language with the public to make people safe and to comfort them.