Popular scientific text as a result of inter-discourse interaction

Introduction. The key step in outlining the founding characteristics and parameters of popular science discourse (PSD) liesintheanalysisofareasofdirectoverlapbetweendifferent types of discourse, in specifying markers of discourse interaction and their functional specifics in the process of popularization of scientific knowledge. The topicality of the research lies in the clarification of the sociolinguistic parameters of PSD aimed at determining the degree and form of involvement of other types of discourse in the processes of scientific knowledge popularization and the formation of PSD as an independent contaminated type of discourse practice. Materials and Methods. The sociolinguistic method, which allows exploring the systematic features of institutional discourse practices, served the basis for thorough analysis of C. Sagan’s astronomy PSD. Discourseanalysis was used as a secondary method to study discourse features in various communicative situations. Analysis. PSD as a hybrid communicative phenomenon is shaped with the focus on the addressee factor, the content and the goal of transmitting scientific knowledge among the majority of the population. As a unique model of special communication, the astronomy PSD reveals an immediate connection with the scientific discourse, with which it shares an identical communicative paradigm of interaction between an expert and a non-specialist. The analysis of sociolinguistic parameters has revealed the areas of intersection between the astronomy PSD and the pedagogy and journalism discourses, which suggests its polydiscourse contaminated nature. Results. Combining elements of scientific, journalistic, pedagogical and other types of discourse, PSD is defined as a result of an interaction of basic institutional discourse parameters, conditioned by the communicative situation. The analysis has revealed linguopragmatic markers of PSD interaction with the scientific, pedagogy and journalism discourse types. The combination of the way of representing cognitive information, communicative strategies of pedagogy discourse and journalistic speech patterns allow us to establish the astronomy PSD as a contaminated type discourse, which rests at the intersection between several discourse types.