WEATHER-TALK AS A PHATIC REGULATOR AND AN INSTRUMENT FOR RELIEVING COMMUNICATIVE TENSION

The article is devoted to a comprehensive pragmalinguistic characteristic of the phenomenon of weather-talk as an important phatic regulator and an effective tool for relieving communicative tension in interpersonal and professional interaction. The paper notes that human communicative behavior is subordinated to global interaction goals, which requires a thorough analysis of speech strategies and tactics. Special attention is paid to theoretical approaches to phatic communication initiated by B. Malinowski, as well as to the works of domestic and foreign researchers in the field of discursive linguistics. It is proven that weather-talk functions not as trivial or “empty” discourse, but forms an inexhaustible array of speech acts that ensure psychological comfort and the regulation of social distances. The specificity of the semantic field of weather-talk is substantiated, characterized by the complete absence of ideological or value polarization, the universality of sensory experience for all communication participants “here and now,” and the emotional neutrality of the base code. This allows the meteorological discourse to be used as a safe neutral zone. The article details the pragmatic functions of weather-talk. In particular, its role as an effective contact initiator and a means of breaking the silence (ice-breaker) that removes threshold barriers in the interaction of unfamiliar people is revealed. The functions of weather-talk as an instrument of de-escalation and a communicative buffer during conflicts of interest or awkward pauses are determined. The mechanism of shifting the focus of attention to an external neutral object in order to provide participants with time for psychological reset and preservation of “face” is described. The formal-grammatical and prosodic parameters of utterances have been clarified: syntactic minimization (the use of short nominative or impersonal sentences) contributes to reducing cognitive load, ritualized clichés and phatic particles act as formulas of solidarity, and soft intonation and gentle irony serve as a signal of peaceful intentions.