Abstract
Abstract
This corpus assisted investigation of the auxiliary verb
will examines the various modalities and functions realised
in the register of political briefings given by Scottish (Holyrood) and United
Kingdom (Westminster) representatives throughout the first year of the
coronavirus pandemic.
A trinocular approach is taken to consider the lexicogrammatical
environment of will (from around), the discourse semantics of
will (from above) and the relationship between contraction
and meaning (from below).
Our trinocular approach with a focus on will as
a highly frequent item with great meaning potential has enabled us to gain
insights about the nature of how politicians used modality to persuade, organise
and empathise within coronavirus media briefings and thus shape their public
personas as leaders.
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Subject
General Earth and Planetary Sciences,General Environmental Science