Mechanisms for neutralizing potentially conflict meanings in English interviews

The study aims to examine the cognitive mechanisms and linguistic means involved in the formation of conflict-free meanings in English interviews. The article explores the influence of linguistic context on the conflict-free tone of public communication through the lens of cognitive linguistics by analyzing interviews with cultural and artistic figures. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the fact that, for the first time in public interviews, the cognitive mechanisms of analogy, categorization, refocusing, and conceptual integration along with their corresponding linguistic means aimed at neutralizing potentially conflict meanings are analysed. Therefore, the functional status of such linguistic means as repetitions, agreement markers, and positive evaluation is reconsidered here. Unlike traditional conflict linguistics paradigms that interpret them as manipulation or covert aggression, this study is the first to demonstrate their role as tools for fostering harmonious dialogue. The study identifies eight conceptual frameworks and a repertoire of lexical and syntactic means with different pragmatic functions involved into neutralizing potentially conflict meanings. This study contributes to the foundations of conflict-free linguistics as a new research area.