DIFFERENT TYPES OF LANGUAGE GAME IN THE AMERICAN ELECTORAL DISCOURSE (BASED ON THE FINAL PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES BETWEEN DONALD TRUMP AND JOE BIDEN IN 2020)

Abstract

The article studies language play in the modern American electoral discourse. In the research, the author defines the boundaries of the terms “language game” and “electoral discourse” and distinguishes characteristic features of the electoral discourse. The article studies language play at phonetic, derivational, lexical and syntactic levels in the final presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Numerous examples illustrate language play at different language levels. Language play at the lexical and syntactic levels appears to be the most productive. In conclusion, the author decides that language play allows candidates to manipulate the audience and focus on the right things, makes speech more vivid, more expressive and allows candidates to have an emotional impact on people. The author also notes that further study of this topic needs to be carried out with the help of new linguistic methods.