Means of representing imperativeness in religious sermons: A case study of the English language
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33910/1992-6464-2026-220-310-320Keywords:
English-language Christian sermon, imperative statements, imperative constructions, motivation to action, speech influence, persuasion strategies, linguistic meansAbstract
Introduction. The article focuses on English-language sermons and the means of expressing imperativeness within these texts. The work highlights the social significance of religion and the special status of the sermon, which stems from its public delivery, the preacher’s individual approach to creating a religious message, and its broad audience reach — a factor critical to spreading religious ideas and introducing people to the faith.
Materials and Methods. The research material comprises 600 English-language Christian sermons spanning the 19th to 21st centuries, sourced from the Internet. The study employed contextual analysis, the descriptive method, continuous and random sampling, and quantitative data processing.
Results. An analysis of English-language Christian sermons indicates that in order to achieve communicative goals, the preacher uses various linguistic means marked by an imperative nature in terms of their semantics and pragmatics. According to the data obtained, imperative constructions in religious preaching are characterized by two vectors of realization: (1) directed at the parishioner (believer) (advice, instructions, prohibitions); and (2) addressed to God (requests, entreaties). From the linguistic perspective, imperativeness in English-language religious sermons is expressed through verbal constructions of various grammatical statuses, formed using: (a) infinitive forms; (b) modal verbs; and (c) combinations of let + infinitive.
Conclusions. The findings may be of interest to theologians, linguists, translators, and specialists studying speech impact and effective strategies and tactics for successful communication. Future research may focus on institutional and discursive properties of various religious genres, undergoing transformation in the era of digitalization and moving to an online format, as well as on comparative studies across different genres and languages.
References
ИСТОЧНИКИ
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All the valiant men… (2025) [Online]. Available at: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/fb-meyer/all-the-valiant-men/ (accessed 25.01.2025).
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СЛОВАРИ
Let. (2025) Cambridge Dictionary. [Online]. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/let?ysclid=m65jw123q2837239978 (accessed 25.01.2025).
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