THE MANIFESTATION OF INDIRECT ILLOCUTIONARY ACTS IN WOMEN’S SPEECH

Abstract

This article investigates the pragmalinguistic features of Uzbek women’s speech within the framework of speech act theory. The analysis highlights the theoretical foundations of pragmalinguistics based on the scholarly perspectives of leading researchers. The study examines the communicative-pragmatic nature of locutive, illocutive, and perlocutive acts in speech, their speaker intentions, mechanisms of influence on the listener, and their interrelation with socio-cultural factors. In particular, the functional-semantic potential of speech acts such as complaints, grievances, requests, admonitions, warnings, advice, wishes, prayers, and curses in women's communication is revealed. Using examples from mother-in-law–daughter-in-law, mother–child, and husband–wife discourses, the paper discusses presuppositions, pragmatic homonymy, indirect illocutive acts, and gender-specific communicative strategies. The communicative function, emotional-expressive load, and the role of curses in expressing the speaker’s internal experiences and influencing the listener psychologically and socially are analyzed. Additionally, the application of these speech units in conveying warnings, disapproval, sarcasm, irony, or specific educational objectives is illustrated with examples. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the unique pragmatic nature of Uzbek women's speech and gender-specific patterns of verbal behaviour.