Prosodic Mitigation of Face-threatening Riposte in Sports Media Discourse: A Phono-pragmatic Analysis

Abstract

The current study focuses on the analysis of riposte in football press conferences through the phono-pragmatic approach to discourse analysis, with specific emphasis on the use of prosody in mitigating face-threats in interactions. Specifically, the study investigates how prosodic features interact with semiotic meaning and context in shaping pragmatic interpretations in institutional sports media discourse and mitigating the potential of the confrontational force of the utterances. An eclectic model is designed for the study and qualitatively applied on selected samples extracted from press conferences of Premier League managers. The results obtained confirm that the use of riposte in press conferences relies on careful modulation of prosody instead of aggressiveness. Restricted or moderately restricted F0, use of fall-rise and rise-fall tones, effective placement of pitch accent, and moderated intensity serve as means for softening rejection, disagreement, and evaluative stance expressed by the managers. Indirectness, humour, and interactional control also play a significant role in the reduction of the face-threatening potential while maintaining professionalism in journalist–manager interactions. Functionally, riposte is seen as one of the most important reframing strategies, next to interactional control and audience design.