The basic approaches to the study of metacommunication in linguistics

Abstract

The paper provides the study of the phenomenon of metacommunication that had attracted the researchers’ attention even before this term appeared in linguistics. The article introduces four basic approaches to the study of the concept of metacommunication, examines various definitions of this term, and adopts a broad understanding of metacommunication as communication that accompanies communication. The paper outlines the analysis of the terms that start with the prefix “meta-” and highlights the concepts that set the categorical apparatus of metacommunication. It was stated that by virtue of its characteristics, metacommunication performs vital functions in social interaction. The conducted research helps to acknowledge the relationship of metacommunication with such concepts as metadiscourse and metatext. The interactive nature of discourse allows us to interpret metadiscourse and metacommunication as phenomena occurring in one social context, one communicative situation. When treating metatext as a static formation that emerges as a result of language interaction, we consider it appropriate to relate it to metalanguage. The prospects for study consist in further in-depth synthesis of practical material, investigation of the function of regulation of the emotional tone of conversation via metacommunicative utterances in mass-media discourse.