EVIDENTIALITY IN TEXTS OF THE JOURNALISTIC STYLE IN THE MODERN GERMAN LANGUAGE

Abstract

The article is dedicated to examining the peculiarities of employing the category of evidentiality in texts of the journalistic style in the modern German language.

Life in society is impossible without communication between people. As communicants, they exchange various information, expressing 

their views, emotions, and attempting to convey their own point of view to their interlocutors. Often, communicants pass on information, other people's thoughts, assumptions, and so on. Therefore, in the modern communicative process, there arises a need to specify the source of certain information. The main purpose of this is an attempt to lend greater credibility and authority to the message.

For German-language journalistic style, the use of inferential and reportative evidentiality is characteristic. We believe that these types are determined by the fact that indicating the source of information is an integral component of professional media text. This is because journalists, when including the opinions of others (politicians, celebrities, or ordinary witnesses) in their materials, can present an event in light of various ideologies, provide it with a certain assessment, and thus influence the audience's opinion. Indicating the source of information is an indispensable feature of a media text, as it allows for the confirmation or refutation of the credibility of certain information. Evidential markers help readers verify the facts and opinions presented by the journalist, and based on this, form their own opinion. Citing sources is a central characteristic of a media text, providing it with the necessary objectivity. This is why evidentiality, as a linguistic category, plays a leading role in the information space of any developed linguistic culture.