POLITENESS AND EMOTIONAL INTENSITY IN WISH/DESIRE SPEECH ACTS IN ENGLISH AND UZBEK

Abstract

This article investigates politeness strategies and emotional intensity in wish and desire speech acts from a comparative perspective in English and Uzbek. Expressions of desire inherently reveal personal intention and affective stance; however, their pragmatic realization varies according to cultural norms and discourse contexts. The study examines modal verbs, conditional structures, lexical intensifiers, analytic constructions, and honorific markers to explore how speakers mitigate or intensify wish expressions. Literary examples demonstrate how politeness preserves interpersonal harmony while emotional intensity signals urgency, longing, or vulnerability. The findings show both universal pragmatic mechanisms and culturally specific patterns shaping wish/desire speech acts across languages.