Paradox in the enigmatic discourse of crossword

Abstract

This article deals with the analysis of the cognitive mechanisms and verbal means of paradox formation in the crossword genre. The genre of crossword is considered to be a type of discourse. In this type of discourse the text serving as a mediator has the hypertextual nature, a certain level of encoding, is oriented towards decoding and aimed, as a rule, at the intellectual training and entertainment. Paradoxality in the enigmatic discourse of crossword performs two important functions/ On the one hand, by complicating the task’s decoding process, it becomes an instrument of encoding and stipulates the intellectual tension. On the other hand, absurdity and inner contradictoriness of the tasks entertain and stipulate the creation of humorous coloration. Paradoxality is also characterized  by  its  suggestibility,  as  during  the  process  of  decoding  of  crosswords  their  addresses  show  the disability  to  consciously  solve  the  inner  inconsistency  of  utterances  that  leads  to  involvement  of  unconscious mechanisms  that  presuppose  communicative  influence  to  provide  advertisement,  PR  etc.  The  means  of crosswords’ paradoxality are homonymy, polysemy and occasional derivation.