THE SEMANTIC MACROSTRUCTURES AND LEXICALIZATIONS IN OSAMA BIN LADEN’S SPEECH OF INCITEMENT

This article investigates the semantic macrostructures and lexicalizations in Osama bin Laden's discourse of incitement which encourages his followers to commit terrorist attacks. The researchers examine bin Laden's speech directed to the Iraqi people before the USA led invasion in 2003. Van Dijk's two theories of Semantic Macrostructures (1980) and Ideological Square (1998a) along with Wodak's (2001; 2009) discourse-historical approach are integrated to constitute the theoretical framework. The selected speech is analysed at three levels of analysis: linguistic, ideological and intertextual. These analytical levels focus on the analysis of bin Laden's discourse of incitement in terms of semantic macro- and micro-structures and ideology. At the macro-level of analysis, the themes in the selected speech are analysed and at the micro-level of analysis, the lexical structures are examined. The findings reveal that the ideological dichotomy of US vs. THEM in the selected speech is underscored via the semantic macrostructures and lexicalizations. The intertextual analysis helps consolidate the linguistic and ideological analyses.