INVESTIGATIVE COMMUNICATION IN DETECTIVE FICTION: A LINGUOPRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF CHARACTER SPEECH

This article examines investigative communication in detective fiction from a linguopragmatic perspective, focusing on the functional characteristics of character speech in the process of crime investigation. The study considers the speech of detectives, suspects, witnesses, victims, and criminals as an important source of information and as a communicative instrument through which characters reveal, conceal, manipulate, or reinterpret information. Particular attention is paid to speech acts, implicature, presupposition, deixis, modality, questioning, politeness, and communicative strategies. The article argues that character speech in detective fiction performs a dual function: it contributes to the development of interpersonal communication while simultaneously advancing the investigative process. Detective questioning, for instance, may be used not only to obtain factual information but also to test consistency, expose contradictions, and identify hidden intentions. Similarly, the speech of suspects and criminals may contain indirect meanings, evasive answers, presuppositions, and strategic ambiguity. Drawing on pragmatic theories of language and discourse, the study demonstrates that the interpretation of character speech is essential for understanding how detective narratives construct suspicion, concealment, and revelation. The findings indicate that investigative communication represents a distinctive type of discourse in which linguistic choices directly contribute to the reconstruction of hidden events and the discovery of truth.