The Semantic Frame of The Royal Funeral

Abstract

Any form of life ends in death. Human death is a difficult moment for an individual’s family. Various cultures observe diverse rituals and traditions connected with the end of life and perform different burial rites. Memorial services assume a range of forms depending on the culture and religious tradition an individual was brought up in and followed throughout their life. However, memorial ceremonies are also diversified within a given culture. The funeral of a monarch is much more complex as compared to this of any of his/her subject’s. The death of the British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022 was followed by a period of mourning and state funeral. The analysis in the present paper focuses on the semantic frame of the royal funeral. The methodological framework adopted for the discussion is the cognitive linguistic one, focusing on cognitive-linguistic models such as frames and scripts, exemplified here by the frame of the ROYAL FUNERAL and the [ROYAL FUNERAL] script. Both of the presented models contain unique elements that are not to be found in other contexts. The components of frame and script which are specific to this event are highlighted. The data for the detailed description of the frame are gathered from the online news reports provided by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The study shows how different the discussed model is from the standard description of the frame of FUNERAL and the [FUNERAL] script respectively. Also, many of its elements are culture-specific.