Pragmalinguistic Potential of the Subjunctive Mood and Speech Act Analysis in G. E. Lessing’s Tragedy “Emilia Galotti”

The article examines the pragmalinguistic potential of the subjunctive mood (Konjunktiv) as a functioning segment of G. E. Lessing’s tragedy “Emilia Galotti” under conditions of artistic discourse. Studies of the subjunctive in traditional grammar are mostly concerned with adequate morphosyntactic description. This research, on the contrary, takes a pragmalinguistic perspective to deploy Speech Act Theory (Austin & Searle) to reveal the ideologically veiled communicative intentions (illocutionary force) of the characters. The study also focuses on the linguocultural implications of subjunctive moods in relation to the (im)politeness management aspects via a comparative examination between original German text and its Uzbek translation produced by Posho Ali Usmon showing how subjunctive seems to work as a psychological filter, social distancing tool, and face-saving strategy. The results show that the subjunctive mode in Lessing’s work is more than just a marker of irreality: it serves as an elaborate device for manipulation and unspoken understanding. In addition, the article discusses pragmatic adaptation strategies applied in the Uzbek translation: it shows how German subjunctive forms are functionally compensated through modality words, particles and special verb moods to keep the pragmatic punch of the original.