The Verbalization of the Causal Parameter in Migrant Categorization in German Media Discourse

The article is devoted to a linguistic analysis of the categorization of migrants in German media discourse through the systematization of nominative units indicating the reasons of migration (the causal parameter). The aim of the study is to identify, systematize, and determine the discursive functions of causal parameter nominations in the German language. The research material consists of 12 024 contexts from the Mannheim German Reference Corpus (Deutsches Referenzkorpus) based on leading national («Süddeutsche Zeitung», «Die Zeit») and regional («Rheinische Post») German newspapers from 2016 to 2022. Methods of corpus analysis (the analysis of high-frequency lexical units using automated text analysis software) and discourse analysis were applied to identify the substantive, axiological, and pragmatic features of German media discourse. As a result, the introduction of the concept of «the causal parameter of migrant categorization» into academic circulation is substantiated, and six corresponding markers are identified: educational, labor, asylum-seeking, military-political, economic, and environmental. The causal parameter functions in German media discourse as a discursive-pragmatic category that constructs social reality through relevant migrant nominations. The analysis demonstrates the dominance of the military-political and asylum-seeking markers in the analyzed period. Thematic dominants are identified: national newspapers focus on the political and legal aspects, whereas the regional newspaper emphasizes issues of migrant integration, accommodation, and humanitarian assistance. The dynamics of the use of the analyzed nominations in the German language, depending on the migration agenda, are revealed. The semantic differences between the nominations Asylbewerber (asylum seeker) and Kriegsflüchtling (war refugee) are determined, and the specifics of their functioning in the German media discourse are clarified. The study contributes to the development of migration and corpus linguistics, media linguistics, and discourse analysis by refining the understanding of the role of nominative units in the functioning of the modern German language in society.