Interessemotiv

Interessemotiv is a term used in discourse studies to describe a mode of expression that blends explicit display of interest with an emotive stance toward the topic. It functions as a pragmatic resource that signals engagement and personal investment in conversation, speeches, or written text. Although not yet standardized in major dictionaries, the concept has appeared in scholarly discussions of stance, affect, and interpersonal communication.

Origin and scope. The term is a blended word formed from interest and emotive, reflecting both cognitive attention and affective evaluation. It is used across languages and registers, though its realization varies by culture and communicative context.

Characteristics. Interessemotiv can be realized lexically through evaluative adjectives and adverbs (very interesting, deeply engaging), through pronouns and hedges that convey personal stance (I think this is fascinating), and through prosodic features in speech (rising intonation, emphasis). In writing, it may appear as subjective constructions and rhetorical questions that invite participation, such as “This is really interesting to me” or “Don’t you find this fascinating?”

Applications and research. Scholars study interessemotiv cues in education, counseling, marketing, and political communication to understand how affective engagement affects attention, recall, and perceived credibility. Methods include discourse analysis of corpora, experimental tasks measuring listener impact, and annotation schemes that tag instances of interessemotiv.

Limitations and critique. The concept faces challenges in precise definition, cross-cultural variation, and reliable annotation. Some researchers argue that interessemotiv overlaps with broader affective language or stance-taking and should be clearly distinguished from simple enthusiasm. See also affective pragmatics, stance, evaluative language.