A nehezteléstől a sértésig

The speech acts of resentment, reproof and insult are analysed in this paper in a historical so - ciopragmatic framework, one that has only been employed to a slight extent so far in the literature in this country. The source material is taken from personal letters coming from the Middle Hungarian period. The author proceeds “from function towards form”, that is, starting from pragmatic func - tions and going towards exploring the linguistic means of expressing resentment, distinguishing the speech acts of resentment, reproof, and insult from one another on the basis of the speaker’s infer - able intention, but still exploring them together. It is also discussed how relationships of power and subservience are construed on the basis of the individual utterances.