Vol 23, No 3 (2019)

Articles

Speaking for Bakhtin: Two Interpretations of Reported Speech A Response to Goddard and Wierzbicka (2018)

Spronck S.

Abstract

Vološinov ([1929]1973) is one of the most frequently cited works in studies on reported speech, but its interpretation varies considerably between authors. Within the linguistic anthropological tradition, its central message is often conflated with Erving Goffman’s ‘speaker roles’, and in a recent publication, Goddard and Wierzbicka (2018) marry ideas they attribute to Vološinov (1973) and Mikhail M. Bakhtin to those by the formal semanticist Donald Davidson. Responding to Goddard and Wierzbicka (2018) (and a shorter version of a similar argument in Goddard and Wierzbicka (2019), this paper seeks to explore the philosophical foundations of reported speech research, particularly in relation to Vološinov/Bakhtin. It suggests that reported speech research is motivated by two fundamentally distinct goals, one here labelled ‘Fregean’ and the other ‘Bakhtinian’. Questions and methods used in both of these research traditions lead to two radically different understandings of reported speech. This affects the applicability of the definition of direct/indirect speech Goddard and Wierzbicka (2018) propose. It also motivates an alternative approach to reported speech advocated by the current author and others that is criticised by Goddard and Wierzbicka (2018). The article further seeks to rehabilitate the analysis of Wierzbicka (1974), which Goddard and Wierzbicka (2018) partially reject. Whereas Wierzbicka (1974) treats direct and indirect speech as constructions of English, Goddard and Wierzbicka (2018) elevate the opposition to a universal, which belies the cultural sensitivity to semantic variation the authors display in other work. The paper concludes with a brief note about the semantic status of ‘say’ in Australian languages and states that the relevance of Vološinov ([1929]1973) is undiminished, also in the light of recent developments in language description. It remains a highly original study whose implications are yet to fully impact research on reported speech.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2019;23(3):603-618
pages 603-618 views

Translanguaging in the Family Context: Evidence from Cyprus, Sweden and Estonia

Karpava S., Ringblom N., Zabrodskaja A.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to highlight translanguaging practices in the home among bilingual/multilingual Russian-speaking children and their parents in Cyprus, Sweden and Estonia. Multilingual families are the focus of our research: 50 in Cyprus, 20 in Estonia and 50 in Sweden. Using parental written question- naires with the focus on general background, socio-economic status and language proficiency, as well as oral semi-structured interviews and ethnographic participant observation, our study attempts to describe how family language policy is managed through translanguaging and literacy activities in multilingual Russian-speaking families in three different cultural and linguistic environments. Our results show both differences and similarities among Russian-speakers in the three countries, not only in their family language practices, but also in their attitudes towards the fluidity of language, language repertoires, translanguaging and Russian-language literacy. Russian-speakers incorporate a wide range of language repertoires in their everyday lives. Sometimes, such language contacts generate power struggles and the language ideological dimension becomes a key terrain to explore how speakers feel about the need to effectively attain a degree of multilingualism. Multilingualism and the maintenance of the Russian language and culture are usually encouraged, and parents often choose the one-parent-one-language approach at home. However, not all families make conscious choices regarding specific language management and may have “laissez-faire” attitudes to the use of languages in the family. We show how family language use and child-directed translanguaging can support, expand and enhance dynamic bilingualism/multilingualism, and reinforce and integrate minority language in a wider context: societal and educational.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2019;23(3):619-641
pages 619-641 views

A Fool and his Money are Soon Parted: A Critical Examination of Credit Card Websites

Mooney A.

Abstract

This paper critiques the idea that a fool and their money are soon parted by using multimodal analysis to explore one of the ways in which people are parted from money: credit cards. I analyse the homepages of two products, the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ as rated by UK consumer organisation Which? In order to understand the range of communication used in these websites, I employ a multimodal analysis of their language, choice of colour, typeface, layout and images (Kress & van Leeuwen 2006; van Leeuwen 2005, 2011). Together, these show that the individual is constructed in different ways by the two products. For the card rated best, the viewer is constructed as a trustworthy consumer who is rewarded for this with further opportunities for consumption. For the card rated as worst, the viewer is positioned as a failed, but redeemable, consumer. The different constructions of the consumer also suggest that ‘credit’ is desirable but ‘debt’ is not. Taking into account the moral complexity of debt, I suggest that the lexical item credit card would be better changed to debt token . I argue that the real foolishness is the system itself, the one that credit cards (‘debt tokens’) index and exemplify. Taking the two sites together, I show that consumption is constructed as both desirable and risky. As credit cards construct the individual as an (isolated) person with few rights and great responsibility (Henry 2010), I suggest that these sites index the central role of the individual as a consumer. A good citizen is parted from their money.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2019;23(3):642-658
pages 642-658 views

Distinctive Lexical Patterns in Russian Patient Information Leaflets: A Corpus-Driven Study

Grabowski Ł.

Abstract

This methodologically-oriented corpus-driven study focuses on distinctive patterns of language use in a specialized text type, namely Russian patient information leaflets. The study’s main goal is to identify keywords and recurrent sequences of words that account for the leaflets’ formulaicity, and - as a secondary goal - to describe their discoursal functions. The keywords were identified using three methods (G2, Hedges’ g and Neozeta) and the overlap between the three metrics was explored. The overlapping keywords were qualitatively analyzed in terms of discoursal functions. As for the distinctive multi-word patterns, we focused on recurrent n-grams with the largest coverage in the corpus: these were identified using the Formulex method (Forsyth, 2015b), which provides complementary data with respect to more conservative n- gram and lexical bundles approaches. The results revealed that the most distinctive keywords were identified using Hedges’ g metric, that the largest overlap occurred between G2 and Neozeta metrics, and that the frequent use and discoursal functions of the identified lexical patterns correspond with situational contexts and communicative purposes of patient information leaflets. It is hoped that this study will provide an opportunity for a methodological reflection and inspire further corpus-driven research on distinctive recurrent lexical patterns (e.g., keywords, n-grams, lexical bundles) or - more generally - on formulaic language in texts originally written in Russian.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2019;23(3):659-680
pages 659-680 views

Tourist Notices in the Spotlight of Linguistic Landscape and Translation Studies

Bilá M., Vaňková I.

Abstract

In the 21st century, even local tourist spots are globally accessible and need to be communicated in a globally shared language, a lingua franca (Ben-Rafael & Ben Rafael 2015). The language of most obvious choice among speakers from different linguacultural backgrounds is English. When translating notices in national parks into English, translators should predominantly consider the function of the TT (target text), the target audience (not exclusively L1 speakers of English but, the speakers of a variety of languacultures communicating in English as lingua franca (ELF) and opt for translation solutions that would account for visitors representing a diversity of languacultures. The present paper aims at finding out what modifications in translation of visitors’ rules may be necessary if the target readership is to be considered, and at explicating the translation process through applying a transdisciplinary perspective of ELF studies, linguistic landscape (LL) studies, cross-field studies on conceptualization, translanguaging and translation studies. The study shows that these modifications affect the significance and hierarchy of the four principles operating in LL (presentation-of-self, power-relations, good reasons and collective-identity) and are projected into specific LL-tailored translation solutions (shifts in modality, lexis, style and discourse markers). The modifications are achievable in ELF, which, as a form and function, a de-regionalized and de-culturalized artifact of global village, is capable of catering for a variety of languacultures with their specific societal conventions, practices, and the whole explicit and implicit axio-sphere.

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2019;23(3):681-697
pages 681-697 views

Conceptual Metaphor as a Means of Terrorist Suggestion (on the Material of the Islamic State Video Messages)

Fomin A.G., Mona E.A.

Abstract

Manipulative verbal influence is an immanent feature of modern international communication. Successful realization of the suggestive aspect allows the speaker to exert influence on the recipient’s worldview and ingrain certain ideological attitudes in their mind. This situation is characteristic of various types of discourse: political, advertising and media. However, the most dangerous for political stability and safety is utilization of persuasive linguistic devices by extremist groups and terrorist organizations. Thus, research in this field has become extremely relevant. The article presents linguistic analysis of such manifestations of destructive manipulation in the Islamic State (IS) speech, found in their official video messages. The analysis was carried out on the material of the official IS video messages, obtained through the selective sampling method on the video hosting website YouTube. Within the framework of the research we distinguish, classify and subject to a thorough linguistic analysis of conceptual metaphors which are used by the terrorists. The data obtained enables us to make a conclusion regarding the key role of conceptual metaphor in realization of the IS speaker’s communicative intention, which presupposes attracting the recipient’s attention to their activities and creating a radicalized ideological attitude in the minds of the audience. Furthermore, we prove that the metaphor is deliberately used by the terrorists to successfully fulfill their pragmatic intention, which involves manipulating the recipient. The provisions developed as part of the study and the results of the analysis can be further applied in modelling the mechanisms to confront and counteract terrorist suggestion in cyberspace and mass media.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2019;23(3):698-713
pages 698-713 views

Syntactics, Cognition and Compositional Semantics

Norman B.J.

Abstract

The object of the article is word semantics and its realization in the immediate context. The goal and the innovative component of the study is the analysis of the problem in the light of cognitive linguistics. We proceed from the assumption that the lexical meaning of a word contains a component responsible for its entry into the text. This component involves searching for lexical partners of the word in the syntagmatic chain. The semes participating in this process are actualized - they must get into the bright field of con-sciousness. The classical manifestation of this connection is the soalled semantic agreement ( собака лает ‘a dog barks’, бурый медведь ‘a brown bear’, волосы дыбом ‘hair (stands) on end’, etc.). We use examples from Russian literature to demonstrate that when a non-typical (non-standard) word combination is formed, the concepts get intersected (mixed). The examples, such as самопишущий костюм ‘a self-writing suit’ or жаркая робость ‘hot timidity’, expand a person’s cognitive horizons making the individual accustomed to a different (virtual) reality. The background and guarantor of this combinatorial process is the so-called “common sense” based on the native speaker’s previous experience. The result of the study is the presentation of five special situations manifesting the relationship between the word and its text partners: polysemantic words, phraseological units, introduced (embedded) meanings, additional connotations and a surprise effect. The author provides examples of the pressure (influence) of text memory on the speaker when selecting a necessary word and considers the idea of the predicative nature of the compatibility of lexemes. The article justifies the emergence of compositional semantics as a special direction in modern linguistics and demonstrates some of its results (based on the Russian language).

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2019;23(3):714-730
pages 714-730 views

Contextuality in the Russian language

Miloslavsky I.G.

Abstract

The modern scientific paradigm of linguistics that replaced comparative historical and linguistic-centric paradigm is focused on the relationship between language and reality which is inherently asymmetric in nature. In this situation, the problem of an accurate and complete mutual understanding of the participants of communication becomes more and more urgent. This problem considered in the framework of cultural studies suggests the division of cultures into high context cultures, i.e. those where the behavior of communication participants does not directly express their goals and intentions, and low context cultures, implying direct and frank manifestations of those intentions. The author applies the idea of high and low contextuality to the Russian language, setting the task of identifying those typical manifestations of Russian discourse in which the linguistic signs show a high dependence on the situational and verbal context, and in this way, by virtue of the language structure, cause difficulties for mutual understanding. From this point of view, the study investigates the polysemy of Russian words and grammatical forms, as well as the conditions in which their unambiguous understanding is or is not achieved. It emphasizes the insufficiency of merely stating the possibility of several solutions and the need for algorithms that provide the only (or not the only) correct solution. The author sees another obstacle for successful communication in hyperonyms that do not have a distinct hyponymic content for each participant of communication. The third obstacle is the omission of the verbal designation of modifying and / or substantial characteristics of reality. The article emphasizes that those who speak Russian, in principle possessing the resources necessary for overcoming these difficulties, seek to use them effectively only in certain specialized areas (science, sports, trade) and do not care about the maximum adequacy of language units and reality in everyday and political discourse. In conclusion, the article describes how to take into account the noted features of the Russian language when consciously learning Russian as a native language, as well as when teaching it as a foreign language.

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2019;23(3):731-748
pages 731-748 views

Inpretation of Associative Data as a Methodogical Issue of Psycholinguistics

Pishchalnikova V.A.

Abstract

Associative experiments uncover people’s active attitude to the world represented by language means that determines their relevant strategies of verbal activity and mediates the specifics of their world conceptualization. A word’s associative field modeled on the basis of experimental data is a psychological structure of a word’s content that is relevant for native speakers. Associative meaning distinguished via the analysis of distribution of reactions to a stimulus word proves to be an effective method of discovering emerging trends in the change of word meanings. The author researches the issue of data interpretation in associative experiments. Despite the long history of usage, the notion “associative field” and the correlation of stimulus and reaction are often interpreted in different ways because, firstly, they model the most complex processes of speech activity; secondly, most of suggested typologies of associates do not have a common systematization criterion, which hinders the usage of such classifications in research practice and sometimes leads to an ambiguous interpretation of associative data. Therefore, the author argues that classifications of associates should be developed depending on: (1) characteristics of psycholinguistic/linguistic object researched through an associative experiment; (2) isomorphism of speech and the activity it accompanies; (3) characteristics of mental supports in the cognitive process; (4) the way of representation of these supports. Such criteria of classification require an analysis of the correlation between stimulus and reaction as a unit of association. This correlation is a separate speech act where the stimulus is a motive producing the reaction and the associate expresses the author’s communicative intention. This helps to establish motives of associating and thus acquire a more veracious database for modelling different components of speech activity and its overall production/ comprehension processes. Besides, this approach justifies the principles of worldview modelling. The author presents theoretical and methodological grounds for an effective analysis of associates on the basis of a psycholinguistic object defined by several parameters: strategy of association, dominant psychological function of a language sign that realizes the strategy and the motive of activity explicated in associates.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2019;23(3):749-761
pages 749-761 views

Constructing the Ideal Future in Foreign Military Media Discourses of The World War II Period

Solopova O.A., Saltykova M.S.

Abstract

The major objective of the paper is to establish functions of modeling the ideal future in the British, American and French military media discourses of World War II period. The authors argue that military media discourse is a hybrid type that combines the components of military, political, military-political, and media discourses whose concentration and interpenetration can vary greatly. The military media discourse is a mode of organizing knowledge, ideas, or experience of war that are rooted in the media and influenced by historical, geopolitical, social, and cultural context. The approach taken in this study is a mixed methodology of linguistic political prognostics that integrates fundamentals of philosophy, future studies, cognitive linguistics, and political linguistics. The samples from the digitized archives of the UK, the USA, and France (24 695 samples) are investigated through a number of methods: corpus, descriptive, cognitive and discourse analyses, cultural, metaphorical modeling, and comparative analyses. Being a basic value of military media discourse, the ideal future is determined by its nature: the idea of a better world inherent in human nature is intensified in transformative moments, war being one of them; representing the present, the media model both the past and the future. The ideal future integrates the key features of utopia and prognosis differing from them in certain specific characteristics. Its basic functions are prognostic, constructive, modeling, critical, provocative, and visualizing ones that complement one another in con-structing an ideal projection of the postwar world and the future of the USSR as a geopolitical ally of Great Britain, the USA, and France.

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2019;23(3):762-783
pages 762-783 views

Mediatization of Culture in the Discourse of Modern Kazakh Media

Baigozhina D.O., Klushina N.I., Takhan S.S.

Abstract

The concept of mediatization in modern social sciences leads to a new understanding of the role of media in society and culture. Within the framework of this concept, media appears not as an intermediary between society, its culture and socially significant information, but as a structural element of society and culture itself (T. Adorno, M. Castells, N. Couldry, S. Hjarvard, F. Krotz, S. Livingstone, W. Lippmann, N. Luhmann, 1. McLuhan, P. Lazarsfeld, R. Merton, K. Popper, S. Zizek). The relevance of our study is due to the urgent need to investigate the effects of mediatization associated with its increasingly global nature. We hypothesise that in the process of mediatization of culture in the space of any national media discourse a new type of culture is created - media culture. The aim of this study is to show the formation of media culture on the example of the Russian language media discourse in Kazakhstan. The research is based on the linguistic concept of precedence (Yu.N. Karaulov, V.G. Kostomarov, D.B. Gudkov, V.V. Krasnykh) and the modern understanding of the typology of culture in Russian philosophy (N.B. Kirillova, V.V. Mironov and etc.). The study pursues the following goals: to identify precedent phenomena, which we define as minimized texts of culture, in the headers of the most widely circulated Russian language publications in Kazakhstan; to analyse precedent onyms associated with the classical (elitist) or mass culture; to consider phraseological units as markers of popular culture. On the basis of the analysis of precedents and phraseological units used in the dominant positions of the Russian language media discourse in Kazakhstan, we conclude that media culture is formed in the process of mediatization of elite, mass and folk culture through precedents and phraseological units. Media culture is a special, integral type of modern culture that combines elements of all types of cultures (elite, mass and folk) and is replicated through mass media in society. It consolidates society on the basis of general media knowledge.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2019;23(3):784-801
pages 784-801 views

Linguistic, Pragmatic, and Stylistic Peculiarities of 2018 FIFA World Cup Representation in British Media-Discourse

Koshkarova N.N.

Abstract

The purpose of the present research is to analyse linguistic, pragmatic, genre and stylistic peculiarities of the articles from British mass-media which cover the organization and the results of the 2018 World Cup. The importance of such analysis is determined by the necessity to investigate the public evaluation of the phenomenon under study. This will contribute to the understanding of mundane interpretations of sport in a particular culture and analyse the means of the country’s image formation. Quality and tabloid newspapers were used as the basis for the analysis, with the aim of creating an integral picture of the world’s attitude to the World Cup. The methods of discourse analysis and the analysis of the communicative situations let the author conclude that political discourse has an enormous influence on sport discourse. The politicization of sport discourse happens because of the discussion of topics from the conceptual sphere POLITICS, through the inclusion of controversial issues, on which Russia has not yet reached an understanding with the world community, into defamatory contexts. In the framework of sport discourse, the ‘friend-foe’ opposition becomes explicit, which is also characteristic of political discourse. In the British mass-media the materials with a positive illocutionary intention are mostly realized alongside with the foregrounding of politically charged issues and axiologically marked concepts. The analysis of publications in foreign mass-media is important for the purpose of understanding that ambitious sport projects help to ruin the stereotypes about Russia and create a positive image of the country on the world arena.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2019;23(3):802-819
pages 802-819 views

Gastronomic Vocabulary as a Feature of Nigerian English

Borisova A.A., Ebzeeva Y.N.

Abstract

The World Englishes Paradigm studies various aspects of the English language characterized by specific peculiarities and changing as a result of contacts with indigenous languages and cultures. The history of English in Nigeria embraces 500 years of an interaction between highly different cultural systems and civilizations. Language contacts between English and the indigenous languages of Nigeria have led to its linguistic, cultural and intrastructural diversity. The aim of this article is to analyse the gastronomic vocabulary of Nigerian English influenced by the Nigerian worldview and culture. The research is focused on borrowings from African languages (mainly Yoruba and Igbo) that play a vital role in forming the culturally important lexicon of Nigerian English. The sources of the research material are dictionaries, as well as books by Nigerian writers composed in English. The analysis carried out in the course of the research allowed us to discover secondary nominations that denote Nigerian flora and cuisine, to reveal their metaphorical usage and to study corresponding figurative comparisons, idioms, proverbs and sayings. The investigation of gastronomic symbols in Nigerian speech shows universal processes of employing common gastronomic lexical units from real-life discourse as a basis for symbolization. The results of the study show that the gastronomic vocabulary and the images it creates constitute one of the most impressive Nigerian cultural codes. The knowledge of this vocabulary is instrumental in understanding those codes.

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2019;23(3):820-836
pages 820-836 views

BOOK REVIEWS

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CONFERENCES

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