Vol 20, No 3 (2016)

Articles

Text and Discourse: Looking for a Way out of the Labyrinth

Bogdanova L.I.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):7-30
pages 7-30 views

Intertextuality: Ariadne’s Thread in the Exploration of Literature

Turaeva Z.Y.

Abstract

This essay is devoted to the phenomenon of intertextuality as an essential aspect of text generation and analysis. Following Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the dialogic nature of the text and culture, it deals with such aspects of the text as polyfunctionality, polysemy and anthropocentricity. It seeks to show that the text combines three functions: cognitive, communicative and aesthetic and focuses on quotations and allusions as omnipresent elements of literary texts. Applying text and genre analysis, I explore intertextual links in poetic and prosaic pieces by Russian, British and American authors. In these analyses intertextuality emerges as a way to connect times and experiences and stimulate creative thinking. They also illustrate that a literary text is distinguished by two seemingly contradictory tendencies: stability and constant innovation. It is the symbiosis of the two that stimulates the preservation of the old and generation of new knowledge.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):31-42
pages 31-42 views

Pragmatic Aspects of Quotation in Spanish Media Texts

Terentieva E.D.

Abstract

This paper examines the pragmatic functions of citation specific to the Spanish media texts. The texts for analysis were chosen among the so-called national quality press, including El País, El Mundo, and ABC 2014-2016. The study combined the interpretive text analysis and elements of the comparative and contextual analyses. The role of mass media in molding public opinion, and as one of the most powerful instruments of social control cannot be overemphasized. In addition to awareness-raising and influence functions, citation is widely used in media text to bring more credibility and expressiveness to the transmitted information. Presumably, all texts cited in media can be divided into two categories. On the one hand, these are texts that are socially significant and relevant at a specific point in time, and on the other hand, these are so-called precedent texts repeatedly reproduced within a given community. Based on the analyzed material the following three key pragmatic functions can be distinguished: substitution, illustration and reasoning which allows to make both direct and indirect quotation, that differ graphically in terms of the presence or absence of quotation marks, the object of study. Characteristics specific to the implicit citation are treated separately where implicit citation covers the citation of precedent texts used primarily for language game, and thus performs stylistic and advertising functions. The accomplished analysis of the citation pragmatic aspects of Spanish press brings clarity to some of the mechanisms used to impact the reader and shape public opinion.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):43-56
pages 43-56 views

Corpus Methods in the Study of Speech Genres: A Problem of Key Phrases

Dementyev V.V., Stepanova N.B.

Abstract

The article discusses the theoretical and practical problems related to the study of speech genres on the basis of the material of databases, and generally using the methods of corpus linguistics. The richness, diversity and undoubted effectiveness of corpus methods for solving various linguistic tasks convince that such methods should be also used in linguistic studies of speech genres. At the same time, there is no developed corpus techniques for solving genre problems in linguistics. The role that should corpus methods play in general studies of speech genres is not clear. Also, most importantly, the relation between the units that are used / available in corpus databases, and speech genre is not clear. Methods of corpus linguistics exist only in cases where linguistic problems are solved with the use of quantitative and technical capabilities of corpus systems. In the foreground there is the problem of “key phrases”, or text markers of speech genres, which can be searched in the case. According to the authors, the key phrase of speech genre is its essential characteristic, which is present in speech genre competence of a native speaker and should be included in the relevant speech genre description as an additional parameter. Genre characteristics of this kind, in the future “encyclopedias of speech genres”, may be added to the characteristics set forth as a result of other, more traditional speech genre research. They might look like this: the genre - the presence of the key lexeme - key phrase / key phrases (for the identification of the genre) - the number of accesses to corpus - the key phrase (for the research of the context) - the number of accesses to corpus. The main requirements for key phrases are formulated: 1) a key phrase must have the main semantics of the genre; 2) in the corpus database system according to this criterion, you can actually search for and find many examples. An initial classification of the key phrases of speech genres has been proposed, that are opposed to themselves by 1) the nature of speech genres themselves of various types (particularly meaningful is the juxtaposition of standardized and free, direct and indirect genres); 2) the technical capabilities of buildings; 3) specific tasks of a speech genre study (whether to identify the genre of speech in the speech flow, or to carry out one or other quantitative analysis of the text within the already identified speech genres).
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):57-76
pages 57-76 views

Linguistic Representation of the Category of Oppositeness in English Folk Tales

Solovyeva N.V.

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study manifestations of the category of oppositeness at all language levels in order to establish a classification of textual oppositions found in folktales. Achieving this goal requires using integrated multi-disciplinary research methods such as hypothetical-deductive, inductive, descriptive, comparative and classification methods. The study also involves specifically linguistic research procedures: the method of phonological oppositions which served as the methodological basis for further research into morphological and grammatical oppositions, transformational and component analyses to describe the semantic content of the considered language units, the logical and semantic procedures in text analysis. English is used as the basis for the research, the theoretical principles are illustrated by the data included in The Oxford Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms, The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms, and The Collins Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms, the collection of folktales edited by J. Jacobs serves as the material for the empirical analysis. The category of oppositeness is seen as a phenomenon represented by phonological, semantic and grammatical oppositions and their subclasses. The textual oppositions under consideration are based on semantic and grammatical oppositions and represent the opposed spatial images, the opposed characters and the opposed beginning and ending of a folktale. The phenomenon of neutralization, which is the removal of the opposition in certain positions, is found at all levels of the language system, manifesting itself on the textual level in the ambivalent nature and the contradictory functional roles of certain folktale characters.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):77-88
pages 77-88 views

The Teleological Sense and the Social Role of Rhetorical Figures Classification

Khazagerov G.G.

Abstract

The article deals with a classification of rhetorical figures. This classification views rhetorical figures in a context of their goals. The author believes that classical rhetoric did not aim to give a systematic description of figures. Ancient lists of terms were simple catalogues, similar to modern product catalogues, and for cultivation of a communicative space, this approach was relevant. Classical rhetoric experience can be used today because strictly logical classifications of figures lost their social role in the end of the twentieth century. An adequate approach to the classification of figures depends on speaker's objectives. This article discusses three types of those objectives. The first one deals with hic and nunc . We call it short-term pragmatics. The second one is related to the reputation and image of a speaker. It is continued pragmatics. The third is aimed at the cultivation of a communicative space and we call it long-term pragmatics. Thus, we have three strategies for classifying rhetorical figures that can have both social and academic value. In case of the short-term pragmatics, the main purpose of figures classification is pedagogical. A classification should be simple and memorable. In case of the continued pragmatics, we need to connect figure types with speaker intentions, showing which type contributes to which image. This means that to start with, we need to create a map of intentions that would serve a basis for the classification. In case of the long-terms pragmatics, we need to create open lists of figures like they did in ancient times, and ensure their distribution in the public space outside of the university walls.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):89-102
pages 89-102 views

Cross-Cultural Communication in Russian-Speaking Immigrant Families in Israel: Language Practices of the Second Generation

Zbenovich C.

Abstract

В статье рассматриваются вопросы динамики повседневного общения детей и родителей в семьях русскоязычных израильтян. Русскоговорящие родители, иммигрировавшие в Израиль в 1990-е гг., принадлежат к последнему советскому поколению и, по большому счету, являются носителями традиционного русско-советского вербального стиля межличностной коммуникации. Их рожденные в Израиле дети, владеющие русским и ивритом, являются билингвами и демонстрируют коммуникативное поведение, подчиняющееся местным культурным нормам. Анализ межкультурной и двуязычной семейной коммуникации показывает, что русско-советский и израильский культурные сценарии живо взаимодействуют; это проявляется в репертуаре лингвистических средств и имеет тенденцию усиливаться при использовании языка. Определяющим для исследования является вопрос о том, как язык отражает состояние кросскультурности иммигрировавших и какие модели речевого поведения задействованы в повседневной семейной коммуникации. Результаты прагматического, конверсационного и дискурсивного анализа раскрывают особенности некоторых языковых и коммуникативных практик, используемых вторым поколением иммигрантов, а также указывают на то, что дети - иммигранты во втором поколении - становятся агентами перемен. Выявлено, что обе стороны вовлечены в процесс «культурного перевода» языковых парадигм: унаследованный менталитет старшего поколения и новый культурный опыт младшего поколения взаимодействуют в построении социально-культурной и языковой идентичности детей иммигрантов.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):103-116
pages 103-116 views

The Juror’s Image of an Entertainment TV-Show (on the basis of “The Voice” Show)

Gerasimova A.S., Issers O.S.

Abstract

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of a public discourse and communicative characteristics of the juror’s image in a creative TV-show «The Voice». Nowadays TV-show has become a popular entertaining program where the image of the juror is not only a pragmatic component of public communication but an element creating the plot of the program as well. Based on the material of oral statements in 40 speech situations, the research defines verbal and non-verbal dominants of Russian communicative behavior while assessing (means of lexical expression, speech tactics, gestures, mimicry and manners) which form a universal image of a tutor throughout a creative TV-show. Being quite new for Russian television, such entertaining format creates a necessity of describing role peculiarities expanding the idea of Russian communicative behavior in conditions of public vicarious communication. To find out verbal and non-verbal correlates of the juror’s role such phenomena as «image» аnd «lingvocultural type» are compared in the article. Theoretical basis of the study was formed due to works of Russian and foreign researchers devoted to image-making and public relations (I.L. Vikent'ev, G.G. Pochepsov, A.P. Fedorkina, V.M. Shepel', P. Bird, J. Fiske, E. Sampson, P. Seitel) as well as works in the sphere of lingvopersonology and cognitive linguistics (O.A. Dmitrieva, V.I. Karasik, V.P. Neroznak, R. Jackendoff, V. Evans, D. Geeraerts). Functional and semantic complexity of a TV-discourse in its genre of a show determined the usage of general description methods, methods of interpretation, generalization and classification. Among some particular the methods of communicative, discourse, structural and semantic analysis were used. In result the study shows that image characteristics are formed not only thanks to the individual peculiarities of the juror’s communicative behavior, but also due to general elements - musical education, sphere of communication, interests etc. These generalized characteristics make it possible to differentiate a lingvocultural type «TV-project tutor» which is notable for its specific cultural speech behavior. The concept «lingvocultural type» becomes a generalized, multivariate, and objective phenomenon. However, in its reduced variant it turns into image.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):117-131
pages 117-131 views

Grammatical Aspect and Gesture in French: A kinesiological approach

Boutet D., Morgenstern A., Cienki A.

Abstract

In this paper, we defend the idea that research on Gesture with Speech can provide ways of studying speakers’ conceptualization of grammatical notions as they are speaking. Expressing an idea involves a dynamic interplay between our construal, shaped by the sensori-motoric and interactive experiences linked to that idea, the plurisemiotic means at our disposal for expressing it, and the linguistic category available for its expression in our language. By analyzing the expression of aspect in Speech with Gesture (GeSp) in semi-guided oral interactions, we would like to make a new contribution to the field of aspect by exploring how speakers’ construal of aspectual differences grammaticalized in their language, may be enacted and visible in gesture. More specifically we want to see the degree to which event structure differences expressed in different grammatical aspects (perfective and imperfective) correlate with kinesiological features of the gestures. To this end, we will focus on the speed and flow of the movements as well as on the segments involved (fingers, hand, forearm, arm, shoulder). A kinesiological approach to gestures enables us to analyze the movements of human bodies according to a biomechanical point of view that includes physiological features. This study is the first contribution focused on the links between speech and gesture in French in the domain of grammatical aspect. Grammatical aspect was defined by Comrie (1976) [1989] as involving the internal unfurling of the process, «[...] tense is a deictic category, i.e. locates situations in time, usually with reference to the present moment [...]. Aspect is not concerned with relating time of the situation to any other time-point, but rather with the internal temporal constituency of the one situation; one could state the difference as one between situation-internal time (aspect) and situation-external time (tense) » (Comrie, 1976 [1989]: 5). Can kinesic features express and make those semantic differences tangible? When a speaker produces a gesture with specific physiological properties, for example a certain speed, is there an underlying source that motivates that speed? Could a speaker’s construal of the event, seen in her choice of grammatical aspect, lead to her performing a gesture with specific properties? This study is an attempt to tackle these questions and present new methods to analyze gestures.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):132-151
pages 132-151 views

Features of Realization of Figurativeness in the Turkish Political Discourse of Oral Public Statements

Shtanov A.V., Belykh E.N.

Abstract

Article is devoted to features of realization of figurativeness in the Turkish political discourse of an oral public statement. As material for the analysis oral public statements of modern Turkish politicians have served. A research objective - to define language means at the expense of which figurativeness in the Turkish political discourse of an oral public statement is realized. In article the conclusion is drawn that the tripartite structure of an image unites signs of an initial subject, transfers them to a new subject, and the new word (phrase) gains new value. Figurativeness is structural-semantic property of the word, in each word figurativeness is concluded. The thought that understanding by the recipient of figurative maintenance of a lexical unit and the communicative importance of the image realized in her show contexts is emphasized. Each figurative word and expression possesses the associative resources. Ability of the recipient to understand the right sense put in figurative lexicon depends on completeness of association. The concept of figurativeness is accompanied by concept of a metaforization. Figurative means of language in an oral public statement of the politician are a certain instrument of impact on audience with the purpose to influence vision of a political situation. In the Turkish political discourse of an oral public statement there are both universal, and cultural features of functioning of figurative language means. Figurativeness implementers in this research are understood as graphic means of language, namely a track, such as a metaphor, a metonymy, figurative comparison, the phraseological unit, an epifor and others.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):152-163
pages 152-163 views

Multi-word Lexical Units in English and Slovak Linguistics Terminology

Bilá M., Kačmárová A.

Abstract

The research issue discussed in the paper falls within pragmatics, lexicographic and translation studies. It is part of the research grant project entitled “Virtual interactive English-Slovak bilingual encyclopedic linguistics dictionary”. One of the key tasks is to deal with the linguistics term as a concept. This presupposes understanding not only the surface structure but also the deep structure of the term. In preparing the inventory of the prospective dictionary, conceptualization has to take place and defining and translating of the term has to be done accordingly. The ongoing research has shown that one of the most problematic terms is “multi-word lexical unit” (in Slovak “viacslovné pomenovanie”). The problem lies in the different conceptualization of the terms in the two languages. Straightforwardly, in Slovak, the term implies examples that in English would be mostly considered compounds (Ološtiak, Ivanová 2015); in other words word-formation is the case here. In English, the term is more heterogeneous and encompasses categories like collocation, phrasal verb, idioms, speech formulas (on the term, see Sonomura 1996), situation bound utterances (on the term, see Kecskes 2010), and paremiological expressions (Moon 2015). In these categories, pragmatics rather than word-formation and syntax is the case (Erman and Warren 2000; Gibbs Jr. 2002, Kecskes 2014). The paper offers the analysis of the deep structure of the term in question, explores the role of figurativeness, exemplifies the differences, proposes the translation equivalents, and justifies the different nature of the seemingly corresponding terms, often making an impression of being a calque.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):164-175
pages 164-175 views

Semantiz Structure of the Legal Term

Kulevskaya E.V., Dudik N.A.

Abstract

The article examines the semantic structure of the legal term. Nowadays, with the rapid development of cross-cultural communication, people, while pursuing their professional career, learn specific languages, including the language of law, with terms being its important component. Terms can often impede the process of successful cross-cultural communication so teaching cross-cultural communication, according to many researchers, including P. Cranmer and K. Koskinen, is immensely important. The article aims to demonstrate that a legal term, a word or phrase used in legislation, is a generalized name for a legal concept that may lack a precise meaning in practice as it is polysemous. To proof this statement, the semantic structure of the legal term is studied from the cognitive point of view. The key terms (term, frame, lexico-semantic variant of a word, microframe (reference category)) are defined at the beginning of the article. The article also describes the classification of various semantic structures of terms developed by Prof. Belyayevskaya, based on an analysis of the cognitive foundations of the typology of semantic structures as well as on the classification of meanings. They are homogeneous semantic structures, with different lexico-semantic variants of a polysemous word representing different aspects of one microframe; these structures include monosemous terms, polysemous terms with a homogeneous semantic structure, and terms with the intermediate type of lexemes. Heterogeneous semantic structures are semantic structures, with a lexico-semantic variant of a word representing two or more reference categories rather than one category; these structures are considered to be “classical” polysemy. Two types of such structures are introduced in the article, with examples of the actualization of their lexical meaning in speech being analysed (there were used examples from the British and Russian National corpora; official legal documents and English and Russian law texts) and polysemy of legal terms being explained. The research is based on legal terms represented in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, New Large English-Russian Dictionary, English-Russian Comprehensive Law Dictionary and Black’s Law Dictionary. The study implements definitive, contextual, conceptual, and contrastive analyses. The results of the study may be used in lexicography, in teaching English to law students and in translation and interpreting training.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):176-194
pages 176-194 views

Lexical and Semantic Fields Judge and Sudya in the English and Russian Languages

Ozyumenko V.I.

Abstract

Due to the expansion of international cooperation in economy, policy and other spheres the problem of terminology translation and search for terminological equivalency in source texts and target texts is among the most important ones (Sonneveld, Loening, 1993; Hjort-Pedersen, Faber, 2001; Blomquist, 2006 and others). The solution to these problems is impossible without a comparative study. This research is carried out within a framework of the comparative terminology studies (Tsitkina, 1988; Leycik, 1990; Nekrassova, 2013 and others) and is a continuation of the analyses of the Russian and English lexemes denoting the core legal professions and their translation correspondences. Earlier we have already analyzed the Russian and English terms comprising the lexical and semantic fields of ‘advokat’ and ‘prokuror’ (Ozyumenko, 2014; Ozyumenko, Chilingaryan, 2015; Chilingaryan, Larina, Ozyumenko, 2016 and others). The aim of the present article is to compare lexical and semantic fields ‘judge’ and ‘sydya’ in order to find out their similarities and differences and to search for translation equivalents of their constituent elements. In the article I will compare the quantity of the lexemes, their semantic volume and analyse their differentiating features. The object of the research was the lexical units containing the semantic element of ‘an official, executing justice’. The data were taken from Russian and English definition dictionaries, specialized dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, legal texts, media, British National Corpus (BNC), Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) and Russian National Corpus (RNC). The study implemented definitive, distributive, context, contrastive and cultural analyses. These methods enabled to specify the semantics of the terms, their culture specific features and to offer some recommendations on their translation. The comparative analyses revealed some considerable difficulties in nominating officials executing justice. They are of quantitative and qualitative nature and besides language reasons are caused by differences between Russian and Common law systems. The analysis showed that the English lexical and semantic field is represented by a greater number of lexemes than the Russian one, i.e. it has higher nominative density (term by V. Karasik [Karasik, 2002:133]). English and Russian terms differ by volume of their meaning and differential signs. English terms are characterized by nominative specification, territorial variation and polysemy. The revealed differences create considerable difficulties while translating. The results of the research can be used in comparative terminology studies, in theory and practice of translation, in dictionary making and in teaching professional English to law students.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):195-213
pages 195-213 views

School Community Members Nomination in the French and Russian Languages

Pryakhina E.V.

Abstract

The article features the results of a comparative analysis of the “Учащиеся/Éleves (students)” slot in the French and Russian languages. The analysis is carried out from the level of semantic units to the level of linguistic forms of their expression. The objectives of the study are to examine the lexical meanings of the researched units, to elicit their content and specific features of their verbal expression. The material for the study is formed by the units found in explanatory dictionaries, thesauri, LSP dictionaries, dictionaries of neologisms, dictionaries of loanwords, in official documents, in various French and Russian-language legislation acts, as well as in professional journals articles, and media content. The main research methods are presented by the frame analysis method, the componentinal analysis, the chain method of dictionary definitions, the comparative and statistical methods. As the result, the slot under consideration was moulded; the structural and morphological features of the lexical items of the analyzed slot were identified, and the componential analysis was performed. In addition, the differential characteristics were detected, the meanings of semantically similar words were demarked, and the semes present in the lexical units of slots “Учащиеся/Élèves” in French and Russian were compared. The analysis reveals a number of differences in terms of presence/absence of semes and also the lacunarity of the nomination of the student (learner). This demonstrates the cultural identity of the examined slot. Most of the differences can be found in the expression of semes “master's student” and “beginner”. The study also showed the difference in connotation and the presence of semes in the Russian language which are absent in French (such as: form of of training, ranking, grades, study year, tuition fees and level of higher education).
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):214-229
pages 214-229 views

From Function to System: Advances in Choosing a Matrix Structure of the Translation Process

Remkhe I.N., Nefedova L.A., Gillespie D.C.

Abstract

This article presents the authors’ view on the transition towards a new paradigm in the study of the translation process based on synergy, collaboration, networking and the cognitive structure of the translator’s mind. In the search for a hypothetical cognitive model of translation, a matrix model is represented to further enrich the interdisciplinary platform through understanding the conglomerate of the many sources involved in the act of translation and focusing on the role of the individual human being in translational cognition. The Map-Matrix Model comprises three levels of the translator’s mental space: Neurological, Representational and Conceptual. Each level corresponds to the inheritance relations between mapping patterns, clusters and frames. The model will be presented and interrogated through the results of a practical Think-aloud protocols experiment in order to give a better insight into the translation efficiency in terms of information processing and a clearer assumption of the feasibility of the concept.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):230-242
pages 230-242 views

Fiction Film Dialogue vs Documentary Film Dialogue: Genre Peculiarities of Translation

Gorshkova V.E.

Abstract

The article gives an analysis of the film dialogue translation depending on the genre peculiarities of a spoken word medium, i. e. of a fiction film and of a documentary. The latter is traditionally disregarded by linguists and translators due to an established opinion that it lacks an overt literary aesthetic component. Thus it makes a documentary much easier to translate and its text gets closer to the information text the translation dominant of which is to render its information component. The article analyses an universal character of image-sense applied to different cinematographic genres. This thesis is demonstrated with examples from fiction and documentary film dialogues such as The Artist, Il y a longtemps que je t’aime, Espionne pendant la seconde guerre mondiale translated into French and Russian. It is highlighted that particular verbal components/utterances quite often get especially crucial in the context of the film dialogue increasing its poetic function and creating a complete image-sense. Such lexical units as personal pronouns «ты» and «вы» (you as the 2nd person singular in Russian and the 2nd person plural, respectively) have no small share in the above process as their adequate translation contributes to the audience's integral perception of the film as an aesthetic phenomenon. It is postulated that a documentary that deals with «the creative elaboration of the reality» has a lot in common with a fiction film in the regard of its compliance with the director's intention, the presentation of the sequence of events and their respective interpretation in the film. In this regard the adequate rendering of the image-sense of a documentary is especially vital in the analysis of events separated in time. That supposition can be backed up by a translation project carried out on the material of the film dialogue translation of the documentary «Espionne pendant la seconde guerre mondiale» from French into Russian.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):243-259
pages 243-259 views
pages 260-262 views

Brusenskaya L.A., Kulikova E.G. (2016). Ecological Linguistics. Moscow: Flinta; Nauka, 184 pp

Faktorovich A.L.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):263-265
pages 263-265 views
pages 266-270 views
pages 271-275 views

The 4th International Conference “Stylistics Today and Tomorrow”. Moscow, 28-30 April 2016

Smirnova N.V.
Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2016;20(3):276-280
pages 276-280 views

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