Vol 27, No 2 (2023)

Formulaic language, characterized by phraseological patterns such as lexical bundles, has been observed to significantly influence the discourse of speakers and writers. These patterns tend to differ across genres and disciplines. However, the examination of formulaic language in evaluative genres, particularly across different disciplines, has been relatively limited. This study aims to explore the use of formulaic language in review feedback on manuscripts submitted by Iranian junior researchers to international journals across three disciplines. Using a discourse analytical approach, the study analyzes the frequency, structure, and function of the most prevalent four-word lexical bundles in 120 authentic peer reviews (recommending either major or minor revisions) in applied linguistics (AL), engineering, and business (40 from each discipline). The study explores how reviewers employ formulas to convey their comments to writers. The results reveal disciplinary differences in the usage, structure, and function of lexical bundles among reviewers. However, commonalities exist due to the inherent conventions of the evaluative genre. These disciplinary tendencies are also reflected in the organization of reviewers' reports and their commenting styles. The study contributes to enhancing the understanding of evaluative practices within specific disciplines by offering valuable insights into the phraseological patterns used in peer reviews and highlighting the discipline-specific formulaic expressions employed by reviewers to provide constructive feedback to authors.

In the study, we address the problem of existing differences in reading and understanding novel metaphors in the text fragments in native and target languages (L1 and L2), with these differences potentially attributed to both the specifics of forming analogies in native and target languages, and the mapping characteristics of metaphors. The study identifies the contingency effects of several primary metaphors onto the gaze behavior and default interpretation of textual novel metaphors in L1 (Russian) and L2 (English). To proceed, we use the text fragments in L1 and L2 containing novel metaphors appearing in more and less focal syntactic positions in a two-stage oculographic experiment. We obtain the participants’ gaze metrics values and the participants’ responses specifying the target domains of the novel metaphors, which further allows us to disclose the contingencies. Methodologically, the study is grounded in the metaphor processing theories developed in cognitive psychology, which explore the structure of analogical reasoning and associative fluency as manifesting potentially different effects in L1 and L2. To validate it, we also address the cognitive linguistic theories which provide the framework for identifying the primary metaphor models (here the models PATIENT (OBJECT) IS AGENT, PARTS ARE WHOLE, CONCRETE IS ABSTRACT) and for testing their effect onto information construal. We hypothesize that reading and understanding metaphors will proceed differently in L1 and L2, which is attributed to associative fluency in metaphor mapping in native and target languages. The experiment results do not show the differences in understanding the mapping model PATIENT (OBJECT) IS AGENT in L1 and L2, whereas these differences appear in understanding the models PARTS ARE WHOLE and CONCRETE IS ABSTRACT with higher default interpretation index in L1. The model PATIENT (OBJECT) IS AGENT is also found to stimulate higher gaze costs. The results suffice to claim that there are differences in the cognitive costs produced by primary metaphor models, which allows us to range and specify their role in information construal in L1 and L2.

The present article explores the creative potential of language that is realized in cinematic discourse and is based on the case study of eight popular Soviet comedy films of the 1960s with the overall running time of 670 minutes. The choice of this period is determined by the sociohistorical relevance of the sixties in the development of Russian culture and cinematic art. The goals of this paper are to identify and categorize the verbal means that trigger the creation of cinematic tropes, and to define the transformations that these verbal means acquire as a result of their involvement into constructing cinematic figurativeness. To achieve these goals, a complex methodology has been elaborated. It includes three stages of analysis and rests on conceptions that have been recently developed in linguistics, film studies, and research on multimodality. According to research findings, cinematic figurativeness originates in two kinds of verbal means. Non-figurative verbal means (i.e. words used in their literal meanings; free word-combinations, etc.) and figurative verbal means (i.e. literary metaphors; idioms, etc.) are employed for the creation of three kinds of cinematic tropes: cinematic metonymies, cinematic metaphors, and cinematic irony. In the process of the formation of cinematic tropes, verbal units of both categories are transformed in a variety of ways: structurally, grammatically, semantically, and pragmatically. The investigation has revealed a dual or reverse character that linguistic creativity has in cinematic discourse: verbal units provide the creation of cinematic tropes and at the same time they themselves acquire certain innovative properties. The results could contribute to further studies of creativity in cinematic discourse as well as in other types of multimodal texts, including media, advertising, visual poetry, and electronic literature.

In recent years, considerable material has been accumulated in the field of experimental studies of Iranian languages, including the works by Soviet and Russian scholars, enabling us to make new generalizations regarding the acoustic characteristics of word stress as part of the problem of speech recognition. The study of Iranian languages has been rather uneven: most of the acoustic studies focused on Persian, and only a few covered other 11 languages described in this article. In addition, most of these studies have been published in Russian and therefore remain unknown to the wide international linguistic community. The purpose of the article is to sum up the achievements of Soviet and Russian scholars regarding the acoustic properties of the stressed syllable in Iranian languages. Different views of Soviet, Russian and foreign authors were compared. A number of positions with weak points in reasoning were screened out, and the most well-reasoned ones adopted as the most probable traits of word stress in Iranian languages. Tonal stress was found in Mazandarani, Persian and Tajik; quantitative - in Dari (Afghanistan), Sarikoli and theoretically in Rushani; multicomponental - in Abyanei, Gavruni, Gilaki, Pashto, and Wakhi. Ossetic is likely to have quantitative stress, but statistical proof hasn’t been found yet. Apparently, the overall situation reveals that tonal and quantitative stress types are typical for many Iranian languages. Dynamic stress is found in several languages, but only as a part of multicomponental one; and spectral stress is the rarest feature. The results achieved could be used in automated transcription and speech recognition services.

The interrelation of metaphors and metonymies often attracts the attention of linguists, but the combination of multimodal metaphors and metonymies, which are important components of cognition and are essential for the creation and understanding of multimodal texts, has not been sufficiently studied. The purpose of this study is to delineate the interaction between multimodal metaphors and metonymies in political cartoons and identify their role in forming the country image. The research material includes 30 political cartoons on the topic of the Sino-American trade dispute 2018-2021, selected from Yandex search engine according to keywords (tags, Hashtag). We considered the metaphors and metonymies contained in the cartoons and analyzed their cognitive interrelation. Since the currently existing categorization of the varieties of metaphtonymy does not meet the goal, we used our own typology of the interaction of multimodal metaphors and metonymies, which includes two categories: inclusive and interactive. We have identified 20 interactive and 10 inclusive political cartoons with characteristic cultural attributes. The use of cognitive-discursive analysis allowed us to reveal the features of visual, verbal and conceptual interaction of metaphorical transfers and metonymic shifts in the construction of the positive image of China and the negative image of the United States. The results showed that multimodal metaphors and metonymies in political cartoons are intertwined in different ways, they can make an impact on the mind of people and form the country image.

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