Vol 21, No 1 (2023): Functional description of the modern Russian language

The relevance of the study is determined by the hidden turbulence of such concepts often used in Russian studies as “speech activity”, “speech acts” and “discourse”. The aim of the work is to determine the genetic connections of this trinity and the functional purpose of each of the categories under consideration. The main research means is the authors’ method of discursive-modus analysis of artistic speech. The research materials were dictionary definitions from explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language, in particular from “Dictionary of expressive stable phrases of the Russian language” compiled by V.Ju. Melikyan, as well as utterances extracted from the Russian National Corpus. The authors found that the communicative-speech act is a synergistic combination of mental-psychic and speech activity. Mental-psychic activity involves mental acts - the thought processes of the communicant at the moment of his locative readiness to make a statement and psychic activity of searching for adequate ways to reflect a communicatively significant event in the discursive consciousness of the communicants. Mental-psychic activity encodes and decodes the semantic content of the author's intentions with the help of the means of the language system. Speech activity produces speech acts - functional units of speech communication embodying a purposeful speech action. In conclusion, the categorical essence of the speech act and discourse are generalized. The perspective of the research is the development of a cognitive-pragmatic theory of speech-thinking activity based on the material of the Russian language.

Linguists are particularly interested in observing lexical units, reflecting the picture of the world of a modern person. It allows to visually study fashionable words and expressions as indicators of the linguistic taste of the era. The relevance of the research is due to the need to study the trends in using colloquial lexical units as markers of cognitive and social development of personality at the present stage. The aim is to characterize the functions and pragmasemantic meanings of the particle sebe (to oneself) and the set expression vpolne sebe (quite) in modern Russian linguistic culture. The material was taken from the explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language and examples from the National Corpus of the Russian Language. The author used the methods of continuous sampling, contextual and interpretive analysis, elements of quantitative analysis, and semantic analysis of dictionary definitions. It was found that quite often the freedom and independence of actions of the statement protagonist, conveyed by this particle, his autonomy and sovereignty receive negative assessment of the subject of speech: they are considered as indifference to others, disregard for ethical norms and norms of social life and they are condemned, and this assessment is emphasized by the presence in the statement of the particle sebe (oneself). It was determined that the increase in the activity of the particle sebe (oneself) in modern speech is associated with changes in the modal type of the Russian personality. The semantic core, which focuses the basic meanings of the set expression vpolne sebe (quite), is concentrated in the lexeme vpolne (quite), while pragmatic meanings remain in the particle sebe (oneself). The author revealed that the main communicative purpose of the expression vpolne sebe (quite) is the function of taking off the responsibility for the statement's content, singling out the object of speech and identifying the speaker with the social group which is elite in his perception. Being a fashionable expression, the phrase is nowadays actively used in Runet, penetrates into public speech, reaches the peak of its popularity and then may give way to new indicators of linguistic fashion.

Non-verbal semiotics is one of the leading areas of modern communication research. The study is devoted to the topical interdisciplinary issue - the relationship between non-verbal semiotics and Russian grammar. The aim of the research is to characterize the representation of the temporal forms of the Russian verb in describing the kinesic behaviour of literary characters. The elements of nonverbal semiotics were analysed in the stories by A.P. Chekhov “Death of an Official”, “Chameleon”, “Thick and Thin”, “Horse Name”, “Surgery”. The following methods were used as the main ones: descriptive, semantic explication, differential, analytical. The methodological foundations of kinesics as an integrative science were considered, the correlation between the verbal realization of kinema and the temporal forms of the Russian verb was revealed. It has been proved that the most recurrent manifestations of non-verbal semiotics in Chekhov's stories are communicative emblems (in particular, etiquette and ritual), symptomatic emblems and dynamic descriptors, nominated with the help of aspect and tense forms of the Russian verb. Emblems-illustrators are quantitatively less represented in the analyzed stories. They are prospective for further research on the example of Russian literary classics.

The relevance of linguocultural modeling of power is due to the high importance of this phenomenon in institutional and personal communication and the multidimensionality of its evaluative characteristics. The aim of the study is to identify and describe linguistically relevant norms of behavior encoded in the concept of “power”. The data from dictionaries and reference books, examples from the National Corpus of the Russian Language, poetic and prose texts in Russian were used as material for the analysis. Methods of semantic, contextual, interpretative and associative analysis were applied. It has been established that power in the conceptual plane represents coercion and includes: (1) the condition (force, authority, tradition or law); (2) struggle for getting and keeping power; (3) manifestation of power (persons or organizations vested with power, the sphere of power application and the degree of coercion); (4) power assessment (fair/unfair, cruel/merciful, effective/ineffective). In figurative terms, the situational characteristics of power manifestation, verbalized in texts and reactions of the informants, were highlighted. The conceptualization of power is discursively specific. The authors revealed that the most vivid situational characteristics of power implementation in relation to its representatives are noted in journalistic texts. In fiction texts (mainly in poetry), power is shown as an irresistible force. In evaluative terms, it is possible to identify norms of behavior associated with the understanding of power - its acceptance as the most important condition of social order and condemnation of excessive striving for power and its abuse. These norms expressed in proverbs, jokes and aphorisms largely coincide, differing in that proverbs recommend to stay away from power, jokes sharply criticize corruption in power, aphorisms give a holistic picture of the proper behavior of the power holders and their subordinates. Prospects for the study consist in defining linguistically relevant personal typological evaluations of power.

The relevance of the study is due to the lack of a methodological concept and training program for foreigners entering the Russian magistracy after completing bachelor's degree in their home country. As a rule, these students are not well-trained in Russian. This negatively influences the formation of their professional and communicative skills and abilities necessary for mastering the subject competence in the university. The aim of the study is to propose a methodology of professional language education of foreign non-humanitarian undergraduates in the conditions of linguistic educational situation with reduced teaching time, weak general language preparation of students and/or lack of understanding of the language of the specialty. The authors used the methods of direct and indirect observation of teaching and communicative activity of undergraduates while studying the teaching material according to the proposed methodology, accompanied with the analysis, fixation, description and generalization of accompanying changes, as well as the analysis of students’ communicative needs and mistakes. The research is based on practice of teaching scientific speech to non-philological first-year bachelor and master foreign students of the Academy of Engineering, Institute of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science of RUDN University, and also conducting entrance, intermediate and final tests. As a result of the research, the teaching program with the system of text and lexical-grammatical tasks for both classroom and independent work adapted for the students, was developed. The given technology allows to form and improve not only linguistic but also cognitive and metacognitive skills of undergraduates, extending possibilities of self-education, abilities to take independent decisions. It seems promising to use the obtained results to create a full-fledged textbook on scientific speech not only for undergraduates, but also for PhD students who have completed the previous stage of professional training in their home country.