Vol 10, No 4 (2019): Linguistic Semantics and Semiotics. Literary Text Studies

This article is devoted to the study of Japanese loanwords in Chinese and their classification. Particular attention is paid to the lexical units in writing in Chinese characters, coming from the Japanese language as graphic loanwords in modern Chinese and Japanese, popular on the Chinese-language Internet. The material of the study is loanwords of Japanese origin, selected from dictionaries and scientific works on this topic, as well as word usage in messages on Russian and Chinese Internet forums. We distinguish between two types of Japanese loanwords in Chinese according to how they are borrowed: phonetic and graphic borrowed words. Graphic borrowed from the Japanese language, including the actual Japanese words spelled in Chinese characters, and words created by the Japanese using Chinese characters to convey tokens of other languages, as well as the words of the ancient Chinese language, rethought by the Japanese to create terms, then returned back to modern Chinese language, constitute a characteristic group of graphic loanwords in Chinese.

A model of the meaning of a word is considered, which is traditionally (since the times of the Stoics) illustrated by a triangle. Recent advances in the understanding of the essence of the meaning of a word lead to a semantic trapezium as a model of the meaning of a word and/or morpheme.

This paper presents the results of the analysis of locative case semantics from the standpoint of modern system linguistics, in which case is interpreted as a formal grammatical category of a name that arose in Russian as a typical representative of inflecting languages in response to a functional query of the language system to provide compression and a formal content expression (predicative, logical) connectivity of the antiderivative text necessary for an exhaustive description of the event. Zones (or spheres) of an object are objectively existing structural elements of a person and a thing, the presence of which is especially pronounced when these persons or things become participants in an event, which in system linguistics is understood as a combination of genetically related phenomena that form a causal cycle. In a simple sentence, the main means of expressing taxis, interpreted as a chronology of the phenomena of subjects and objects participating in an event, are cases.

The processes of desacralization and secularization, taking placein the Russian literary language over the three preceding centuries and nowadays, have caused significant changes in its lexical system. However, the language preserves lexical units with internal spiritual potential. They carry the genetic memory of the meanings of the past. One of these words, in our opinion, is the lexeme man . The article presents the results of analysing the semantic structure of the word man in the diachronic aspect. The analysis is based on the explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language, which include the vocabulary of different centuries, as well as etymological dictionaries. This study is carried out in order to reveal hidden sacral meanings in the semantics of the word. The method of generalization (unification) of dictionary definitions was used as the main research method. The lexical meanings of the word man were examined in different periods of its functioning, primarily in the language of the XIX-XX centuries. In our research, we based on the works of Russian linguists studying this problem. Sacred meanings in the semantic structure of the word man were revealed by comparing etymological and word-formation features of the lexemes man and people drawn upon minimal contexts from the texts of the Holy Scriptures. Despite the secularization of the semantic structure of the studied lexical unit, namely the actualization of the meaning of ‘personality as an exemplar of high moral and intellectual qualities’ and the loss of the meaning of ‘creature worthy of this name’, taking into account the degrees of humanity according to V.I. Dal such as‘a fleshy, deadman’, ‘aman of feelings and nature’, ‘a spiritual man’, ‘a blessed man’, it retained its spiritual potentialat the etymological level.

The aim of the article is to disclose specific features of the cluster method of material organization to the semantic structure analysis of polysemous words. The object of study includes the most frequent polysemous words of Russian and English languages. The words for study should have a developed semantic structure thanks to which intra-word connections and a picture of the semantic component selection in the process of decoding figurative meaning can be visually presented. The main method of analysis is component analysis and consideration of non-trivial semantic components. In the process of word analysis, we intend to discover what underlies the retention of meanings within a single structure. Initially, the idea bases on the existence of some invariant content, which is stored in the folded form in the mind of a native speaker. In the present study, the application of cluster theory to the organization of the polysemous word semantic structure not only confirms the invariant theory, but also brings it to a new level of understanding what the meaning of the word is and how we understand the figurative meaning. Representation of the semantic structure in the form of interconnected semantic components, united in clusters on the basis of a criterion, represents a new approach to understanding the phenomenon of polysemy and explaining the diffusivity of figurative meanings. The configuration of invariant and differential components in the decoding process provides an understanding of figurative meanings. We find confirmation of this theory in the works on neurolinguistics and cognitive psychology.

The study investigates the modeling of a generalized speech portrait of a blog-discourse subject in the speech space of the German military blogosphere. The relevance of the work lies in the development of a methodology for modeling a speech portrait of a virtual linguistic personality, behind the mask of which is a real person, actively participating in the life of his Internet community, united by professional activities and nationality. In this work, the author uses examples from the blog discourse of the German military blogosphere, however, the method of constructing a generalized speech portrait of an online personality, based on the works of Professor Boris Boyko, we apply to the description of any linguistic personality in the communicative space of the global network. The purpose of this study is to highlight the main features for constructing a generalized speech portrait of a German military blogger as a subject of online communication. We were able to identify typical features of the speech of a German military blogger and his virtual linguistic personality, which include units of military vocabulary and terminology, jargon, professionalisms, abbreviations, stable units of verbal communication of military personnel, specific hashtags and non-verbal signs that carry concepts of duty, militancy, patriotism, mourning, etc., associated with the values of military personnel. As a result of the study, we are approaching the speech portrayal of smaller groups within the social group of German military bloggers, for example, creating a speech portrait of a military medic, paratrooper or tanky. The results of our research are of particular interest to military translators, specialists engaged in the study of the theory and practice of Internet communication, blog-discourse, social group dialectology. Knowing the specifics of the speech manifestations of certain social-group communities will allow the recognition of separate subject of online communication by speech characteristics.

The article discusses questions regarding non-derivative and derivative homonyms by the example of verbs of the Russian and Uzbek languages. In sight are the problems of distinguishing polysemy and homonymy, the criteria for determining their boundaries. The basis of the study is the study of the internal structure of the word. The classification of non-derivative and derivative verbs-homonyms of the Russian and Uzbek languages is presented taking into account the ways of their formation, derivative and non-derivative lexemes depending on the place in the word-building nest. Examples of word-formation types, in particular, affix word-formation methods inherent in the formation of verbal homonyms in the comparable Russian and Uzbek languages are given. The article also deals with the features and distinctive properties of lexical, derivational homonyms, examples of reflected homonymy in the system of derivational nests are given. Word-building nests are considered as the main criterion for determining the production and non-production of verbal homonyms of the Russian and Uzbek languages. The classification of non-derivative and derivative homonyms of the Russian and Uzbek languages is developed. Examples of compiling word-formation nests of verbs in the Uzbek language are given, taking into account the possibility of the formation of the largest number of derivatives in the structure of nests. Consequently, fragments are shown regarding the organization of reflected homonymy in both Russian and Uzbek languages. The analysis results indicate that the phenomenon of homonymy in the Russian and Uzbek languages has regular and systemic character. The regularity of relationships and interactions of lexical paradigms of comparable languages in the formation of derivatives, in particular, reflected homonyms, is argued. An important place in this is given to homonymy, arising due to the homonymy of foundations and affixes.

The national emblem of the country as one of three main symbols of the state can be considered as the polycode text including a verbal component (the motto, the name of the country) and iconic heraldic components. Presence on the arms potentially conflict elements (a figure of a bestiary, the weapon and so forth) can be perceived as latent conflictogenity. The article deals with linguosemiotic analysis of the arms of all world countries for their hypothetical conflictogenity. The results of the interpretation by recipients potentially conflict arms (national emblems) are given.

Currently, ethnic stereotypes are considered as phenomena that mediate the processes of intercultural perception, dialogue and interaction. This fact determines the relevance of it comprehensive interdisciplinary study by different sciences (sociology, political science, psychology, linguistics, etc.). In this article, ethnic stereotypes are analyzed, firstly, at the psychological level (types, functions, structure), and secondly, at the psycholinguistic and psychosemantic levels (from the point of view of the rationale for it diagnosis with using the semantic differential). The possibilities of the semantic differential for studying the content, consistency, direction and intensity of social stereotypes in general, as well as the method modifications for diagnosis ethnic stereotypes, are examined. The heuristic potential of semantic differential for diagnosing ethnic stereotypes as phenomena, on the one hand, reflecting various aspects of intercultural perception and dialogue, and, on the other hand, directly affecting the intercultural interaction, is shown on the example of empirical studies on ethnic stereotypes in the intercultural communication context. The results of ethnic stereotypes studies are of high practical importance for the development of programs for increase intercultural competence, which are in demand in various areas of modern society in the face of e globalization and the growth of intercultural contacts (education, business, tourism, etc.).

This work is devoted to the problem of semantic and functional variability of deontic constructions, where the speaker himself is deontic agent, in the nuclear genre of political discourse - political speech - in German and Russian linguistic cultures. As the material deontic expressions with prototypical modal explicators are used, such as dolzen, ich muss, kann, darf, nado / nuzhno . It is fixed that the speaker in political speech can be deontic agent only in the structures with verbs of speaking. On the basis of contextual analysis the semantic polysemy of theses modal constructions is defined that is determined by the socio-cultural context is revealed. The method of functional-semantic description allows revealing the discursive polyfunctionality of these deontic statements.

Language is the first social science that man possesses. Languages change, usually very slowly, sometimes very quickly. There are many reasons why a language can change. An obvious reason is the connection between language and social consciousness. Then, the author is dedicated to the investigation of changes in the Spanish language that reflect those of society. The relevance of the subject is even more evident if we remember the speed with which social relations are changing in our time, new technologies are born, new media appear. The language accepted, adopted and sheltered new definitions of activities that are direct daughters of modern communication technologies. Its power of sociabilization and viralization impacted the anatomy of a language that lives in constant transformation. Language is a living entity, it grows, it transforms, adopts new terms. If it were not, we would continue speaking in Latin. To achieve the objective of identifying the connection between language changes and those of society, the author uses the following methods. On the one hand, he observes the changes in the meaning of words imposed by politicians to achieve a kind of nebula that we call politically correct. On the other hand, he comments on the new words that appear in the language thanks to technological development, through social networks and youth jargon. The last part is about language discrimination. To identify and describe the changes in language, the author analyzes from the linguistic point of view the speeches of modern political figures, newspaper texts and publications in social networks. As a result, the author clearly shows the connection of modern trends in the Spanish language with changes in society.

The authors of the article consider semiotic systems of different levels of organization as databases - domains that accumulate the number of relay units over time and communicate with each other, generating new containers of cultural information. If we study Russian literature as a domain, it turns out that it contains a constant core in the form of key themes, motifs, developed persona sphere. These resources are used by non-Russian by origin authors to create literary texts in which the acquired artistic elements are culturally transformed, resulting in the contamination of several cultural layers within the artistic whole. The mechanism of communication between domains can be called a dialogue (in the broad sense), and its varieties - intertextual roll-call, allusions, modification of case phenomena. Based on the material of A. Zhaksylykov’s novel “Dreams of the Damned”, the authors investigate proposition coincidences as a type of allusions and illustrate them using comparative analysis and hermeneutic commentary. Results : there are found propositive coincidences with the texts of A.S. Pushkin, O.E. Mandelstam, F. Sologub and others. The transformations of the text fragments are analyzed. Conclusions are drawn about intertextual acculturation (S.A. Kibalnik).

In the article the novel “To kill Bobrykin. The history of one murder” by A. Nikolaenko, the 2017 “Russian Buker” prize-winner, is considered as heterogeneous text. The text, semeiotically complicated, is being analyzed through the prism of cultural codes. Different definitions for the concept “cultural code” are given. The semantic space of the novel is various. Iconic works of XX century, to which the author is drawn by the author, -literary texts and screen texts, - are considered as cultural codes. This approach of looking allows to read Nikolaenko novel on other semeiotic level: to trace numerous references, including implicit - to symbolist novel of The Silver Age. In the focus of attention - the interaction and intersection of symbols and meanings.