Vol 13, No 3 (2022)

Cognitive Research

‘Probability’ and ‘Possibility’ in Creative Language Use: on Impossible Possibility in German Texts

Demyankov V.Z.

Abstract

Being culture-dependent, stylistics involves choice of facts and of linguistic means for exposing events cohesively in narratives and for coherent chains of arguments in discourses. Both factual accuracy and logical consistency rely on epistemic warrants especially when verification procedures are not directly available. Ascribing reliable sources to opinions makes the facts and arguments conveyed in narratives and in discourses more or less probable, especially if their guarantors’ reputation is high enough, cf. “Tell me who thinks so, and I’ll tell you if this view is probable”, or even “and I’ll tell you if you are right”. Acceptability and creativity of language use depend on subconscious statistics, with their scales and measures of possibility and probability: infrequent ways of informing are the best candidates for being considered creative. Lexical items ‘(im)possible’, ‘(im)probable’, ‘(in) feasible’, ‘can (not)’, ‘may (not)’, etc., with negative marks and without them, normally serve as truthconditional “hedges” of judgments, as their weak epistemic warrants. Their use, too, may be more or less creative and depends on mental cultures in the framework of which narratives and discourses are produced and interpreted. This paper analyzes double hedge constructions in which a modal verb and an adverbial meaning ‘(im)possibly’ or ‘(im)probably’ are jointly used in sentences, e. g. ‘can possibly’ and ‘might probably’ in English. These constructions look strange or even ungrammatical in Russian, but they are not infrequent in German. Semantics and statistics of these phrases in German are described in this paper, based on a large corpus of fictional and non-fictional German texts. It is shown that statistically, these double hedges are most frequently used for focusing on negative commitments, especially in sentences with ‘unmöglich können’ (“can impossibly”). At the same time, the frequency of ‘kann unwahrscheinlich’ (“can improbably”) is utterly low.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):589-607
pages 589-607 views

Concepts SPIRIT and SOUL in Linguo-Semiotics of Theatricl Art

Markelova T.V., Popkov (Glinsky) N.V.

Abstract

The study is devoted to the problem of the correlation of linguistic and extralinguistic operations in the creative workshop of an outstanding linguistic persona, the successor of the realistic traditions of Russian and world theater, the great reformer of theatrical art, actor, director, teacher, theatrical thinker K.S. Stanislavsky. We chose the iconic sign-words of his “system” - spirit and soul - for analysis in all the versatility of their meaning considered in compliance with the semiotic and semantic theory of L.A. Novikov. The study searches for the code content of words in the system and provides the practice of their use by K.S. Stanislavsky, conditioned, firstly, by censorship (an extralinguistic factor), secondly, by the lexicographic practice, and thirdly, by the author’s attitude to the value of the word-sign in the process of its sigmatic actual use. The analysis of the semantic structure of the words spirit and soul (as well as some of their derivatives) in the semiotics of theatrical language is based on the description of these constants as words of the cultural code, as signs of the Russian mentality based on the theory of external, internal sign and the meaning which makes it possible to correlate the word and image. In the paper we pay much attention to the characterization of the lexemes spirit and soul as pragmemes from the point of the value core contained in them. The paper describes the occurring and development of evaluative connotations in the lexemes spirit and soul as part of the concepts developing; the study makes attempts to prove the preferred use in the complex genre of presentation of the “system” by K.S. Stanislavsky. The study is based on a large empirical material collected from the works of K.S. Stanislavsky - “My life in art”, “The work of an actor on himself” (with various additions and various developments of the subject), which illustrates the multidimensionality and multilayeredness of the concepts of spirit and soul , as well as illustrates the values of the phraseological environment, their symbolic nature in the system of theatrical language, and therefore, the language of theatrical art, their relationship and, on the contrary, “rejection” from each other.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):608-629
pages 608-629 views

The Image of Power Based on the Materials of the Crimean Associative Dictionary

Ufimtseva N.V.

Abstract

The study is devoted to the analysis of ideas about power in the language consciousness of three generations of representatives of the Russian culture (1994-2021). In course of the analysis, data from associative dictionaries and databases (RAS, EVRAS, SIBAS, Crimean Associative Dictionary), and sociological research materials are used. The theoretical basis of the study is the theory of language consciousness developed at the Moscow Psycholinguistic School. Culture is considered as a system of adaptive models, i.e. as the structure that brings together the society. The concept of POWER is one of the main dimensions of the social stratification of society. Even though the interest in the studying of this phenomenon in society, including in language, has increased significantly in recent years, most studies of this concept were carried out using traditional lexicographic sources and literary texts. In general, the degree of study of the concept (or in our terminology, the image of consciousness) POWER in the framework of the semanticcognitive approach seems to be insufficient. The approach from the standpoint of the Moscow Psycholinguistic School makes it possible to obtain data on the real content and structure of the language consciousness of a native speaker of the Russian language / culture, not only in its synchronous state, but also in temporal dynamics. The paper examines the structure of the core of language consciousness and the content of semantic gestalts of the images of consciousness of several generations of Russians. The analysis shows that the destruction of the archetypes of Russian culture, the growth of individualism is directly reflected in the structure of the core of language consciousness and its content.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):630-647
pages 630-647 views

The Russian Language Personality in the Current Diachrony: a New Associative-Verbal Database (2014-2021)

Shaposhnikova I.V.

Abstract

The study presents a new Russian regional associative database (Siberia and the Far East) - SIBAS 2, obtained in a mass associative experiment (2014-2021) in the Asian regions of the Russian Federation. The author describes the main parameters of the scientifically significant information provided by the electronic resource SIBAS, the characteristics of the data in SIBAS 2 in comparison with the database SIBAS 1 reflecting the dimensions of the Russian language personality in the Asian regions of Russia, recorded in the period from 2008 to 2013. The associative dominants identified with the help of the SIBAS 1 resource are compared with the corresponding dimensions of the RLP, explicated by psycholinguists in the European part of the Russian Federation on the basis of the EURAS reverse dictionary (2008-2013); the dominants of SIBAS 1 and SIBAS 2 are compared with the all-Russian data of the reverse dictionaries of RAS (Russian Associative Thesaurus): the first (1988-1991) and second (1992-1995) stages of the all-Russian experiment. Against this background, the author presents new results of a general analysis of the semantic nodes of the SIBAS associative-verbal network, statistical ordering of the entire array of verbal associates in the current diachrony (2008-2021). Such statistical organization of the associativeverbal material can be viewed as a methodological technique, a preliminary step in the study of the psychologically relevant fluctuations of the system-forming semantic accentuations of the Russian language personality, their historical and cultural roots and meaningful transformations referring to a particular period of time (here mostly according to the data of SIBAS 1 and SIBAS 2).

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):648-665
pages 648-665 views

Oppositive Semantics in English and Russian Phraseological Units by the example of PHU with a Semantic Component MAN

Lunkova L.N., Frolova J.I.

Abstract

The article deals with a complex analysis of a phraseological unit (PhU) phenomenon: its linguo-cognitive basis, structural-semantic potential as well as actualization peculiarities in the English and Russian linguo-cultural spaces under the manifestation of a multidimensional oppositive sense through PhUs with a semantic component man . The study establishes that the component exhibits the characteristics of a polysemant in the English language and reconstructs three basic modi of entity: mental-ethical, cognitive-psychological, socio-economic. The semantic component man is less polysemantic in Russian compared to the English equivalent and represents a monolithic spiritual modus. This fundamental difference is caused by the tendency to the ideal interpretation of typically material senses which is specific to the Russian linguoculture. It is revealed that oppositive semantics manifests itself both on the level of internal relations (between the components within a PhU) and on the level of the external ones (with other PhUs) in the two languages. Besides, the main oppositive load is carried out through lexical-grammatical means: antonyms, adversative conjunctions and particles that form symmetrical and asymmetrical contrastives. The study proves that oppositive patterns with a similar structure mark fundamentally different archisemes in English and in Russian, modeling diametrically opposed existential-axiological trajectories (material and ideal correspondingly) in the linguocultures under examination.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):666-677
pages 666-677 views

The Development of Dominant Concepts within the Lexical-Semantic Field BRASIL

Gurevich D.L.

Abstract

National identity presupposes not only geographical and political-administrative but also cultural-historical and linguistic unity. The country’s name, usually developed from an inderived toponym, can acquire the characteristics of a concept with a wider range of meanings that spreads onto neighbouring spheres and becomes ethnonym, linguonym and, furthermore, a name for a whole group of concrete and abstract notions sharing a common semantic core. As a result, one can observe the formation of a lexical-semantic field with a clear-cut core, secondary dominants, and periphery. Its development is gradual and proceeds as a kind of centrifugal movement: first comes the core and its nearest surroundings, then one can see the periphery grow and become more and more multifarious in terms of parts of speech division. The present study shows how the lexeme BRASIL, that by the time Brazil was colonized (in the first half of the 16th century) had the only meaning - ‘mahogany’, gradually became widely-used and acquired such meanings as “territory”, “indigenous people”, “indigenous language”. These meanings influenced the development of derived words sharing the meaning “related to Brazil”, “Brazilian” and “native of Brazil” - brasílico, brasiliense, brasiliano, brasílio, brasileiro (Portugese). Their use, initially almost interchangeable, became more specific with time; later some of them have become obsolete. As a result, brasileiro became secondary dominant that, alongside with BRASIL, served to widen the corresponding lexical-semantic field. The process of consolidation of the core and central dominants having considerable semantic potential coincided with the process of Brazil’s cultural emancipation from its ex-metropolis.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):678-693
pages 678-693 views

Comparative Analysis of the Phraseological Units Representing the Concepts of OLD AGE and VEJEZ in Russian and Spanish

Safaralieva L.A., Parkhitko N.P.

Abstract

The article is devoted to the research of phraseological units representing the concepts of OLD AGE and VEJEZ in Russian and Spanish languages, in psycholinguistic, linguocultural and structural-semantic aspects. Considering the fact that the concept of OLD AGE as the personification of experience, the passage of time, physical and mental withering of a personality is a universal phraseological constant of almost every language, the authors found it expedient to compare phraseological and thematic fields of Spanish and Russian, where, as a hypothesis, it is assumed to identify different historical and cultural approaches to the definitions «age», «old age», «aging», etc., and to the corresponding social group. The key methods of linguistic science used in the work are descriptive, linguogenetic and comparative methods. The article provides a scientific justification for the differences in the definition of the phenomenon of OLD AGE in the Spanish and Russian languages, due to the peculiarities of perception of the national linguistic picture of the world by native speakers of Russian and Spanish. The general, universal images of OLD AGE associated with the final period of a person’s life, the weakening of his body, the presence of a certain life experience are revealed. In addition, the provisions on the predominance of phraseological units with pejorative coloring nominating an old person in the Russian language are substantiated, while phraseological units with reclamation coloring prevail in Spanish. Note that for native Spanish speakers, OLD GAE is primarily associated with centenarians, people who have overcome the age of 90, while in Russian such associations are of a singular nature. The argumentation base of the study is based on a wide list of linguistic and lexical-phraseological sources used by the authors while preparing this article.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):694-709
pages 694-709 views

TERMINOLOGY STUDIES

Reconsidering the Definition of the Term

Grinev-Griniewicz S.V., Sorokina E.A., Molchanova M.M.

Abstract

Existing definitions of the term as presented in current terminological writings are analyzed in the paper. The linguistic material is the descriptions of the notion of “term” that could be seen in the works of leading terminologists; these descriptions exemplify the importance of the notion in question and at the same time highlight the diversity in interpreting its essence. Achieving the goal of the analysis - which is to reveal the reasons why the term is still being treated in such an ambiguous way and define the substantial features of this notion - promotes explicitness in the interpretation of the term and its usage in a universally recognized way. The result of the undertaken study achieved on the basis of comparative, diachronic, and contrastive approaches is working out the comprehensive definition of the troublesome notion “term” that could be treated as its main one. The theoretical significance of the research is finding out the most common features of the term as the basic notion of terminology studies. The results of the study further expand the ideas regarding the notion of the term that exist in current terminological theory and are believed to put an end to the unproductive multiplying of its definitions. The practical value of the study is viewed as using its materials and results in practical activities of scientists who work in the sphere of theoretical and applied terminology as well as educationists who teach general and special linguistics, terminology studies, lexicology, and anthropological linguistics.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):710-729
pages 710-729 views

Terminological System of Hydraulic Engineering: Diffuseness of Terminological Fields and Polycentricity

Galankina I.I., Perfilieva N.V., Tsibizova O.V.

Abstract

The presents a study of the lexical units of the language of the specialty “Hydrotechnikal Сonstruction” based on a selection of dictionaries, textbooks, articles, regulations and scientific and journalistic texts. There is analysis of concepts of term, terminological field, terminological system, core and their interpretation in the scientific literature. The purpose of the study is to propose a thematic and derivational classification of hydrotechical terms to build a model of a terminological system. The multidimensionality of the hydrotechnical profile, including construction, hydrology and ecology, as well as related to biology, hydropower generation, navigation, agriculture and other branches of scientific and practical activity, is noted. In this regard, a horizontal structure of the terminological fields of the hydrotechnical system is proposed; the set of lexical units of the language of the specialty “hydraulic engineering” is considered as an ordered terminological system with a multi-core structure. The polycentricity of the system of hydrotechnical terms and the difusseness of its constituent microfields has been proved using a quantitative method. The novelty of the study is caused by the specifics of the material, which has been little studied so far, as well as the approach to its systematization. Observation of the hydrotechnical vocabulary made it possible to put forward a hypothesis about the relatively small number of borrowings in its corpus, which in turn determines the ambivalent nature of many hydrotechnical terms and the diffuseness of the microfields that form the terminological system. The study of hydrotechnical terms showed that the process of formation of terminological units can take place in a different sequence: from word to term or from term to word. Moreover, along with the term, its etymon can continue to be used in the general literary language. Derivation is active; however, the borrowing of terms is not the main source of replenishment of hydrotechnical terminology. The conclusions are drawn about the special structure of the terminological system, which reflects the multidimensional nature of. The Hydrotechnikal Сonstruction”, polycentric nature of the hydrotechnical terminological system, which includes intersecting term fields, is explained by the history of the industry and inter-industry relations. The results are necessary for the preparation of a manual for foreigners studying this discipline in Russian, which represents the relevance and practical significance of the study.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):730-749
pages 730-749 views

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Polycode as a Strategic Resource of Intercultural Communication

Tameryan T.Y., Zyubina I.A., Zheltukhina M.R.

Abstract

The study discusses the application of adaptive strategies in the process of cultural integration under the conditions of multilingualism, taking into account the dynamics of aggregation of foreign cultural elements in the linguistic consciousness of foreigners. The study was carried out in an interdisciplinary plane, integrating the developments of psycholinguistics, communication theory, linguoculturology and sociolinguistics. The work is based on the basic methods of conducting a free associative experiment, lexico-semantic analysis of the received reactions, contextual analysis and interpretation of verbal associations, interlingual comparison techniques, conceptual modeling techniques and linguistic and cultural commentary. The relevance of the research is due to the importance of the interactive interaction of languages and cultures that form the civilizational communicative space. The novelty of the undertaken research is related to the identification of the role of the multilingual cultural landscape as a translator of ethnic and national values by scanning the slices of the introduction of foreign cultural language segments into the linguistic consciousness of foreign students. The article is aimed at monitoring the multilingual diversity and the strategic repertoire of learning new foreign languages in the multicultural environment of the host country based on the data obtained as a result of a free associative experiment using the «adaptation in the country and region of education» stimulus. The results of the study indicate that the reactions to a complex stimulus obtained in a phased experiment made it possible to identify a core universal for the phased dynamics of adaptation in the structure of the field model of the associative layer of the concept and describe the content of cognitive features formed by the reactions. The analysis of verbal representations demonstrated the motivation for the use of communicative response strategies by foreigners and the specifics of embedding in a foreign cultural environment.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):750-768
pages 750-768 views

Digital Communication and Multimodal Features: Functioning of Emoji in Interpersonal Communication

Koltsova E.A., Kartashkova F.I.

Abstract

Technical advances and digital means of communication have led to the development of digital semiotics which is characterised by its multimodality and abounds in paralinguistic elements such as emojis, emoticons, memes, etc. These extralinguistic elements serve as a compensatory mechanism in the new communication means. The increasing interest of users in various iconic signs and symbols generates the research interest in different fields of knowledge. The study aims to consider cognitive, semiotic and psycholinguistic features of emojis in interpersonal communication through analysing their functions in text messages and in social network messages. An attempt to reveal their persuasive mechanism is made. The research is based on a large scale dataset comprised of the private text messages as well as public posts on social networks which include verbal and nonverbal / iconic elements. The research data presents a multilingual bank of English, Russian and French sources. The research methods include context analysis, linguistic and pragmatic analysis and content analysis. The findings show that emojis in private interpersonal communication perform a number of functions, namely nonverbal, emotive, pragmatic, punctuation, substitutional, decorative and rhetorical functions. These iconic symbols incorporated in the interpersonal digital communication present a compensatory mechanism and the means of persuasion of a message addressee / recipient. The combination of verbal and iconic elements triggers a double focusing mechanism, and the perception is shaped by all cognitive mechanisms including rational and emotional, unconscious components.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):769-783
pages 769-783 views

LANGUAGE HISTORY

Italiano Neo-Standard in the Light of E. Coseriu’s Theory of Language Variations

Zholudeva L.I.

Abstract

The study discusses the impact of E. Coseriu (1921-2002), a prominent 20th century linguist, an expert in language theory and philosophy, on the development of language restandardization theory in modern Italy. E. Coseriu proposed a model of living language that accounts for its basic property - variability, which allows to solve the so-called paradox of language change widely discussed in post-saussurean linguistics and to produce a complex description of language system, norm, and speech in their mutual correlation. The analysis presented in the paper shows how the system of language variation parameters (diachrony, diatopy, diastraty, and diaphasy) constituted the theoretical basis for describing the process of restandardization typical of Modern Italian since the last decades of the 20th century. Modern Italian, also known as Italiano neo-standard, fulfils all the communicative functions, is used both in speech and in writing in all speech genres and registers, and is L1 for more than a half of Italy’s population. This language situation, however, is relatively new: up to mid-20th century the majority of Italians were bilingual, and the dialects of Italy functioned as their L1 and as means of informal communication. The widening of use of Standard Italian proceeded alongside with its stylistic diversification and the adaptation of its pragmatic and stylistic potential for informal, colloquial use, which called in question the status of certain structures, previously regarded as substandard ones. The analysis of E. Coseriu’s language variation theory as applied to the Italian language allows to classify modern Italian sociolinguistics and historical language studies as developing the functional trend typical of European linguistics.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):784-799
pages 784-799 views

The Russian Schisch and the Russian Revolution: Semiotic Models of Language and Text Ideologization

Zagumennov A.V.

Abstract

The relevance of the article lies in the stable interest of the scientific community in the history of the church schism, in the problems of the formation of the ideology of the USSR, especially in the aspect of semiotics with the identification of some deep symbolic structures. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the hypothesis that the church schism of the 17th century and the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917 are connected in the implementation of non-obvious semiotic scenarios for further development. The material of the work was the “Acts of the Moscow Cathedral” of 1666-1667, periodicals (newspapers “Krasnaya Gazeta”, “Krasny Sever”, “Zvezda Vytegry” of 1920), scientific works on the analysis of monuments of secular and church history. In the study, the leading methods are contextual analysis, reconstruction, modeling with the dominance of philological hermeneutics. With their help, five parameters are identified by which it is permissible to track the ideologization of the fact of reality by a group of interested persons: 1) the use of semantic-specific linguistic means; 2) the polarization of the assessment; 3) the precedence of the text; 4) the precedence of the idea and 5) the precedence of the image of a leader loyal to the community of people who won the controversy. It is shown that ideologized meanings do not depend on the time of creation and the sphere of functioning of the text that preserves them. In other words, the text acts as a material carrier of a dynamic formation that can be transferred from one statement to another for several centuries, which makes it possible to study ideologization using linguistic methods. At the end of the work, a graphical model of the ideologization of language and text is presented, which is relevant both for the era of the church schism in the second half of the 17th century and for the period after the October Revolution of 1917.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):800-814
pages 800-814 views

LINGUISTICS OF THE TEXT

Semantics of Eros in the Philosophical and Poetic Art of Vyacheslav Ivanov and Maximilian Voloshin

Pinaev S.M.

Abstract

The article attempts to analyze philosophical and poetic works of V. Ivanov and M. Voloshin concerning “mysteries of Eros”. It is concluded that V. Ivanov sang “the praise of eternal love rapture” while M. Voloshin didn’t perceive Eros only as a passion and opposed it to sex and sensuality. Ivanov perceived love in its intimate and religious aspects. He wrote about the universal pathos of unity with a beloved woman and God, as well. The final goal is the high love unity of mankind which can be realized by Church. The article deals with Ivanov’s poetic book “Eros”. It’s main theme is love as a creative basis which contains high joyfulness and inevitable sufferings, while Voloshin was writing about love based on Platon’s treatise “Feast” and also an antroposophic teaching. So his poems “Nympths Grotto”, “Cave” and “Maternity” are analyzed in the article. The author traces creative relationship of two poets and especially marks Voloshin’s cycle of verses “The Star of Wormwood”. Directly or polemically, each of them associates with Ivanov’s lyrics.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):815-826
pages 815-826 views

Situation Awareness Paradoxicality and Paradoxical Logic of Characters in the Novels of I. Ilf and Eu. Petrov

Ryadchikova E.N., Kadilina O.A., Vered V.T.

Abstract

The study is devoted to the study of the role of paradoxes in the novels written by I. Ilf and Eu. Petrov «The Little Golden Calf» and «The Twelve Chairs». In this aspect, the novels that have become world classics have not yet been the subject of detailed scientific study; an attempt to fill this gap determines the relevance of this article. The concepts of «antinomy», «dichotomy», and «intentionality» are considered. The study of the elements of paradoxes, their step-by-step tracing allows to reveal hidden meanings, the vertical context provides a better understanding of the linguistic personality of the characters and the author’s message. The paradoxical nature of evaluative characteristics can manifest itself not only in a horizontal context, but also in a vertical, diachronic one. The contexts containing the paradox extracted from the texts of the indicated novels were selected as the material of the study. The article concludes that in the language of literary works the paradox is used expressly, intentionally, it reflects the linguo-creative thinking of the authors, used as a stylistic device to create the image of a character, as an individualization of his speech, and also performs numerous other functions. It was revealed that the paradoxes used for the image of the main character, O. Bender, who is a strong linguistic personality, represent one set of qualities, and for Panikovsky - another. The paradoxical statements coming from Bender and the speech of other characters in the novels by I. Ilf and Eu. Petrov are psychological, they become persuasive arguments for situation awareness, a means of calming, creating the appearance of a lack of violence against the victim to cover up their own plans.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):827-843
pages 827-843 views

REVIEWS

Book Review: Multimodality, Digitalization and Cognitivity in Communication and Pedagogy, Edited by Natalya Sukhova, Tatiana Dubrovskaya, Yulia Lobina

Lukanina M.V.

Abstract

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RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022;13(3):844-851
pages 844-851 views

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