Vol 12, No 4 (2021)
- Year: 2021
- Articles: 22
- URL: https://journals.rudn.ru/semiotics-semantics/issue/view/1506
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-2299-2021-12-4
Full Issue
DISCURSIVE STUDIES
Address to the Nation as a Genre of Military-Political Discourse
Abstract
The political rhetoric prevailing in democratic countries does not allow an open demonstration of commitment to military means of conflict resolution and, therefore, naturally gives rise to a special type of discourse, the linguistic and extralinguistic contexts of which are determined by the goal of initiating a war. This study aims to analyze the components of military-political discourse, as well as the ways they are implemented in the texts and the role they play in manipulating public opinion. The authors defines military-political discourse as the discourse of political elites accompanying various stages of military operations and developed to substantiate the need for their initiation based on the fundamental values of a particular society. The relevance of this study is determined both by the increased interest in military conflicts in modern society and by the insufficient study of military-political discourse in general. Address to the nation is one of the main genres of military-political discourse. The novelty of the research is determined by the author’s approach to the analysis and interpretation of military-political discourse. The original texts of the addresses to the nation by B. Obama and D. Trump dedicated to the US military operations in Syria are used as the research material. The choice of these texts is due to their significant role in the coverage of the US Syrian campaign. Describing military-political discourse requires the use of a number of methods, namely descriptive and comparative methods, dictionary definitions and contextual analyses, as well as the method of critical discourse analysis. The authors established that, regardless of the administration in power, address to the nation as a genre of military-political discourse implies a certain scenario based on the following scheme: greeting - address to the nation agenda - description of US actions - description of violence (accusations) - description of the US role in the world - reference to previous military campaigns - call to action. The authors comes to the conclusion that each of these components plays a substantial role in the structure of military-political discourse and is realized through a certain set of discursive means that do not depend on the political preferences of a speaker.
The Idiolect of Ernestine de Champourcin in Terms of Cultural Accommodation
Abstract
This article is devoted to the idiolect of Ernestina de Champourcin, a contemporary of the Generation-27, an iconic group of Spanish poets of the 20th century. The authors propose is to consider the poetess's idiolect in the aspect of cultural accommodation beyond the traditional translation discourse, through the analysis of two poetry collections - “Presencia a oscuras” and “Primer exilio” which stand at the turn of two stages of Ernestina de Champourcin's creative work. The authors analyse the aesthetic, cognitive and linguistic vectors of the poet's idiolect and systematise the reasons for its dynamics. On the basis of the comparative analysis of the elements of the poetic idiolect of her works of different periods, the authors note that the idiolect evolves in accordance with the conditions created by cultural accommodation, and therefore the consideration of cultural accommodation is possible not only in the context of translation adequacy and equivalence, but also chronologically, at the level of idiolect, as evidenced, in particular, by the use of regional variations of lexical units, syntax and the prevalence of this or that temporal plane. The analysis of idiolect makes it possible to narrow the perspective of the material under study, and thus represents the first link of the work on poetic translation. It is argued that the translation of a poetic text is impossible without considering the “internal” cultural accommodation of the idiolect, which takes place according to the cultural accommodation of the individual and independently of the translation. Based on their analysis, the authors emphasize the role of idiolect as a key factor in the studies devoted to the chronological description of the creative formation of any poet.
Russian Diminutives on the Social Network Instagram
Abstract
The article is devoted to the peculiarities of communication on the Russian-speaking segment of the social net Instagram. The aim of the article makes the analysis of diminutives - the words with diminutive-hypocoristic suffixes. In course of the study, over 250 users’ pages of Instagram were analyzed, and the most high-frequency lexemes were chosen. The derivational analysis was carried out to sort out the groups of relevant suffixes, and such a phenomenon as the synonymy was revealed. As is proved, despite different formal expression, all suffixes of diminutives bear diminutive-hypocoristic (or just hypocoristic) meaning which helps express subjective positive evaluation in respect to the environment, and demonstrate emotions (also positive) in course of communication. As is marked, the use of diminutives on the social net is not an occasional occurrence, it’s one of the significant exponents of the world view of the Russian-speaking people. The demand of language bearers for the diminutives witnesses of their high linguistic potential allowing the forms to create aesthetical communication over the Internet virtual space.
COGNITIVE RESEARCH
The National Specificity of the Proverbial Fund: Basic Concepts and Procedure for Determining
Abstract
The article presents an attempt to define the basic concepts and proposes a methodology for identifying the national specificity of the proverbial fund of a given language in the synchronic plan. In modern linguistics, more and more attention is paid to the study of interlingual specificity / generality of proverbs, both in the theoretical (typological, language and cultural), and in the applied (linguodidactic, lexicographic) terms. However, in linguistics there is no special methodological apparatus for establishing and describing the national specificity of proverbs. The aim of the research is to develop and test the basic concepts and methodology for identifying the national specificity of the proverbial fund of the language in the synchronic plan. Research methods - interlingual comparison, structural and semantic modeling, ethnolinguistic analysis, language and cultural description. The research material was over 1,500 of the most actively used Belarusian proverbs (from its paremiological minimum, the main paremiological fund, the corpus of literary texts), as well as proverbs of the Slavic, Baltic, Germanic, Romanic, Finno-Ugrian languages (more than 220,000 proverbs from the most authoritative paremiographic sources in 34 modern European languages). As a result of the study, it was found that for the differentiation of common with other languages and specific units of the proverbial fund of the language, the synchronic analysis based on the structural and semantic modeling of proverbs is the most objective. The linguistic content of the concepts “national specificity of a proverbial fund”, “unique, international, universal proverb”, “national specificity of a proverb”, “national and language specificity, national and cultural marking of a proverb” has been determined and verified. The methodology for describing the national specificity of a proverbial fund has been developed and tested. It includes the principles and methods of selecting the most representative units for analysis, the determination of the interlingual specificity / generality of proverbs, the ascertainment of their national and language, national and cultural specificity, the identification of the degree and nature of the national marking of the exact language proverbs. It is proved that the national specificity of the proverbial fund is qualitatively and quantitatively determined not by proverbs that are unique against the background of other languages, but by the national and language and / or national and cultural marking common (international and universal) proverbs of other languages.
Peculiarities of Greek Origin Words Perception by the Representatives of Contemporary Russian Linguistic Culture: Associative Experiment
Abstract
The article describes the associative experiment as one of the most productive methods of modern psycholinguistics. The theoretical works of Russian and foreign researchers on the theory and practice of the associative experiment in modern linguistics are reviewed. To illustrate the associative experiment, the analysis of the associative fields, formed by the reactions of the Russian-speaking respondents to the words of Greek origin is presented. The relevance of the work is determined by the fact that the authors make an attempt to study the peculiarities of the perception of borrowed words, using the mechanisms of perception of these or those concepts by native speakers, their evaluation and connotations. This seems interesting not only for contemporary psycholinguistics, but also for semantics, stylistics, cognitive linguistics and other branches of linguistics. The linguocultural value of the study lies in the fact that the experiment allows determine how a word of foreign origin, occurring in Russian, retains the charge of the original culture from which it came. The linguistic material for the study is the most common or typical Greek expressions from the poems of A.S. Khomyakov, a Russian poet of the 19th century, one of the founders of the Slavophile movement. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the language of A.S. Khomyakov’s works is still understudied. The study of the Greekisms as a foreign cultural phenomenon in the texts of a Slavophile poet, whose philosophical concept is connected with "traditionalism" both in the understanding of culture and language, is of scientific interest. We describe the associative fields to the words-stimuli prophet and ether , using Y.N. Karaulov's methodology, which implies the consideration of associations from lexico-syntactic, morphological, cognitive, pragmatic and statistical points of view. From the linguocultural point of view it is important to identify the cognitive features of the perception of the stimuli. The experiment helped to discover that words of Greek origin continue to carry a charge of Greek culture, in addition, they have become an integral part of Russian culture, manifesting themselves in the minds of native speakers through association with Russian precedent texts. The analysis of associative fields made it possible to reveal the peculiarities of the perception of words of Greek origin by native speakers of modern Russian, and to compare the obtained meanings with those that the words had when they were written in the 19th century. The transformation of semantics, as well as the re-accumulation from one meaning to another, the emergence of new meanings, which corresponds to the historical development of words, are noted.
Semantic Condensations in French and Russian Proverbs Based on the Thematic Group Family
Abstract
The article is devoted to the study of semantic condensations in French and Russian proverbs from the point of view of family values perception by native speakers of French and Russian. The analysis was carried out based on a study of a card index of proverbs extracted from paremiographic sources that offer a presentation of the material on a thematic basis and contain headings and subheadings related to family and family relations. In order to achieve greater objectivity of the results, the authors carried out a selection and counting of the number of identical proverbial units of the studied thematic group both in French (114 units) and Russian (270 units) paremiological dictionaries. A quantitative and semantic analysis of the key lexemes associated with family presented in the titles of headings, subheadings and proverbs of the card index allowed identify semantic condensations, which most clearly reflect behavioural priorities and peculiaritites of values comprehension. Proverbial semantic condensations are understood as the main meanings and moral and ethical formulations, containing in a condensed form the meaning of a proverb and excluding its figurative component, which may differ in various languages. A comparative analysis made it possible to identify both universal and specific components in the considered French and Russian proverbial condensations, as well as values and anti-values adjacent to the family, which enables us to characterize their perception and functioning in the system of value coordinates of the studied ethnic groups. The presence of significant similarities is explained by the universality of family values and their understanding. Differences mainly lie in the fact that in the French material there is a more individualistic and pragmatic-everyday orientation, while in the Russian material there is a tendency towards the collective (family) and an emotional-sensory orientation. Russian proverbs are distinguished by a greater degree of concentration of thematic key lexemes. The differences in semantic condensations, the value perception of the family, and their representation using units of different linguistic levels, the functioning of which is explained by a combination of typological features of the compared languages, once again demonstrated the connection between the latter, the uniqueness of the world perception and the way of thinking of individual ethnic groups.
Structural and Semantic Analysis of English and Russian Proverbs about Marriage as a Source of Expression of Cultural and National Identity
Abstract
The article is devoted to the comparative structural and semantic analysis of proverbs of the English and Russian languages with the meaning “marriage”. The novelty and relevance of the study consists in the fact that the proverbs that go to the heart of the current problems of marriage relations were first analyzed with the use of comparative approach in the context of structural and semantic analysis. In the course of the analysis, on the material of the proverbs of these languages, the main meanings of the proverbs were identified and systematized. The proverbs reveal the view on the value of marriage, the view on the predestination of marriage, the roles of husband and wife, controversial aspects of marital relations, as well as the question of the unity and strength of the family. An important part of the article is the study of male and female views on the problem of marriage, family life and the choice of a life partner. In English proverbs, a critical attitude towards marriage and the mention of the advantages of a bachelor life can be found more often. In Russian proverbs, marriage is generally viewed more positively but almost half of the proverbs that reveal the hardships of life in marriage are proverbs that convey a woman’s view of marriage. The article reveals lexical components, syntactic structures, artistic techniques and figurative means pertain to the proverbs of both linguistic and cultural ethnic groups. The presence of unique and distinctive proverbs in each language reflects the peculiarities of the historical and cultural experience of the two peoples, but the proverbs of both languages also have many common features. This is explained both by the community of human nature and knowledge, and by borrowing from common sources. Both Russian and English proverbs are characterized by using methods of comparison, contraposition, allegory, the use of personifying metaphors, lexical antonymy, the use of zoonyms, proper nouns and somatisms. In Russian, the emotional and expressive component is higher due to the use of diminutive suffixes, vernacular and vulgar words, they represent more widely archaisms and vocabulary associated with the realities of peasant life. Most Russian proverbs are composed according to the laws of the folklore genre and have a compositional completeness due to their rhythmic and phonetic design. Most of the English proverbs contain sayings, teachings, and use more abstract and neutral vocabulary, although there are also bright and original proverbs among them. The author reveals interaction of the figurative means and the conceptual component of proverbs and concludes that the linguistic means and figurative motivation of proverbs are related to the peculiarities of the national-cultural thinking of the both peoples.
Political Metaphors of the Ancient Chinese Treatise of Confucius “Lun yu”
Abstract
This article examines the political metaphors of the ancient Chinese philosophical treatise of Confucius “Lun yu” (The Analects). Confucius often used metaphors for a capacious and figurative presentation of his political views. Translation of Confucius’s political metaphors presents a certain difficulty, since it is necessary to preserve not only the meaning of the statement, but also the imagery. The object of the research is the political metaphors of Confucius’s work “Lun yu” and their translations into Russian by P.S. Popov, I.I. Semenenko and L.S. Perelomov. The aim of the work is to study the methods of translating political metaphors of the philosophical treatise of Confucius and the possibility of accurately transferring metaphors into Russian. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that for the first time the translations of Confucius’s political reflections, made by three translators, are analyzed and compared. Political metaphors of the text “Lun yu”, collected for analysis by the method of continuous sampling, are described and analyzed within the framework of the concept of A.P. Chudinov. Classification of the metaphors of a philosophical treatise into 4 groups - anthropomorphic metaphor , natural morphic metaphor , social metaphor , artifact metaphor - made it possible to identify the peculiarities of translation techniques for different groups of metaphors. The analysis showed that the metaphors of the anthropomorphic group almost always disappear in translations into Russian. On the contrary, natural morphic metaphors, as a rule, are preserved in the translated text. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that at present, the translations of the Chinese philosophical text into Russian have not been sufficiently studied. Analysis of Russian texts “Lun yu” - “Judgments and Conversations (Lunyu)” translated by P.S. Popov, “I believe in antiquity” translated by I.I. Semenenko, “Lun yu” translated by L.S. Perelomov - made it possible to analyze the techniques of translating metaphors, due to the author’s preferences of the translators, as well as the possibility of preserving the original metaphor in translated texts. Three versions of the translation of the title of the ancient Chinese treatise into Russian indicate different approaches to the translation of the text. The conclusion summarizes the results of the study of techniques and methods of transferring political metaphors into Russian.
Bible Translations in Sweden
Abstract
The article focuses on approaches to Bible translation that existed in Sweden in different periods. Special attention is payed to what is to date the latest translation in 2000 (Bible 2000). On the eve of celebration of the 500th anniversary of the first translation of the Gospels (1526) this topic is particularly relevant and discussed more and more actively in works by Swedish researchers, first and foremost because a new edition of the next Bible translation is planned in 2026. This tradition goes back to 1540-1541 when translation of the full Bible was printed, known as the Gustav Vasa Bible (Gustav Vasas Bibel), which has made an impact on the hearts and minds of Swedish people for almost four centuries and formed the basis of Standard Swedish. The approach declared by Luther has become a fundamental principle of Bible translations into Swedish: text must convey precisely the message, spirit and content of the original, not literally, however, but in the language that is clear to uneducated people. The Gustav Vasa Bible was reissued twice: in 1618 (the Gustav II Adolf Bible) and 1703 (the Charles XII Bible). What’s more, every new edition was redacted officially. In 1773 Gustav III established the Biblical Commission and requested to replace the outdated text with a new one. However, there were numerous changes in the Swedish Language during the XXth century. Besides, the development of linguistics and translation studies, as well as new scientific data have formed the basis of a new Bible translation project that was launched in 1972 and ended up with publishing the Bible-2000. The translation is the result of collaboration between numerous scholars and average readers. It took almost thirty years to perform the work. In the end, a text was created which most people think is unique, as it strives to convey the style of each particular book. However, there is obviously a gap between the new text and the centuries-old tradition of Bible translation, because after textual analysis was complete, scholars and translators often took decisions about how to render separate words and whole phrases. Their decisions had nothing in common with established practice. Consequently, critics consider that the text of Bible-2000 is often greatly oversimplified, “everyday”, lacking its solemn beauty and magnificence.
Linguistic and Stylistic Means of Satire Construction in the Animated Series
Abstract
The study is devoted to the description of linguistic and stylistic means of satire construction in modern American animated series. The article deals with a detailed analysis of the linguistic and stylistic means that actualize the satiric and ironic meanings for a satire creation based on the examples of American series. Cartoonists often resort to satire as a unique genre of art to express direct or indirect criticism of the structure of modern society. Modern satirical cartoons contain vivid elements of parody and caricature. An obligatory consequence of satirical creativity is exposure and laughter. The methods of socio-political satire of modern animated serials are enhanced by the interplay of irony and sarcasm, hyperbole and grotesque, allegory and allusion, paraphrase and play on words. American animated series mirror modern reality, they reflect numerous facts of daily life and current environment touching their most critical sides: economics, politics, education, religion, ethnic issues, international ties and relations, interpersonal dealings. Socio-political satire is peculiar in that it does not spare not only the ruling branch of power, but also an ordinary, ordinary, gray person. In this dullness and ignorance of his, the average man in the street is ready to blindly obey the most ridiculous and absurd orders. Of course, an animated series cannot solve acute social or political problems facing society. But the fact that these questions are raised means that the problems are urgent. The purpose of such satire is to reflect on mistakes and not repeat them in the future. For example, “South Park”, “Rick and Morty”, “Family Guy”, “F is for Family” parody the modern family, social order, exaggerate social issues to the extreme. The relevance of this study is due to several reasons: first, the abundance of cartoon products on the modern film industry market. Secondly, the role that cartoons and serials play in the life of a modern person and in the culture of postmodernity. It is common knowledge that over the past few years, the TV series and animated series industry has changed a lot: streaming services (Netflix, Hulu and Amazon) appear, new formats are released, and more and more cartoon characters are voiced by famous actors. Thirdly, it is confirmed by the idea of the existence of the phenomenon of the "Big Serial Bang", expressed by Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of the Higher School of Economics V.A. Kurenniy. The fact that modern TV series are a cultural product that accurately reflects the spirit of the times remains an indisputable fact. Such a visual narrative fits perfectly into the framework of modern society.
Evolution of the Associative-Verbal Network of the Concept “Old Age” in the Language Consciousness of the Native Russian-Language Speakers of the 20s of the XXI Century
Abstract
The development of information technologies, change of political system and other socio-political changes in the life of any state, leave an imprint on the linguistic consciousness of a typical native speaker. Notwithstanding, the national conceptual sphere or “naïve” linguistic picture of the world has undergone significant changes, for all the changes in the world around us are fragmentally recorded in the collective linguistic consciousness of Russian language native speakers. The concepts of “old age” that were relevant to the residents of our state three decades ago, have undergone significant changes. Negative attitude to the old age, pessimism, and a sense of the inevitable end of life, have been replaced by the hope of a “prosperous, happy, financially stable old age”. The younger generation does not hesitate to draw a parallel between such concepts as “old age” and “retirement” - this fact was recorded for the first time as previously, the scientific studies based on data from associative experiments, hadn’t noted similar approach. The above conclusions were obtained as a result of a chain associative experiment with the word-stimulus “old age”, which involves obtaining 3 reactions of students to this stimulus (on the basis of the Faculty of Philology of the RUDN). 99 students (aged 17-25), native speakers of the Russian language, were selected to participate in the experiment (these parameters are reflected in the questionnaire of the subjects). Due to the unfavorable epidemiological situation and the conditions of distance learning, the experiment was conducted in an online format using the MS Forms application. The obtained resulting associative-verbal network of the concept “old age” was compared with the characteristics of the above-mentioned concept, recorded in the Associative Dictionary of the Russian Language edited by Yuri Nikolaevich Karaulov.
Pragmatic (In)appropriateness of Diminutives in Russian Language
Abstract
The article discusses the issue of pragmatic meanings of diminutive forms in the Russian language from the point of view of politeness and speech act theories. The impact of diminutives on the illocutionary force and perlocutionary effects of speech acts raises the question of their appropriateness in various communicative situations. Since there is a negative bias towards diminutives among lay native speakers, it was decided to analyse their opinions, beliefs and feelings in order to define 1) the speaker’s illocutionary intentions; 2) contexts of use and 3) perlocutionary effects. The online articles, forums, posts on social networks and comments of Internet users were collected, with a total amount of 23 sources and 714 user comments. The emic and bottom-up approach referred to speakers’ intuition reveal 1) negative attitude towards diminutives in hierarchical relationships, 2) perception of diminutives as a positive politeness tool in low distance relationships, 3) perception of diminutives as a manipulative tool in unequal relationships. Thus, the appropriate use of diminutives calls for pragmatic skills to assess a communicative situation in terms of social variables, such as social distance and power, mutual costs and benefits, rights and obligations of interlocutors.
RUSSIAN LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Semantic Differential as a Method for Studying Attitudes to the Native and Russian Languages in Context of Psychological Acculturation
Abstract
The relevance of research on the factors of acculturation is constantly increasing in current globalizing and rapidly changing world. The proficiency the language of the host country is one of the most important preconditions for one’s successful entry into a new culture, but until recently there were practically no studies on attitudes towards the language as a factor of the acculturation in the international students. The purposes of the pilot empirical study presented in the article were to identify and compare: (1) attitudes towards the native and Russian languages in the groups of Azerbaijani and Chinese university students, and (2) the correlations between attitudes towards the Russian language and the level of acculturation to Russia in these groups of the international students. The study involved 93 (58% - females) Chinese students and 62 (60% - females) Azerbaijani students studying in bachelor’s and master’s degrees at various Russian universities. To diagnose attitudes towards the native and Russian languages, the author's version of the semantic differential (SD) of 10 bipolar scales was used. To measure the level of acculturation The Acculturation Scale to Russia by A. Ardila et al. was applied. The results of the research show that the similarity prevails in attitudes towards the native and Russian languages on most of the SD scales in both groups, (excluding differences in the assessing of the “understandableness“ of the Russian language, and the “popularity” of the native language). In contrast, there are much more intercultural differences in the factor structures of the SD scales, especially when assessing the Russian language. In turn, assessments of the Russian language on most SD scales are positively associated with the level of acculturation in the international students, but these correlations are more pronounced in the group of Chinese students. The findings of the study can be used both by the Russian language teachers for international student, and by researchers of the acculturation process with the aim of further improving methods for diagnosing its factors and predictors.
Russian Language in the Global Linguocultural Space
Abstract
As the planetary civilization enters a qualitatively new era, the dialectical contradiction inevitably grows: “national-cultural - globally universal”. Obviously, in its resolution, not the last place belongs to the languages of the peoples of the world. Functioning in interactive interaction, the languages of the world form a civilizational linguocultural space. National languages are increasingly acquiring, in addition to the function associated with the promotion of “soft power”, the function of a translator of the cultural heritage of peoples and nations into the global cultural landscape. The purpose of this article is to determine the potential of the Russian language in the world cultural and linguistic mainstream. When writing the article, a wide range of sources was used, including materials from international foundations and organizations, documents characterizing Russian and European language policy, electronic resources and scientific literature on the problem. In addition to special and general scientific methods, the comparative method was used in the work, which made it possible to project European multilingualism on the logic of the article, revealing the mechanisms of global linguistic integration. By virtue of its natural qualities, the Russian language has a unique potential for adaptation to a new social reality. The domestic historical and cultural process has determined the unique features of the modern Russian language: special communication properties that meet the broad needs of users, including not only representatives of the Russian ethnos; imagery that allows you to convey all the richness of the cultural heritage of Russia and the ability to present the cultural heritage of other peoples. The civilizational potential of the Russian language largely depends on how long its ability to aggregate the national cultural values of the peoples of Russia and to promote them into the global cultural process will persist and increase, which, of course, does not mean embedding into the politically engaged hierarchy of “great” and “peripheral” languages. A special role in the search for a multilingualism strategy as the upcoming fundamental principle of the global world order belongs to the European Union, which is paving the first steps in this direction, fraught with problems and difficulties. The article attempts to analyze the relevance of the tools chosen by the European Union to implement the strategic goal of multilingualism. The first experience of moving towards achieving this goal testifies to the counter productiveness of following the path of linguistic universalism or cultural domination. It is obvious that hopes for the deprivation of national and cultural identities in the linguistic space also demonstrate their failure. Globalization as an objective process inevitably determines the transformation of all languages of the world, including the Russian language. However, it is clear that only the changes enriching them, but not distorting the natural appearance, coincide with the direction of the cultural evolution of the planetary civilization.
Thematic Representation and Linguo-Cognitive Structure of the Businesswoman Image from the Perspective of Gender-Professional Axiology
Abstract
The article is devoted to the field modeling of the verbal representation of the stereotypical image of a businesswoman - a new phenomenon in the Russian mentality. A comprehensive description is carried out in the sociolinguistic, linguo-cognitive, discursive and gender aspects based on the integrative cognitive-functional analysis of the linguo-culturally marked components of the stereotype image by the methods of a semantic-cognitive, discursive, contextual, conceptual analysis, the method of field modeling and interpretation of the data obtained. The described fragment of the worldview is a pioneering field of comprehension of new phenomena of reality in the framework of the analysis of business discourse and national conceptual spheres. The empirical material of the study was the results of a survey of professional feminine and masculine groups. The nucleus of the heterostereotype of a businesswoman was revealed, based on the ideas enshrined in the minds of the male entrepreneurs - “feminine strategies of business communication” and an integral set of roles and status positions of the performer and assistant, in which the leading place is given to men, and the secondary - to women. In addition, the analyzed linguistic material demonstrated the transformation of traditional female roles of a wife and a mother towards male roles of a breadwinner and a leader. So, the autoimage of a businesswoman is a complex cognitive structure that includes a set of social roles and functions, numerous gender prescriptions and stereotypes. The nucleus of auto-representations of a businesswoman has also made up a cognitive attribute of “female business communication strategies”. The feminine role-playing set, according to the women entrepreneurs, includes the traditional roles of a housewife, a mother, a wife, a weak woman, a parity spouse and a hybrid feminine-masculine image. According to the study, the actualization of new feminine roles does not eliminate the socio-cultural background of a woman’s development in society, but tends to preserve traditional female behavior patterns in combination with components determined by civilizational processes.
Gender Stereotypes in Teaching Aids on Russian as a Foreign Language for Beginners
Abstract
The paper brings up the issue of reflecting gender roles in textbooks for international students, investigates which concepts of men and women they can potentially form among foreign students on the basis of these teaching aids. The aim of the present study is to describe the gender roles of men and women in the textbooks of the Russian language for beginners. For that, it was necessary to solve a number of tasks, such as fixing examples of gender-characterized units in teaching aids; creating a system of categories for comparison and comparing the analysis results of all involved textbooks. The following methods of qualitative content analysis, classification method, comparison method were used in the work. Popular textbooks on Russian as a foreign language were taken for the analysis. This study makes it possible to investigate gender roles in Russian culture through the spectacle of the textbooks for foreigners, allowing us to get a new angle on the correlation of gender characteristics. The study can also be used by future textbook authors to further develop textbook characters in terms of their gender roles. The authors of the study conclude that textbook representations convey stereotypic ideas about the roles of men and women, but these images cannot be recognized as corresponding to extra-linguistic reality, which can potentially result in communication failures among foreign students when interacting with Russians.
Language situation and status of languages in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania
Abstract
The article substantiates the socio-economic and cultural-historical introduction of the Ossetians to the Russian language, which is considered as the result of the natural development of the standard of living of the highlanders. The aim of the study is to consider the history and characteristics of national-Russian bilingualism, the role of language interaction in the formation of a bilingual personality, society, identification of deformed linguistic processes that led to both the loss of the function of language proficiency and its use in everyday life, as well as measures that contribute to the revival of native language. The article emphasizes that the Russian language has become a civilizing factor that has significantly accelerated the development of the spiritual culture of the mountaineers, that it, along with the Ossetian language, is recognized as the state language of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania as a language of interethnic communication, it is provided with free functioning throughout the republic. The work also focuses on the ethno-demographic composition of the population, emphasizes the polyethnicity of the region, which contributes to the strengthening of the role of the Russian language as a language of interethnic communication. During the 20th century, a sharp delimitation of the functions of the Russian and native languages leads to a weakening of the role of the national language, which exposes it to the threat of extinction. Loss of language entails a loss of self-awareness, culture, perception of the world, as well as the loss of self-identification. According to the authors, the republic itself needs to be concerned about the widespread use and all-round development of the native language in national government bodies, public organizations of science, culture, education, health care and the service sector. We need to work with those native speakers who do not consider it prestigious to communicate in their native language in the family, do not try to pass it on to the next generation: the lack of linguistic continuity is destructive. To preserve the language in the context of globalization, the authors propose to strengthen the role of the state and society, to consolidate the efforts of scientists, statesmen and public figures in order to influence the activities of the media to preserve the language and culture; direct their efforts towards harmonious bilingualism.
Using the Phonological Approach to Describe the Vocal System of the Russian Language in the Context of Russian-Spanish Language Contact
Abstract
The article is devoted to the description of the vocal systems of different languages, considering the functional approach, based on the objective linguistic reality. Today the traditional approach used by research scientists is gradually losing the ability to identify effective models of the phonetic-phonological system of the language, which significantly affects the productivity and research results. The rapid development of new directions of science, the evolution of the language system and all its sublevels indicates the need to adjust the traditional principles of describing phonetic-phonological systems of different languages and imposes special requirements on the relevance, productivity, adequacy and compliance of such descriptions with objective reality. The article analyzes the system of vowels from a phonological point of view - a general classification of vowels through the prism of phonological systematics of meaningful oppositions - considering the articulatory base of the language and the modern orthoepic norm, their changes in the flow of speech, an inextricable connection with consonantism and the prosodic organization of the word. This system is more productive and relevant for solving the problems of modern linguistics. The approbation of the vocal system of the Russian language, obtained within the framework of the corrected approach to the description of systems, is carried out in conditions of language contact, since the problems of language contact are interconnected with the main tasks of the theory of language in the framework of the comparative historical description and comparison of languages. Phonetic interference, together with a foreign accent, is a consequence of the contact between the native language and the target language. Phonetic interference, being an integral part of linguistic contact, causes a violation of the sound side of the language of foreigners. After analyzing the descriptions of the vocal systems of the Spanish and Russian languages, made within the framework of the adjusted functional approach, it is possible to highlight the main features of the Spanish accent in the pronunciation of Russian vowel sounds, and the analysis of the practical material confirms all the selected features and demonstrates the high efficiency of the above approach. The results of this work can be used in various theoretical courses, as well as to create systems for automatic synthesis and speech recognition.
SEMIOTIC STUDIES
Semiophores in Multimodal Communication: Verbal and Visual Representation of Cultural Values. Soviet and British Candy Wrappers of the Latter Half of the 20th Century as a Case Study
Abstract
The article considers complex semiophore analysis of Soviet and British candy wrappers representing social and cultural development of Soviet and British society in a certain period of time. Examination of non-trivial research material, definition of the term “semiophore” and the development of a complex method of semiophore analysis make the presented research relevant. Semiophores are indicated by the authors as derivative multimodal semiotic objects that represent historical, political and cultural identity in different ways. The authors have examined 53 candy wrappers, among which 30 candy wrappers are of a Soviet and 23 ones are of a British origin. All of them were produced in late 20th century. Candy wrappers being semiophores are considered as a complex of associated, functional, pragmatic, logical and semantic connections. This causes a necessity to develop a complex methodology of semiophores analysis. As a result, a complex method of semiophore analysis has been elaborated. The method has been applied in research of Soviet and British candy wrappers of the latter half of the twentieth century. The authors have concluded that in most cases the verbal and visual components that form the structure of a candy wrapper correspond to each other and actualize the image presented on it. All images presented on the Soviet wrappers can be thematically divided into various groups, for example, some candy wrappers represent crucial historical events, literary characters, cultural phenomena and architectural objects of Russian cities. In general, the images presented on the Soviet candy wrappers perform an educational function, contribute to the formation of cultural, national, political identity and self-identity of Russians. British candy wrappers are characterized by a simple design and usually present the name and look of the product. At the same time, the name of a product has a clear structure and informs the consumer about the manufacturer and the content of the product. Unlike the Soviet candy wrappers, the British candy wrappers were found to be primarily aimed at providing product information and advertising the product. The authors are eager to apply the developed complex methodology to the analysis of other types of semiophores in their further research.
Semiotics of Advertising Communication in WEB 2.0 Network Social Services
Abstract
The article is devoted to the study of semiotics in the advertising communication of web 2.0 network social services. The purpose of the article is to analyze the publications of various brands on social Internet services focused on communication with the consumer and the subsequent study of the features of the use of semiotics tools. The relevance of the article is due to the fact that the modern information society has increased interest in semiotic systems, including in the field of Internet communication. The modern vision of semiotics has gone beyond the traditional framework and defined it as part of global and local communication in web 2.0 social network services, not only between Internet users, but also in the areas of B2B and B2C. The study of the possibilities of semiotics in advertising communication on web 2.0 social platforms, using the example of search engine applications, the social network Instagram, and company sites, in this article is based on the works of R. Barthes, J. Baudrillard, Y. Lotman, and U. Eco. This material confirms our hypothesis that today, especially since the beginning of the pandemic, communication on web 2.0 services is not limited only to text with a picture/photos or videos, more and more often there are visualized scenes created with the help of graphic design with the use of symbols and iconic signs that are familiar to the consumer, which he easily decodes, since they are inscribed in his socio-cultural coordinate system. The innovation of the research is based on the fixation of modern criteria of advertising Internet communication: polycode, intertextuality and multimedia, used as a way of working with target audiences. The novelty of the material consists of the understanding that semiotics today is a new look not only at the branch of scientific knowledge, but also at the practical possibilities of sign systems in the digital age, when the sign becomes a part of the socio-cultural space, a trend of the global world, a tool for transmitting information, knowledge, positioning, a tool for manipulation, influence, and attracting attention. Thus, brands working with the audience in today’s realities should take into account not only the product preferences of consumers, but also broadcast their social / civic activity.
Twelve Chinese Zoosigns of Zodiak: Tradition and Modernity
Abstract
The work is devoted to the origins and peculiarities of zodiac signs in the ancient Chinese tradition. The study is carried out within the frames of linguocultural approach towards interpreting animalistic metaphors, namely, the zoonyms of the twelve zodiac signs which in China, are used to characterize people concerning their date of birth and are passed on from generation to generation. Chinese zodiacs are based on the astronomic theory of constellations and human worship (idolatry) of totems. It focuses on the comparison of zoonym metaphors reflected as Chinese zodiac signs both in the Chinese and Russian languages proceeding from the theory of metaphor in modern cognitive aspect to detect similarities and differences, and as well, the study of cultural roots of zoonym metaphors revealed in the Chinese zodiac signs. The object of the study concerns zoonyms of zodiac signs possessing the relevant meaning in the Chinese zoological lexis. The work elaborates the definition of the notion “zodiac”, describes the processes of the genesis, formation and development of the Zodiac culture and its specific cultural relevance; according to the analysis undertaken, the means to differentiate twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac, and those of Chinese fairy tales, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, in Russian - animals were discussed and verified as to I.A. Krylov’s fables. The conclusion states that metaphors are determined by the language itself, and linguocultures of various nations are reflected in specific metaphors and other peculiarities.