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

FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Functional Semantics and Linguosemiotics: modern trends

Lazareva O.V.
RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):731-739
pages 731-739 views

FUNCTIONAL SEMANTICS

Graphically Loanword from the Japanese Language in Modern Chinese Language

Denisenko V.N., Ke Z.

Abstract

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.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):740-753
pages 740-753 views

Synonymic Traps in Selected English Lexical Semantics Terms

Bednárová-Gibová K.

Abstract

The paper zooms in on terminological and conceptual scrutiny of selected eight English lexical semantics terms with the aim of pointing out their terminological synonymy, which is often misrecognized by English linguistics undergraduates. Does a ‘loose synonym’ denote in lexical semantics the same thing as a ‘partial synonym’ or ‘cognitive synonym’? Is the cognitive content of the term ‘false friend’ identical with that of a ‘pseudosynonym’ or ‘paronym’? What aspects of the semantic continuum are shared and non-shared by the selected terms? These questions are at the core of this contribution which can serve didactic purposes of English linguistics teaching. The desk research findings are part of semantic and lexicographic studies and aspire to forewarn English linguistics undergraduates of conceptual misinterpretations in common lexical semantics terms. The paper operates from the perspective of cultural linguistics across the Anglophone semantic continuum. It is based on a tailored Sharifian’s premise [2015] that the metalanguage of English lexical semantics is a repository of cultural conceptualizations that leave traces in its current terminological practice. The study suggests that some English lexical semantics terms offer a considerable space for their synonymic treatment, however, to the detriment of their correct conceptual decoding. The credit of the paper lies in raising undergraduates’ awareness of metalinguistic terminology but also in increasing their conceptual fluency in the selected terms.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):754-760
pages 754-760 views

The Meaning of the Word in the Model of Understanding

Kirov E.F.

Abstract

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.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):761-774
pages 761-774 views

Elements of Incorporation in the Russian Commercial Naming

Perfilieva N.V., Galankina I.I.

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of word formation incorporation in the Russian language. Incorporation is understood as the merger of two or more words into one morphological whole without the participation of word-forming formants, in which the value of the derivative is transformed in relation to the values of the original words. The derivatives of incorporation are called incorporation complexes. Components of incorporated complexes are classified as quasi-morphemes, which are special elements that do not correspond to the classical notion of lexical or word-forming units. A review of scientific papers on incorporation in the languages of the world demonstrates different approaches to this phenomenon and terminological differences in its definition. Incorporation has been a subject of study for more than a century as an essential characteristic of polysynthetic and analytical languages. In relation to inflectional Russian, this phenomenon has not been systematically described, which determines the relevance of the study and its analysis in this article. This linguistic phenomenon in the Russian language is relatively recent and, of course, requires scientific evaluation. The authors set a goal to determine the boundaries of word-formation incorporation in the Russian language and its differences from similar derivational models. The article considers the incorporation on the basis of the Russian commercial name. The material is collected by the method of continuous sampling from Internet sites. Incoporation complexes are selected among commercial names or ergonyms, which are signs of grocery stores, restaurants, cafes and other commercial establishments. As a result of the research, the classification of ergonyms formed according to the incorporated word-formation model in the modern Russian language is developed. The study is of great interest, as it offers an analysis of the trend actively developing in inflectional Russian. The method of contrastive analysis is used to compare similar examples from modern English. Lexical units from the English language have become the object of study, as the models of word formation of the English language are borrowed together with words. A significant group of examples of Russian ergonyms with borrowed components, among which English-language segments predominate, is also highlighted. The presence of incorporation in the Russian language, in particular, in commercial naming is considered as proof of the universality of certain linguistic phenomena in word formation.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):775-788
pages 775-788 views

Zones and Taxis: Locative Semantics of Russian Cases in Terms of Modern Systems Linguistics

Dremov A.F.

Abstract

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.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):789-809
pages 789-809 views

Semantic Transformation of Film Titles, Translated to Russian

Aleksandrova O.I.

Abstract

The article focuses on the issue of semantic transformations that occur when translating the titles of feature films using partial and complete replacement strategies. The research material includes 104 film titles, 31% of the total number of English-language films released in Russia in 2018. The paper attempts to highlight the semantic center in the film titles and classify them according to the type of the center. The analysis of the semantic structure of film titles in the original and translated versions made it possible to identify six groups with the semantic center of “character (s)”, “numbers”, “objects”, “chronotope”, “storyline”, “idea”. In 39% of the names, a shift in the semantic center with partial or complete replacement is observed. The name as a verbal component of a complex unit - filmtext is involved in the formation of the first impression of a potential audience. Film titles transformations can entail a shift in the focus of the addressee and affect his perception of film text as a whole. The study reveals a general tendency of transferring from abstract to concrete and from personal to event when translating the film titles from English to Russian.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):810-827
pages 810-827 views

Desacralization of the Word MAN in the Russian Language and its Spiritual Potential

Baturina E.N.

Abstract

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.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):828-840
pages 828-840 views

Inner Language Form as a Determinant of its Lexical Peculiarity (based on the Study Material of the Russian and the Teleut Languages Paroemia)

Denisova E.S., Proskurina A.V.

Abstract

In the present article we make an effort to develop the ideas of the Russian linguist G.P. Melnikov about the determinants of the language system in the context of his study about the dynamic language nature. The article is devoted to argumentation of peculiarity of multi-structural languages lexical recourses based on their inner form. Significance of the present article is determined, at first, by increased interest from scientists to comparative study of the languages used within one territory in conditions of preservation of their national and cultural originality; second, by insufficient information about linguistic peculiarities of short folklore genre of the Teleut people; third, by scientific relevant tendency to explanatoriness of surveys in the sphere of modern linguistics that is directed to human beings and the world around them. The goal of the authors is to research typical communicatively relevant ways to reflect extralinguistic reality that determine vocabulary of the Russian and Teleut languages. To achieve the stated goal the authors use in the present article data-fetching methods (data from dictionaries, via informants interviewing and questionnaire), descriptions, comparisons, experiments as well as the methods of linguoculturological and statistic analyses. The material for this study is based on proverbs, superstitions, riddles, idioms that are regarded as the elements of the Russian and Teleut people spiritual culture. Communicative aspects of culturally significant facts comprehension identified through lexical universals analyses allow us to define the national world-image of the Russian and Teleut people. The conducted research proved that received during the analyses typical and unique coding methods of the information preserved in the depths of national memory determine lexical originality of compared languages. As a result, the study of paroemiological fund of the Russian and Teleut language that is based on the inner form category allowed the authors of the present article to reveal the mechanism of linguoculturological processes happening between them.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):841-859
pages 841-859 views

Cluster Analysis of Polysemous Word Semantic Structure in the Light of Invariant Theory

Zimareva O.L., Pesina S.A.

Abstract

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.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):860-870
pages 860-870 views

Metaphorical Potential of Slang Language: some Results of the Pilot Experiment

Dilanova E.A.

Abstract

This article is devoted to the study of the slang language of youth on the basis of the results of a pilot free associative experiment. The purpose of this study is to identify the content of the stereotypical notions for native speakers, and to reveal the links that exist in the conceptual system of native speakers. In this regard, a pilot associative experiment was conducted among 40 students, belonging to the youth, who are either native English speakers or who speak English fluently. There were also presented the results of a free associative experiment aimed at identifying components that reflect national and individual characteristics of the perception of slangism, as well as the metaphorical characteristics of naive discourse, which are universal for young people. In addition, we were able to identify the influence of extra-linguistic factors on the content of the associative thesaurus.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):871-878
pages 871-878 views

Modeling of a Generalized Speech Portrait of a Blogger (as Exemplified in the German Military Blogosphere)

Shliakhovoi D.A.

Abstract

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.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):879-892
pages 879-892 views

Subject Variety of the Belgian Paroemias (on Lexicographical Material)

Syomina P.S.

Abstract

This article focuses on the main topics presented in the Belgian paroemias. In the paper, the paroemia is understood as a generic concept in relation to proverbs, sayings and signs. The author’s file of the Belgian French paroemies, taken by a continuous sampling method from the dictionary of proverbs and sayings of the Belgian francophony, is served as the material for the study. It is shown, how paroemias reflect the national character and features of the worldview of certain people. The relevance of the study is due to the necessity of the Belgians paroemiological world view description, because until now the thematic palette and description of the Belgian national character have been the subject of detailed study in neither Russian, nor Belgian linguistics.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):893-905
pages 893-905 views

Non-Derivative and Derivative Homonyms in the Russian and Uzbek Languages

Kurbanov B.S.

Abstract

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.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):906-919
pages 906-919 views

TV Live Reporting: a Pilot Study in Contrastive Genre Analysis

El-Zawawy A.M.

Abstract

TV live reporting or otherwise on-the-spot reporting is a sub-genre of TV journalism, but it is characterized by liveness and immediacy. The present paper focuses on the sub-genre of live reporting from the point of view of genre analysis within a contrastive framework. It makes use of two corpora of live reporting videos in English and Arabic, and analyzes them, both electronically and manually, according to a modified version of Bhatia’s approach to genre analysis (1993; 2002; 2012). It was found that TV correspondents maximize the use of first person pronouns that reflect the fact that they are reporting from the scene. They likewise tend to use hyperboles (see Geis, 1987). They also create an atmosphere of excitement by starting their reports by rising intonation patterns, but later on either resort to level routine delivery or attempt to project a certain attitude through a falling tone. English or English-speaking correspondents follow a generic structure where a spatial, temporal or opinion-centered setting is provided first, then follows the detailed body of narrative then finally the recapitulation. Arab correspondents, in contrast, directly go to the specifics of their reports, leaving the listeners without any trace of an introduction, and likewise clinch their reports abruptly by addressing the presenters.
RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):920-946
pages 920-946 views

SEMOTICS AND COMMUNICATION

Polysemiotic Elements of the State Emblems

Maksimenko O.I., Khromenkov P.N.

Abstract

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.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):947-956
pages 947-956 views

Foolishness, Darkened Icons and the Mechanism of Oblivion in the Context of the Semiotic System of Culture

Gerasimova S.V.

Abstract

Foolishness is understood in the context of a cultural semiotic system, where the proportional relation of the whole to the part reflecting the universal principles of the whole contains such phenomena and symbols as, on the one hand, a cosmic night, and on the other, oblivion, soviet theomachism darkened icon, foolishness. For the analysis of these categories, examples are given from the works of writers belonging to the golden chain of the Russian spiritual tradition.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):957-976
pages 957-976 views

Ethnic Stereotypes in Intercultural Communication: Psychological and Semantic Aspects

Novikov A.L., Novikova I.A.

Abstract

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.).

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):977-989
pages 977-989 views

Irony as a Cultural and Language Phenomenon

Gornostaeva A.A.

Abstract

The article focuses on irony as a multilateral phenomenon, which is the subject of many spheres: history, philosophy, culture, literature, linguistics etc. Different views on irony’s production and interpretation, as well as its development in history, are analyzed. Irony is viewed as a historic and cultural phenomenon, as well as a linguistic one. Irony exists in the sphere of other phenomena - humour, satire, sarcasm, joke etc. These notions are interrelated, they have something in common, yet irony has its own characteristics and peculiarities. It is stated that irony and language are inseparable, irony can function as an utterance, as a speech act and as a speech genre. The aim of the article is to analyze the characteristics of irony in discourse and to determine the conditions of efficient ironic communication. The author argues that irony as a discourse category is a common product of both the speaker and the recipient. Thus, to be effective, an ironic speech act needs proper cultural, social and psychological atmosphere. Theoretical basis is represented by both classical works on the nature of the comic, and contemporary research on irony.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):990-1002
pages 990-1002 views

Speaker as a Deontic Agent in Political Speech (on the Material of German and Russian Languages)

Sytko A.W.

Abstract

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.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):1003-1020
pages 1003-1020 views

Cross-situational Consistency of Female Politicians’ Language Use

Mukhortov D.S., Malyavina Y.S.

Abstract

This article seeks to study political discourses of American female politicians, specifically Madeleine Albright, the first female United States Secretary of State in the history of the United States of America, from 1997 to 2001, Condoleezza Rice, the 66th United States Secretary of State, and Hillary Clinton, the 67th United States Secretary of State. Different in age, ethnicity, political views, educational and social backgrounds, they reveal that in order to succeed in the political arena, women are bound to hide their female personality. Examples in question are Madeline Albright and Condoleezza Rice, recurrent users of such male discursive features as rhetorical questions, logical order of arguments, conceptual metaphors of war, sports, and hunting. Gender-marked female discourse is characterized by hesitation, use of standard speech, cognitive, social words, and hedges. Research shows that Hilary Clinton is a typical example of the female-marked political discourse. This has enabled her to pursue, among others, a feminist agenda, which has proved an efficient communicative tactic. Drawing on the socialization specifics of Albright, Rice, and Clinton, the paper explains why Albright and Rice tend to have a male-marked discourse and Clinton a female-marked discourse, as the first female Secretary of State, Albright simply had no female role models, with only male predecessors before her. She seeks to make her speech as neutral as possible, just at times exploiting female discursive patterns. Condoleezza Rice, Albright’s successor, uses characteristically male discourse the most. It can be attributable to the fact that she belongs to two ‘minority’ groups: women and African Americans. Sounding femalish might have weakened her chances to stay the strong Secretary of State that the geopolitical situation would demand. It is noteworthy that female politicians can, or have to, switch between male-marked and female-marked discourses in order to achieve certain goals and preserve their current status.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):1021-1036
pages 1021-1036 views

Contemporary Trends in Spanish Language and Social Changes in the Spanish-habitat Society

Tejerina G.

Abstract

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.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):1037-1047
pages 1037-1047 views

LITERARY TEXT SEMANTICS AND POETICS

Literary Domains’ Connectionin a Policultural Text

Sinyachkin V.P., Bakhtikireeva U.M., Valikova O.A.

Abstract

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).

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):1048-1066
pages 1048-1066 views

Poet as a Role: on the Semantics and Pragmatics of Russian Poeticism

Vekshin G.V., Lemesheva M.M.

Abstract

The article is devoted to the semantics and pragmatics of Russian poetry as deictic pointers to the poetic sphere and one of the six universal socio-cultural roles - the role of the poet-writer. The communicative role is interpreted as an element of speech behavior, determined by the basic communication settings: to be and to seem . It is shown that the stylistic coloring of poetry is formed only due to its stable correlation with the typical context and role; poeticisms by themselves do not create poetry and cannot even be considered as its obligatory feature, so they are primarily the subject of literary language theory and reflects the general cultural consciousness of speakers. In connection with the requirement to distinguish between the stylistics of language and speech, we review the difference between the poetic style of the language, which is a repository of poeticisms, from the poetic language as a style of speech (an operational system of techniques and tactics that ensure the performance of an artistic task); a detailed definition of poetic language is given. There is also a short observation of poeticisms at different levels of the linguistic system. The article proposes the description of the semantic structure of Russian poeticisms. It is emphasized that poeticisms can be used according to their artistic perspective (as a narrative tool, role-playing tool, to eliminate any speech image, in an ironic manner, etc.), however, their condensation in the text discloses the priority of an extra-aesthetic strategy of self-presentation in the role of a poet and, as a result, can be an indicator of “bad poetry”. This idea is shown on the example of a typical text of mass poetry saturated with poeticisms. The experience of compiling the poetic corpus of “Russian Live Stylistic Dictionary” discovers the possibility to identify the stylistic semantics of the word and to predict the artistic quality of the text.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):1067-1087
pages 1067-1087 views

The Semantic Space in the Novel of A. Nikolaenko “To kill Bobrykin. The History of one Murder”

Strelnikova N.D.

Abstract

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.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):1088-1105
pages 1088-1105 views

Usual and Individual Authorial Functioning of Lexemes “Dream” and “Reverie” in Igor-Severyanin’s Poetry

Shliakhova G.I.

Abstract

The article contains the analysis of the mental sphere lexis in Igor-Severianin’s poetry. The lexemes “dream”, “reverie” belong to mental field and represent leitmotifs, sense-making components of the ego-futurist’s literature. The frequency of their use in Severianin’s poetic texts is several times higher than is modern Russian language, which allows to notice their particular role. Moreover, the comparison of contextual and usual (dictionary) meaning shows that in poems the word-picture acquires new senses and expands the semantic field. This is visibly demonstrated by the examples of author’s use given in the article. The mental sphere lexemes help to perceive Igor-Severianin’s individual style as well as his worldview that reflects principles of ego-futurism, the literary movement aestheticizing reality and bringing human imagination into the foreground.

RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2019;10(4):1106-1115
pages 1106-1115 views

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