The aim of the article is to examine the semantic and syntactic properties of modal words in German. The paper analyzes the types of modal semantics which are encoded in modal words; the peculiarities of the syntactic use of modal words are shown; the relationship between the type of modal semantics and their syntactic use is revealed, and the question which words with evaluative semantics can be classified as modal is considered. The relevance of this kind of work is determined by the following circumstances: firstly, it is necessary to describe the syntax and the semantics of modal words and their grammar features; secondly, it is important to reveal the relationship between modality and evaluativity and, thirdly, to define the conditions under which modal words can encode not one but several modal meanings. By using the transformation method and the method of component analysis the following groups of modal words were identified: modal words with alethic semantics; modal words with epistemic semantics; modal words with evidential semantics. Some modal words build separate groups: The modal word angeblich has evidential semantics, because it indicates the third person as a source of information; the modal word wahrscheinlich can have epistemic or evidential or alethic and evidential semantics; the modal word leider is able to express an emotional attitude of the speaker. The identification of different types of modal words is possible through the research of their syntactic properties, namely: the usage in dependent object clauses with the epistemic and factive predicate in the matrix clause; in conditional sentences as well as the ability to have independent usage as an answer to a question without a question word.

The current article is devoted to the analysis and description of the language of a modern diplomatic text, which represents a diplomatic substyle of a business style. In the Czech language, which possesses a wide stylistic differentiation, a diplomatic substyle remains insufficiently studied. A diplomatic substyle is an integral part of the language of diplomatic communication, in which the Heads of the State and the Government, the ministers of foreign affairs, and representative institutions are involved. This fact brings it closer to the language of political communication.
For this reason, the author aims at characterizing the stylistic features of traditional text types in the diplomatic correspondence between the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation, and highlighting their similarities and differences in form as well as in content. By the example of original texts the structure of a diplomatic document is represented: a form of address, protocol forms of courtesy and compliments, its semantic core and the argumentation part as essential parts of a document.
The fore cited analysis of the functional-communicative features of the diplomatic texts lexical composition shows the presence of professional names and terms, idioms and cliché, as well as new lexical units and terms that reflect socio-political changes in the Czech Republic and new geopolitical realities.

The article examines the specific aspects of antonomasia in modern media on the example of online versions of the German-language press: “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, “Bild”, “Die Zeit”. The aim of the study is to identify the pragmatic potential of this type of nomination in the articles on political topics. The relevance of the study is accounted for by contradictory approaches to such a multifaceted linguistic phenomenon as antonomasia within the framework of a pragmatic study of online media discourse. Antonomasia is a means of linguistic nomination, which is realized in speech and performs an evaluative function in the German-language media course, thus causing a special interest of a researcher.
The main objective of the study is to identify the evaluative and influencing functions of antonomasia, which contribute to the formation of a certain position in the reader. The methods of continuous sampling and semantic analysis are used. The selected examples are divided into the cases of antonomasia of the first type (the transfer of a proper name to other politicians) and the second type (the transfer of mythological and literary characters to famous politicians). A special attention is paid to the analysis of the semantic modification of proper names in online media discourse and the background knowledge required for both “decoding” and translation of antonomasia by a native speaker into other languages. The paper states that antonomasia is always based on a secondary nomination and evaluation, it can also be part of the opposition “we” - “they”. The analysis of the practical material made it possible to reveal the estimated potential of antonomasia. The authors come to the conclusion that the analyzed material testifies to the relevance of antonomasia in the online media discourse on political topics, and its significant impact on the reader’s perception of information.

The article offers options for the classification of abbreviations-documentary names on the basis of various characteristics. The following can be selected as the classification criteria: the number of components in an abbreviation, which affects its derivational potential; the structure of the abbreviation, i.e. the division of abbreviations into initial, syllabic and combined; the types of documents, for example: laws, regulations, agreements, et.; the classification on a thematic basis, i.e. in relation to the sphere of management and economics. This classification is mainly based on truncated components, which are more informative than initials. Among document names there are abbreviations consisting of purely German components and abbreviations that are borrowings or consisting of a combination of autochthonous and borrowed components. It is possible to classify documentary abbreviations by the presence of borrowings in their composition. The main attention in the article is paid to the classification by their place in the internal onomastic field. The names of documents used in the common European space and the names of documents with a narrower scope of distribution (Germany as a whole or in specific federal lands) are distinguished, which determines their entry into the nuclear or peripheral zone of the onomastic space. The presence of other onyms in the documentary names, among which toponyms, that characterize the effect of specific legal documents in a certain territory, occupy a special place. It is concluded that abbreviated document names represent a certain field of onomastics, the core of which are global document names, and that they represent a certain system, and not a simple set of abbreviated onyms.

The article deals with the problem of semantic perception of a creolized text consisting of an image and a word denoting the depicted cultural object. The experiment is aimed at solving the problem of the influence of the non-speech component on the understanding of a speech message. In the course of the experiment carried out using Ch. Osgood’s method of semantic differential, the subjects recorded the results of the experiment using questionnaires, in which they reflected their mental images formed during the semantic perception of the creolized text. The study showed that the content of the creolized text differs from the content of both the image and the word denoting it. These differences arise due to the functional and substantial qualities of the depicted cultural objects, since the content of these objects is the content of the words themselves that denote them. Consequently, CT has an enriched content that is different from the content of the object’s image and its verbal designation.

The article is devoted to the problems of expressive syntax and its role in transmitting the author’s communicative intentions. According to the dominating cognitive-discourse paradigm at present, scientists are interested in researching the manifestations of the author’s perception of transmitted information and their impact on the form of its presentation. Due to the dominating role of mass media in the contemporary world, it seems of great importance to reveal the way they influence the collective mind of the readers. In this connection expressive syntax plays a very important role in the process of communication via media text. The main aim of the research is to analyze functional and linguistic peculiarities of expressive syntax in media texts as a means of the author-reader interaction. In this article the research of the expressive syntax means is conducted on the basis of two English magazines. The topics and cognitive peculiarities of the readers play a great role in choosing proper expressive means and are required to be considered as a system. The results of the analysis show that the main means of expressive syntax in popular press is a parenthetical phrase serving to give the author’s comments, define terms and toponyms, or add extra information, satisfying the readers’ curiosity. The result also shows that due to different cognitive attitudes, types of creation (individual or collective) and segments of its targeted audience, National Geographic articles, unlike The Economist ones, contain more variable means of expressive syntax.

The relevance of this article is determined by the increasing interest of linguists in the results and principles of actualization of gender-inclusive concepts. Theoretical basis of the study of conceptual-frame mapping of knowledge, the structure of the conceptual cognitive frame “WOMAN” and its peripheral zones: subframes “Mother”, “Wife”, “Girl”, “Daughter”, “Sister” have been outlined in this article. Each subframe has been considered separately with the reliance on the analysis of narrow distribution of taxon lexemes of conceptual-cognitive subframes as a part of collocation models with prepositive and postpositive adjuncts taken by continuous sampling from the British National Corpus of the English language. Three semantic categories in the frame structure have been distinguished in the process of the categorization of data taken by continuous sampling: physical, mental, and social parameters. A number of subcategories has been identified in each category: physical parameters – age, physical conditions and abilities; appearance, mental parameters – character, behavior, knowledge, mental abilities, emotions and feelings, sociocultural parameters – origin, nationality, race, etc. Taking into consideration their density, we were able to find out what information is prominent in the consciousness of native speakers when peripheral zones of the frame are activated. The summary data of the analysis allow us to present a general picture of actualization of the peripheral zones in the conceptual-cognitive frame “WOMAN”.

The paper considers the semantic structure of the concept IMAGE in the German language. The article presents the results of the definitional analysis of the lexeme “Image”. The procedure of the definitional analysis, which enabled us to identify cognitive integral elements in order to objectify the concept of IMAGE, is specified. The classification of all identified semes is given in accordance with the activity-based approach; and the dominants of the ideal cognitive model of IMAGE are singled out, which include SUBJECT, OBJECT, MOTIVES, RESULTATIVE, and PROCEDURAL-SUBSTANTIVE SIDES of the concept. The structure of the idealized cognitive model of IMAGE is constructed of the units identified at the three stages of componential analysis. It is argued that the idealized conceptual model is associated with positive characteristics of an individual or a group of people in the eyes of others. At the same time the terminals included in the slots of the cognitive model are attacked in order to discredit a political opponent or to indicate the negative consequences of the politics conducted by the members of the outgroup. The author comes to the conclusion that the speaker purposefully tries to present his political opponents as inconsistent with the idealized cognitive model of IMAGE, discrediting their positive image in the eyes of others.

This research aims to identify the smallest unit of theatrical text as a specific polyphonic sign system from the point of view of the apparatus that governs it. The initial difficulty, which arises in connection with theatrical text, is the issue of a theatrical sign. The author considers different approaches targeted to synthesize the definition of the smallest unit, which is required for the scientific description of the object under analysis. It is pointed out that any disregard of a polymodal nature of theatrical text leads to invalid results. Theatrical text as a direct result of complex sign semiosis should be regarded holistically. It is important to realize that any speech event in the theater is performative and applied in an equivalent theatrical sign (acteme), which is the result of polyvalent sign systems on the stage. The term ‘acteme’ applied for theatrical signs, as it is assumed, can facilitate the process of linguistic description of theatrical text and its reading. It is pointed out that although the issue of theatrical text is less elaborated in language theory than the issue of dramatic text as a literary work, it is evident that investigations in this field have considerably progressed and the search for an adequate comprehension of semiotic procedures continues.

The article illustrates the applied teaching method that helps to eliminate interlingual asymmetries brought about by the differences in the language and conceptional worldviews of the source and target languages (SL, TL). A translation act in a specific communicative situation establishes a contact between SL and TL, which inevitably leads to interference resulting from interlingual contacts and cross-cultural differences. Drawing upon the definition and assessment of interference caused by interlingual asymmetries, the authors offer the ways of eliminating it in translation by making use of interpretive translation transformations. The cases of interlingual asymmetry are illustrated on the examples of translated from English into Russian journalistic texts of political media-discourse, which serve as a teaching material for translators. In rendering denotative and expressive functions – the key functions of the functional style under analysis – the translator resorts to the interpretation of the invariant meaning, which requires moving beyond the structural and semantic parallelism between SL and TL and basing on presupposition knowledge. The comparative analysis carried out by the authors demonstrates that the most common translation techniques are transformations on grammatical and lexical-semantic levels, in addition, explication, or explicitation, and implication of the key features of the described referential situation while switching from SL to TL, the latter presenting the greatest difficulties in translators’ training process.

Translation of legal texts requires special attention and great accuracy. In legal texts words have legal connotations and legal consequences, which enable either to protect the interests of legal entities and individuals, or, on the contrary, violate their rights. Inappropriate translations of legal texts cause misunderstanding and vagueness, which is unacceptable in this type of texts. The compendium of legal texts in Iran is based on general legal law and jurisprudential principles. The lack of bilingual legal RussianPersian and Persian-Russian dictionaries enhances the translation problems in this field. This fact suggests that due attention has not been paid to such an important issue in the field of linguistics. The current criterion used in the translation of legal documents is the objective interpretation of the text. The identification of the problem can help solve it. The subject of this article was the legal content focused on legal family and financial texts. The purpose of our research is to reveal the difficulties translators of legal texts in these languages face, to study the best examples of translation accumulated by far and to help translators of legal texts by integrating translators’ experiences and publishing comparative works that reveal cultural and semantic connotations in two languages.

In the presented article, folk riddles are subjected to linguocognitive analysis. Riddles have traditionally been studied either in literary or in a purely linguistic (structural and semantic) aspects, which turn out to be weak in terms of revealing the entire system of explicated and implicit patterns of architectonics of a not so voluminous, but rather complex linguistic and ethnocultural mechanism of folk riddles. Based on the current situation, we considered it necessary to illuminate the named units in the aspect of their linguocognitive comprehension in the space of a comparative typology - on the material of unrelated languages. Due to the limited possibilities of communication, we focused only on the main parameters of the linguocognitive analysis of riddles – the properties of anthropocentricity, conceptual base and internal form.
Riddles are anthropocentric through and through, their conceptual base, as a rule, is associated with the disclosure of objects and phenomena precisely in their conceptual hypostasis: answers are always nominations of concepts, and not the names of objects and phenomena in their dictionary sense.
The analytic-synthetic structure of riddles, more than any other linguistic unit, reveals the deep connections of language with the creative thinking of the speaking subject, most clearly explicates the so-called internal form of the linguistic unit, conditioned by the “national spirit of the ethnos”.
The analysis once again confirms the need for a systemic linguo-cognitive understanding of the named units of the small genre of folklore, especially in its typological implementation.

This study analyses the role of metonymic transfer in the formation of euphemisms in the semantic field of “death” in Russian and Persian languages. Death as an inevitable reality in human’s life possesses an important place in all languages and cultures. Dealing with this concept has been always difficult. The word “death” invokes fear and discomfort among people. Sometimes fear, and sometimes a sense of politeness and decency make people take advantage of euphemisms. Metonymic transfer is one of the most relevant ways to form euphemisms in the semantic field of “death”.
Metonymy refers to the transfer of titles from one subject to another based on proximity. In line with metonymy, different kinds of it including synecdoche and metalepsis in Russian and implicature and allegory in Persian also play important roles in the formation of euphemisms of the “death” concept. In this article, we would categorize the Russian as well as Persian euphemisms, which are formed on the basis of metonymic transfer, into three groups: 1) euphemistic units, formed by means of metonymy; 2) euphemistic units formed by metalepsis; 3) euphemistic units formed by synecdoche. While comparing Russian and Persian euphemisms in the semantic field of “death”, we aim to clarify the similarities and differences of the usage of metonymic transfer in these two languages.

The article analyses and demonstrates the practical application of the authors’ method of specialist’s professional identity formation through foreign language classes (English, advanced level). The methodology is based on the principle of shaping professional linguistic personality as a central element of professional identity. The authors identify the correlation dependence of the indicated phenomena, on the basis of which the linguistic foundation of the study is built - the selection and analysis of language material through the method of conceptual linguistic engineering of professional identity. Due to the presented complex linguistic analysis, the authors collect a corpus of textual and language units - a working thesaurus which forms the linguistic basis of the entire educational process of forming a professional linguistic personality.
Content-wise, the methodology is based on thematic planning, which is as close as possible to the professional activities of the future specialist. For example, the topics proposed for discussion by the students in
the described pilot manual substantially duplicate the main stages of the business plan. This structure allows us to purposefully form the professional language personality of the student, as well as the necessary professional competencies.
The obligatory project component as the final element of each thematic stage contributes to a deeper consolidation of the mastered language material and practical skills in a certain, profession-given, activity format. The entire process of forming the professional language personality is based on a comprehensive systematic study of productive language skills (speaking, writing).
The offered technique promotes not only the deep study of linguistic skills and development of the future profession discourse space but also develops a wide range of soft skills especially demanded by employers nowadays.

The article focuses on the comparative approach in teaching German as the second foreign language simultaneously with Czech as the first foreign language at the Russian State University for the Humanities. The bachelor program “Slavistics and Central European studies: languages, culture and literature of the Czech Republic and Austria” at the RSUH has some unique features: from the first year of this program students learn simultaneously two foreign languages: Czech as the first foreign language and German as the second one, therefore, they often make mistakes in German due to the influence of their mother tongue, Russian, as well as English, learned at school, and Czech. If the teacher of German has a good command of the Czech language, he or she can use some similarities between German and Czech that have appeared due to their long-term language contact and convergent evolution. The prepositional government of some Czech and German verbs is one of these similarities that distinguish them from the Russian language. And many mistakes are made by students in their target languages due to the verbal government of Russian. But with that said this language transfer could be avoided or reduced if we show that plenty of German and Czech verbs have analogous verb government. In order to check this statement, we have made a set of exercises (substitution drill and translation “Czech – German”, “German – Czech”, “Russian – Czech, German”), which contained four couples of German and Czech verbs with prepositional government. The testing of these exercises on seven second-year-students of the RSUH has shown that such exercises could help students to focus on Czech-German grammatical similarities and reduce the influence of the Russian language.

This article discusses the problem of modeling cultural and language environment in the preparation of specialists for intercultural communication. Intercultural communication presupposes that the interlocutors have the necessary amount of information about the specifics of the culture in contact, mentality, value system, traditions, peculiarities of the interlocutor’s speech and non-speech behavior. The simulated environment contains the necessary amount of information, the assimilation of which contributes to the success of international specialists in intercultural communication. The purpose of the article was to develop criteria for the selection of media materials, to determine the functions of a multimedia environment, as well as to identify the advantages and controversial aspects of its creation. In the course of the research, methods of analysis of scientific and theoretical sources, analysis and systematization of empirical experience were used. The article presents the concept of multimedia cultural and language environment, understood as a cultural and linguistic communicative space created for educational purposes with the help of multimedia, in which the perception of a foreign language speech and the culture it broadcasts is realized. Based on the goals of training international specialists, the following criteria for the selection of authentic media materials are being developed: compliance with the value attitudes of modern Russian society, compliance with the topic of educational programs, novelty of information, availability of language design of texts. The functions of the multimedia cultural and linguistic environment are educational, informational, diagnostic, motivational.