LINGUISTICS AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
This article describes the major results of exploring the contemporary American English particulars of rhythmical groups’ structural types quantity distribution as observed in the course of impromptu speaking and compared with extemporaneous reading, subject to the speaker’s gender. A number of specific features relating both to gender and oral speech production form are discussed. It was found that when switching to impromptu speaking both gender groups show an increase in the number of rhythmical groups of all structural types, however, the specificities of such an increase are different in either group. Women showcase an approximately twofold total gain in the number of rhythmical groups than men. Against the background of the general increase in the number of rhythmical groups of all structural types in a phrase, the Stress Rhythmical Group’s percentage share dynamics in the total gain turned out negative being the only negative indicator for men. With women the negative percentage share dynamics in the total gain is observed in rhythmical groups of two structural types: the Stress and the Proclitico-Enclitic ones. It is noteworthy that both gender groups attest to the same value of the aggregated negative percentage share dynamics in the total gain in the number of rhythmical groups which is equal to -0.8%. The major driving force of the gain in the total number of rhythmical groups is the Enclitic type. However, women evince an approximately 1.5 times greater percentage share dynamics in the gain of the Enclitic rhythmical group than men. Men compensate the reduced Enclitic rhythmical group gain percentage share dynamics by an increase of the indicator in such types as Proclitic and Proclitico-Enclitic. The most rigid structural type of rhythmical groups for women is the Proclitic one, it is also the least numerous for both genders. However, with men, the Proclitic rhythmical group is as agile as the Proclitico-Enclitic one provided, when the latter can be observed almost four times more often than the former. The author makes a number of assumptions and develops several hypotheses about the reasons for these observations, as well as draws possible perspectives for further studies.
This paper attempts to measure populism in English-language speeches of politicians using computational linguistics methods. The relevance of this study is related not only to the rise of populism in the world and the importance of understanding the mechanisms of political discourse, but also to the lack of linguistic research in the context of corpus studies. Most of the methods proposed to date require significant resources or suffer from structural limitations, especially when they rely heavily on the human annotation process to analyze extensive corpus data. The material for the study was public speeches and interviews of right-wing populist politician and 45th President of the United States Donald Trump and political rhetoric of left-wing populist politician Senator Bernie Sanders. The corpus analysis was based on transcripts downloaded from The American Presidency Project and Miller Center websites. The syntactic position of key lexical units is determined using a comprehensive method based on dependency grammar combined with natural language processing (NLP) and van Leeuwen’s linguistic theory. The application of natural language processing methods confirms the assumption that the frequency of politicians’ reference to the people is not the only relevant indicator for measuring people-centrism in (populist) political discourse, as usually proposed in the political science literature. The results of the study indicate that there is no predominant role of the people in the discourse of Trump and Sanders. In most cases, the people appear in a complementary or adjunct position, indicating their secondary importance in their rhetoric. Given that populism implies proximity to the people and is positioned as “vox populi” – “the voice of the people”, it can be assumed that for both Trump and Sanders, addressing the people is only a way to achieve their political goals.
The article focuses on the study of church lexicon as a lexical category. The aim of this article is to analyze and compare different linguistic points of view on the key stages of church lexicon development in the Russian and English languages, to determine a working definition of the category “church lexicon”, as well as its most important elements. In order to achieve this goal, the methods of analyzing sources, their subsequent comparison and contrast, identification of analogies and similarities were used, as well as synthesis of information extracted from these sources.
The material includes dissertations, scientific articles and other works of modern Russian scholars considering the concepts “church lexicon” and “religious lexicon”, comparing and juxtaposing them, as well as singling out constituent elements of the categories “church lexicon”, “religious lexicon”, “sacral lexicon”, and “liturgical lexicon”. In this article are used the works of such scholars as A.A. Azarov, I.V. Bugaeva, S.V. Bulavina, N.S. Valgina, R.I. Goryushina, E.V. Kakorina, I.A. Koroleva, T.I. Kosheleva and others.
The results of the research show that the interest in the church lexicon as a lexical category among Russian linguists has increased since the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries due to the revival of the Christian Church of various denominations, as well as other religious organizations. The long period of persecution of the Christian Church in Russia has affected church vocabulary, marginalizing it and relegating it to the periphery of the language. In the UK, USA and other English-speaking linguistic communities, the activities of the Christian Church have never been banned or persecuted, and the history of church vocabulary in the English language as such has never faced marginalization similar to that in Russia.
It has also been established that church vocabulary is part of the broader category of “religious vocabulary” and includes basic concepts from the sphere of the life of the Christian Church. Although scholars argue about the constituents of the category “church lexicon”, many agree that it includes the names of sacraments and rites, elements of the church calendar, names of church buildings and their elements, items of decoration, elements of vestments, as well as names of persons in relation to the Christian faith and the Christian Church.
This article may be of interest to philologists, linguists, and teachers of the Russian and English languages.
The given article is the summary of the research into neologisms of the lexico-semantic field Screen Addiction, the aim of which is to describe ways and means of the formation of screen addiction neologisms in modern English following the tenets of the cognitive-discursive approach. The methods used in data analysis are the definition method, the componential and the discourse analysis, and quantitative methods. The data under study (31 neologisms) were collected from dictionaries and online sources (newspapers, blogs, etc.) by hand search. The analysis of the semantic structure of the language unit “screen” in diachronic perspective led us to the conclusion that this language unit is flexible as all ongoing social changes tend to be accompanied by the expansion of the lexico-semantic variants of “screen” and by the change of their hierarchical structure. At present the most active variants of “screen” are “display on a computer monitor” and “the monitor itself ”. The neologisms of the lexico-semantic field Screen Addiction were classified by structural and semantic parameters. By their structure, they fall into two groups – neologisms with and without the “screen” component. By the semantic parameter we mean those spheres of our life, which have been influenced by screen addiction and have found their reflection in neologisms. According to the semantic parameter, neologisms fall into several groups: а) time/epoch we live in; b) people living in these times; c) time spent in front of the screen; d) screen addiction and ways of tackling it; e) diseases and other dysfunctions caused by screen addiction; and f) behaviour and manners. Group d) (screen addiction and ways of solving this issue) takes the lead (61 % of neologisms) which can indicate that this very aspect is people’s utmost concern at present. In terms of word building, compound words prevail (81% neologisms), whereas neologisms built by blending are only 16%, and by suffixation − 3%. It can be assumed that suffixation is less productive than compounding and blending since it does not let the speaker manifest his linguistic creativity in Internet communication.
This article examines the traditional form and modifications of the German phraseology «in Saus und Braus leben» in the modern German press on economic topics from 2018 to 2024. The purposes of using phraseological units in the economic media discourse are diverse. Journalists, in an effort to attract the attention of the readers, use vivid and expressive phraseological units often modifying them. The purpose of the article is to determine the communicative and pragmatic potential of the traditional and modified unit, to identify ways of modifying it, and to present a lexical description of the phraseology. The work describes the functioning of this phraseology both in its traditional form and as modified within media discourse. In order to conduct the research, the following methods were used: an analytical and descriptive approach, linguistic stylistic analysis, and systematization of results, continuous sampling, complex linguistic description, statistical processing, and generalization of data. The material for this study consisted of newspaper articles published in German electronic media, such as «Manager magazin», «Die Tageszeitung», «Der Spiegel», «Focus», «Taz», «Berliner Zeitung». During the study, we found that traditional and modified forms prevail in the article body, often realizing the function of attracting attention, expressive and evaluative functions. It was revealed that the frequency of implementation of the modified phraseology is almost 1.5 times higher than its implementation in the traditional form. Both traditional phrases and their modified variants are used in their original meaning without changing the meaning of the sentence. Within the framework of the studied corpus of traditional and modified phraseological units, the following modifications were identified: change of the grammatical form, expansion of phraseology through additional components, replacement of the verb, reduction of the usual form of phraseology. In the course of the study, an expanded model of the dictionary entry was proposed, considering the specifics of the modern functioning of phraseology in the texts of economic discourse. This description will reflect both the traditional form and the structural and semantic modifications of phraseological units in the media discourse on economic topics.
In Russia, the development of the green finance system with regard to a set of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors is still noticeably lagging behind, which explains the need for outreach activities that include a vocabulary (terminological) component. The aim of this research is to study linguistic trends and features of the usage of environmental vocabulary (terminology) in the increasingly important area of sustainable development and the green financing in the period from 2021 to 2023. The relevance of this research is due to rapid climate change that puts humanity on the brink of survival. Therefore, it is necessary to unite international efforts for the early introduction of scientific and technical achievements. This implies the emergence of new concepts and terms. The paper presents new concepts that emerged in 2021-2023 and materials that have not been previously subjected to linguistic analysis. The idea is to identify the presence of terms selected from English and Russian research materials in the UN terminology database UNTERM and to determine the frequency of their use in English and Russian user corpora via Sketch Engine. Research results demonstrate that in the abovementioned period, the emergence of terminology related to crisis phenomena, such as global warming, loss of biodiversity and land degradation, can be effectively traced. Achieving the sustainable development goals is associated with early and urgent measures to reduce emissions, preserve nature and introduce sustainable patterns of production and consumption with the help of economic and financial levers. A perspective tool for further research in this field could be the application of open neural networks that enable processing of large text arrays.
The article examines the use of the ideologeme “revolution” in the Carlist political discourse. Spanish Carlism, which is one of the oldest political movements in modern Europe, appeared in 1833 and opposed liberal reforms in Spain. Throughout its history, the Carlists positioned themselves as consistent opponents of revolutionary ideology. The aim of the study is to conduct a systematic analysis of the texts of Spanish Carlism and to identify the specifics of the use of the lexeme “revolution” and similar lexical units. To achieve the stated goal, 229 programme documents of the Carlist movement were analysed. The time frame of the study is 1833–1936. The lower temporal boundary is the Carlist uprising against the government in Madrid, which led to the First Carlist War. The upper temporal boundary is the beginning of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). In the analysed texts, 108 uses of the lexeme “revolución”, 39 of the noun “revolucionario” and 16 of the adjective “revolucionario” were singled out. Using the methods of contextual and critical discourse analysis we traced the change in the emotional colouring of the ideologeme in question. Since the Carlists were opponents of revolutionary movements, for them this notion served to create an image of the enemy, but over time the emotional colouring of the ideologeme in question decreased. In the analysed texts there is an opposition between the ideologeme “rebellion”, which has positive connotations, and the ideologeme “revolution” with negative connotations. At the genetic stage of the history of Karlism (1833–1876), a mixture of elements of religious and political discourse is observed.
TRANSLATION STUDIES
The causal status of the phenomenon of ethnopsychological idiosyncrasy is considered in the article in relation to the process of translation in the format of activity ontology. In translation studies, activity ontology uses not only comparison of idiomatic units and structures, but also, for research purposes, draws on textual, cultural, psychological, philosophical, pragmatic, cognitive and other aspects and phenomena which underlie translation process as a unique manifestation of interlingual and intercultural mediation. The activity paradigm opened up new prospects for studying fundamental problems of the translation theory. Among these problems are factors (determinants) of an adequate translation that are prerequisites of a translator’s work. Ethnopsychological idiosyncrasy, the concepts world picture and closely connected world idiomatic picture are considered from philosophical, and linguistic perspectives as well as from the point of view of translation theory.
The article proves the causal status of ethnopsychological idiosyncrasy as one of the most important factors determining translation activity. In order not to “lose yourself ” in the idiomatic picture of the target language, which is conditio sine qua non for an adequate translation, translators should possess professional skills to overcome conceptual stereotypes and peculiarities of the ethnic and psychological idiosyncrasy in the source language. If it doesn’t happen, translations are perceived as not quite natural and therefore are not fully adequate.
The differences in ethnic and psychological peculiarities in the communities, which enter into bilingual communication, form an ethnic and psychological differential, which should be neutralized during translation.
The author established certain manifestations of the Spanish ethnic and psychological idiosyncrasy relevant for the translator’s communicative activity in the Spanish-Russian idiomatic combination.
INNOVATIVE METHODS AND COMPETENCE APPROACH IN TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES
The article proposes an optimised starter’s set of basic Python and NLTK (Natural Language Toolkit) methods that are essential in the analysis of massive textual corpora conducted as part of research investigating linguistic images of the world. The need to specify and detail these applied techniques stems from the nature and scope of the inexorable challenges confronted by contemporary cognitive linguistics and lexicology in the realm of unstructured big data analysis. Their viability and practical value are demonstrated in a series of illustrative examples where they are applied to the processing of continuous parallel diachronic corpora of Hansard that capture the discourse of both chambers of the British parliament produced in the years 2006-2023 and jointly amounting to over a third of a billion tokens.
The article suggests that the methods it outlines and classifies can be seen as forming an indispensable minimum of IT competences that is capable of delivering a substantial boost to the level of research both as regards its overall quality and its competitive edge. The proposed toolkit includes an essential set of instruments for target vocabulary processing as well as for the assessment and visualisation of word and phrase frequency and collocation.
The author presumes that, urged by the need to keep abreast of prevailing trends, the contemporary Russian researcher of linguistic images of the world is highly likely to find themselves compelled at some point to embrace the quantitative analysis methods made possible by combining Python and NLTK. As part of its substantial and varied range of benefits, the latter would arguably help them design and customise research protocols, adapting them with ease and versatility. Lastly and most importantly, the author suggests that Python and NLTK skills may serve as a comfortable gateway towards eventually upgrading one’s linguistic research to cutting-edge global standards of technological sophistication and marketability.
The article is devoted to the author’s innovative integrated method of teaching English, which provides effective memorization of new interdisciplinary lexical units for three personality types of students according to the way they perceive information – audialists, visualists and practitioners. The relevance of the study is provided by the creation of new interdisciplinary programmes in the higher education system, which contributes to the emergence of interdisciplinary neologisms that reflect the latest social transformations in society and should be included in language training courses. The aim of the study was to develop an innovative integrated methodology to improve the efficiency and longterm effectiveness of learners’ memorisation of new interdisciplinary lexical categories in English that have emerged in the context of the digitalisation of the modern healthcare system. To search for and identify neologisms of the English language in the field of digital medicine, a content analysis of relevant scientific studies published in March 2024 in the peer-reviewed medical academic journal “The Lancet Digital Health” (Elsevier publishing house) was conducted. Based on the results of the content analysis, 16 new interdisciplinary lexical nominations were selected, using the example of which the features of the application of an innovative integrated methodology for teaching English, including the consistent use of the YouGlish online platform and the Alias game format, are revealed. The use of this methodology is effective both in the study of English neologisms by students in universities and in the development of their language skills and competencies in accordance with the challenges of rapidly changing social reality. The results of the author’s trial use of this complex methodology among students at the Faculty of International Journalism at MGIMO-University, showed that the innovative approach allows one to accelerate the memorization of English lexical units by students with different types of human thinking, as well as promotes the development of teamwork skills and increases learning motivation. The results of the author’s research can be used by teachers of language departments of higher educational institutions in the development and writing textbooks and teaching materials, as well as in the language training of future specialists, for whom interdisciplinary language knowledge, skills and competencies are in demand in the context of widespread digitalisation of key spheres of society and the transformation of the modern system of higher education.
LITERATURE AND LINGUOCULTURAL STUDIES
The unprecedented global spread of the English language has become the catalyst for its transformation into the local meaning-making resource encoding the communication needs of various speech communities in different parts of the world. This dual process of globalization and localization is particularly evident in the Expanding Circle countries, where originally English had the status of a foreign language and was used primarily to communicate with foreigners. In Russia, which is one of the Expanding Circle countries, various aspects of “glocalization” of English, especially in the sphere of vocabulary, have attracted considerable attention. However, they have not been systemically studied, and our analysis aims to fill this gap. This paper describes the function of English as a language of in-group interaction in Russia. Taking a multiple case study approach and using a constant comparative technique, we reviewed our previous research on the use of English in different communities of practice, namely, the Russian offices of international companies, the young biking community, and the community of popular music professionals. We re-examined all previously collected material, including observational linguistic data and ethnographic interviews, and identified the following three features of English as a “local” language: truncated repertoire, bilingual creativity, or translanguaging, and ingroup-only function. We have also searched the Russian National Corpus for the frequency of several commonly used Anglicisms and English-derived tokens recorded from each community of practice. Based on the multiple case analysis and the Russian National Corpus study, we argue that English and Anglicisms are perceived by community members as an integral part of group repertoire, and group membership hinges on the knowledge of these terms and the ability to use them creatively.
This article is devoted to the problem of developing communicative competencies to create an emotional atmosphere of communication with the Japanese based on the understanding of mentality and socio-psychological intelligence corresponding to specific goals and situations. The purpose of the article is to systematize the intra-communicative features of communication in Japanese society, the consideration and study of which are important from the point of view of regulating inter-communication at the intercultural level. The novelty of the study lies in determining the influence of the emotional and psychological aspects of the extralinguistic component of communicative competence on the overall effectiveness of business communication with the Japanese. Changes in the socio-economic situation inside and outside Japan have a direct impact on the transformation of the system of relationships between the Japanese and representatives of other cultures, which is reflected in the linguistic sphere. The relevance of the material lies in the need to expand the knowledge base in the field of the Japanese language and culture (hard skill) through the ability to build adequate relationships in dialogue with a partner (soft skills), based on the understanding of the peculiarities of his mentality and allowing to increase the effectiveness of contacts with representatives of the Japanese side. When working on the article, general scientific methods were used − analysis and synthesis of scientific and educational literature, as well as media resources on this topic, synthesis and classification of the results obtained. The main objectives of the article were to highlight the emotional and psychological components of extralinguistic competence that influence positive communication with the Japanese; determine which factors may be regarded negatively and slow down the communication process; find out what the Japanese understand by communicative distancing and how important it is to observe it in Japanese society. As a result of working with the material, the main emotional and psychological fields of interaction during intra-communicative communication of the Japanese were identified and analyzed and conclusions were drawn about the spread of these fields in the conditions of a changing socio-economic situation to the inter-communicative sphere. The article concludes that for effective communication in Japanese, in addition to language skills, speech skills and knowledge of cultural traditions, it is necessary to take into account the features of emotional and psychological concepts that influence the creation of positive intentions for dialogue: 共感 stimulating communication, 違和感 making communication difficult, 距離感 amenable to regulation for communicative purposes. The results and conclusions of the article can be practically used in the educational process when developing situational exercises and conducting role-playing games based on textbooks and teaching aids on oral communication in Japanese.
ISSN 2782-3717 (Online)