Philology, pedagogy, and psychology

2020 Issue №3

Development of quasi-symbols based on connotations of verbal units meanings

Abstract

The article verifies the assumption that connotations of verbal sememes can serve as the basis for the development of a quasi-symbol meaning. A qua­si-symbol is an element of an intermediate, linguocultural system, generated as a result of close interaction between language and culture. While a symbol is a sign of culture that expresses some idea in an imperative manner, a quasi-symbol is a type of symbol that has a verbal nature. The study has objectified connotations based on the semantics of secondary nomination signs and has shown that connotations, regardless of their nature, are culturally marked. They reflect the picture of the world developed in a certain linguistic culture. Culture chooses a language unit to express its meanings, giving it new cul­tural functions. The unit is chosen due to the connotations included in the composition of its sememes. In the process of transferring a verbal unit into a cultural system, connotations are moved to the nuclear part of the new sem­eme of the cultural sign. Thus, cultural knowledge is transferred to the lan­guage system, and then verbal signs are transferred to the culture system. Since the cultural intent of the quasi-symbol is modeling the behavior of the interpreter, the development of symbols is based on connotations that reflect cultural attitudes, ideologies, and norms.

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Regional denonyms of the 1940s: the use of deno­nyms in regional newspapers

Abstract

The use of denonyms in regional newspaper texts of the XX century helps to elucidate the development trends in this lexis. Regional newspapers are a perfect source for observation as it is the language of the media that both re­flects and shapes the worldview and linguistic competencies of a native speak­er. Various local publications complement each other and contribute to a more complete picture of the use of denonyms within the region as a whole and its separate territories. The Bolshevik Slovo newspaper of the Bykovsky District and the Bolshevik Victory of the Kalachevsky District were selected as sources of information. The chosen time frame of 1941—1945 allows us to identify the characteristic features of regional denomination during one of the most diffi­cult periods of the past century and to identify the extralinguistic factors, which had an impact on the lexis studied. Statistical and contextual methods are used to analyze the frequency of use and semantic content variability. The proposed approach makes it possible to study the peculiarities of the develop­ment and spelling of derivatives in the texts of the regional wartime newspa­pers.

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Russian facets in J. Joyce’s neologisms and their interlan­guage translation

Abstract

The paper examines nonce words in James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, par­ticularly those originating from the Russian language. The research aims at defining word-formation patterns of the units in question and studying limi­tations of their interlanguage translation. Based on morphemic and word-formation analysis of the English deviated lexical units, as well as a compre­hensive comparative analysis of the occasional words in the source and target languages, various types and grades of the lexical deviations and translation issues are outlined. The paper reveals certain features — the word-play based on phonetic similarity, repetition of foreign word meaning in a short context, transfer of morphological markers, and others. Being a most challenging phe­nomenon, interlanguage nonce words cause enormous difficulties in transla­tion and thus require special attention. The full and incomplete versions of Finnegans Wake in German (D. Stündel, I. Horn, R. Weninger, F. Rathjen), Russian (A. Rene, A. Volokhonsky) and Spanish (M. Zabaloy) languages are explored. Various translation strategies are considered. However brilliant the exemplified decisions are, they are predictably subjective. The required trans­formation of the source test is often radical and added comments are bulky, leading to the creation of the modified version of Finnegans Wake rather than a translation in the true sense.

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English borrowings in modern mass media

Abstract

The article explores the typology of modern English borrowings in mass media texts. The main aim of the article is to identify and describe the types of English borrowings by analyzing how they got adapted in the Russian lan­guage. The first type includes the borrowings, which date back to the late XX and the early XXI centuries and entered the Russian dictionaries of borrow­ings. The second type is represented by the borrowings that are used in the Russian spoken and written language, but are not included in dictionaries. The borrowings of the third type are the English words that are rarely used. All the borrowed lexical units are classified according to the time they entered Russian dictionaries and the Russian National Corpus. This result relies on the earlier studies that examine the process of borrowings adaptation and is intended to stimulate further academic discussion and research.

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