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The Czech Language in Volhynia A. Arkhanhelska, O. Bláha, U. Cholodová (eds.): Čeština na Volyni. 2020. Olomouc. Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci. ISBN 978-80-88278-62-7
Views:125In 2020, a collective monograph was published in Olomouc dedicated to the nature of the Czech language and culture in Volhynia in today’s Ukraine, overviewing the settlement and history of Czech migrants in this area, including culture-specific features of the local Czech identity, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Language features, which play a significant role,are also described. The volume sheds light on phenomena of language contact, in subsystems such as phonetics and phonology, morphosyntax, and lexicology. In this context, the authors present and analyze empirical material. The book is an important contribution to the study of Czech cultural heritage outside the country’s borders.
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Word Skepticism and Word-magic in Afanasy Fet’s Poetry
Views:116This paper is devoted to Afanasy Fet’s philosophy of art. In Fet’s poetry, the virtuosic use of words is combined with linguistic skepticism, involving a feeling of verbal inexpressibility and the apotheosis of silence. The topic of his poetry is the inexpressible and unspeakable, which, paradoxically, becomes expressible and describable through impressionistic imagery, metaphoric nomination, musical effects, and metalinguistic means. Fet’s poems are highly polysemic, and the semantic implications of his texts are inexhaustible.
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Grammatical Rules and Analogy in Natural Morphology
Views:81Analogy plays a significant role in problem solving, as well as in decision making, argumentation, perception, generalization, memory, creativity, invention, prediction, emotion, explanation, conceptualization, and communication. Analogy is important not only in ordinary language and common sense (where proverbs and idioms give many examples of its application) but also in science, philosophy, law, and the humanities. Still, in linguistics it causes many uncertainties. The main purpose of this work is to study and examine the principles of Natural Morphology on the historical change of Bulgarian verbs. This study is a summary of how grammatical rules and analogy, and their antithesis dissolve in the theory of Natural Morphology. The focus of the paperis the historical variation of the Bulgarian Aorist.
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The Linguistic Means of Representation of the Category of Generality in the Text of A.P Chekhov’s Three Years
Views:100The multi-level means of representation of the category of generality inherent in the language as a whole are reflected in the story of A. P. Chekhov "Three Years" in all their diversity. The characters of the work reflect on generally significant topics in the context of their own lives, thatimplementthe category of generality in the work. When language units function in the text of the story, their particular-specific and generalizing meanings interact, which causes a two-dimensional semantic perception both within a single utterance and the text as a whole. The use of the means of generalizing in the speech of the characters is pragmatically driven and is determined by the purpose of the speaker to depersonalize the statement or to influence the interlocutor, giving personal reflections a universal meaning.
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Slovak Verbs of Aquamotion (in Contrast with Other Slavic Languages)
17 p.Views:198This paper studies the semantics and distribution of Slovak verbs with the meaning of aquamotion in contrast with other contemporary Slavic languages. As pointed out in previous studies in lexical typology, the lexicalization pattern of the semantic field of aquamotion differs in many languages of the world and there are subtle but significant differences even between closely-related languages such as Slavic. As far as the Slovak language is concerned, there still does not exist a detailed study of aquamotion verbs and their lexicalization patterns. This paper applies the theoretical framework of lexical typology and analyses the lexicalization patterns of the following three semantic zones: the semantic zone of swimming and flowing (plávať, plaviťsa), the semantic zone of liquid motion (tiecť, prúdiť, liaťsa), and the semantic zone of diving and immersing (ponáraťsa, potápaťsa, topiťsa). This paper aims to reveal which semantic parameters are relevant for the lexicalization of the semantic field in question, and to demonstrate the distribution of the Slovak verbs describing aquamotion. In addition to that, our analysis deals with some contrastive aspects to point out similarities and differences between Slovak and other Slavic languages such as Russian, Polish, Serbian and Vojvodina Ruthenian.
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Censor Nikolay Ratynsky’s Role in Russian Journalism of the Second Half of the 19th Century
12 p.Views:180Recently, the political climate in Russia has caused the question of censorship to become
an increasingly relevant issue, the history of which is necessary to explore and understand.
The prevailing view regarding censorship is that it is a tool used to suppress the freedom of
speech by stifling the writer’s thoughts. However, there were some eminent censors such as
the poet Fyodor Tyutchev and the writer Ivan Goncharov. In this regard, it has become commont
to consider censorship isolated from any moral categories and interpret g it only as a
professional activity. In this context, the work of the censor Nikolai Ratynsky is of particular
interest to us. Until now, little has been published on his influence as a censor on the writers
of his time on the high professional level of his work in this capacity. Most of the corrections
Ratynsky made were valid and justified by the political situation in the Russian Empire. He
himself is further proof that, along with Tyutchev and Goncharov, there were honorable and
qualified men among the censors of the time. All this allows us to claim that it is necessary
to objectively consider and study the work of censors and ignor preconceptions and stereotypes
that are usually associated with the word censor. -
European Cultures in Leo Tolstoy’s Interpretation: Ambiguous and Unambiguous (on the Basis of the Sketch “Sevastopol in May” and the Novel “War and Peace”)
Views:131The article examines the embodiment of the interactions of Russian culture with French and German cultures in the course of global historical eventsin Tolstoy’s works. The review includes the Crimean War of 1853-1856 and the Patriotic War of 1812. The author analyzes the use of foreign language inclusions by the heroes of Tolstoyʼs works and the authorʼs assessment of them. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the ideas and images of European cultures, which help to express the worldview of the writer.
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Adverbialization and Prepositionalisation of Prepositional Phrases in Old Slavonic. Adverbial and Semi-Adverbial Phrases with по Preposition
22 p.Views:206The present paper is concerned with the adverbial and semi-adverbial phrases (with incomplete lexicalization), which are formed by prefixing a preposition to an autosemantic word in the Old Slavonic language. The empirical material is systematized on the basis of the prepositions involved in the word formation process, with regard to the adjuncts determined by the newly-formed adverbs and on the basis of the lexico-grammatical affiliation of the motivating word. The path of adverbialization is analyzed in each case and the systematic relations of the newly-formed adverbial units are also described.
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The System of Comparative Tropes in «Aviator», a Novel by E. Vodolazkin
11 p.Views:288The article discusses the functioning of metaphors and similes in the text of E. Vodolazkin’s novel «Aviator». The tropes are divided into two groups: conceptualizing tropes and non-plot-forming ones. The main semantic types of comparative tropes are noted as proceeding from «tenors» and «vehicles» of metaphors and similes. It is shown that the tropes interact with each other and form a system in the text.
Emphasis is put on the dynamism of metaphors and similes in the novel: they regularly reflect the hero’s changing perceptions. Comparative tropes play an important role in the unfolding of the key motifs of the novel and are associated with its various temporal and narrative plans. -
Zoomorphic Metaphors and Similes in the Modern Russian Prose
17 p.Views:289The article represents the main circle of zoonymous images common in the modern Russian prose, they are classified into thematic groups of the “Animals” class, the most frequent vehicles of metaphors and similes are identified, the circle of tenors is outlined, distributed according to the relative frequency of use in literary texts. By means of comparison with the traditional images of the class in question, presented in the dictionary of metaphors and similes of the previous period of the Russian literature, and with the figurative uses of zoonyms in the Russian linguistic world image based on materials of linguocultural dictionaries, the main directions of evolution of zoomorphic tropes in modern Russian prose are determined. Some aspects of textual functioning of zoomorphic tropes are studied: individual preferences in choosing their groups, their conceptualizing role in the text. The results of the study make it possible to get an idea of one fairly significant fragment of the figurative world image of the modern Russian prose.
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Specificity of the Organization of Text Space in the Novel of E. Vodolazkin «Soloviev and Larionov»
9 p.Views:162The article analyzes the specificity of the organization of the text space in the novel, the relationship of its title and main characters is clarified. The main motives of the story that unite the heroes and motivate the interweaving of their destinies are highlighted: the railway, the sea, the horse and the rider, childhood, life and death. It is proved that the text of the novel is built as a search for an answer to the question about the secrets of the life of General Larionov.
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Georgy Adamovich ‘The Beginning of the Story’, ‘From a Clogged Notebook’ - about the Turgenev’s Subtext
11 p.Views:176The discourse of ‘Ich-Erzählung’ creates visibility, or an autobiographical narrative,
where the author narrates the more famous classical texts on the theme of ‘love as strong as
death’. The narration of stories is based on the principle of the repeatability of individual
thematic units built on similarities and contrasts. The text that is being created does not translate into an autonomous story about Maria Leopoldovna, but it exposes the technique of reminiscence poetics. Quotes and auto-quotes form or create a peculiar language of the major art,
where the names of Turgenev and Tolstoy are markers of the story. Turgenev’s subtext is
connected with the way meaning is constructed in the story, which is told about love that has
never come true but is remembered all one’s my life. -
The Importance of Animacy-Inanimacy Category of the Noun and the Context
11 p.Views:203The article considers the semantic aspect of the of animacy-inanimacy category in nouns in Russian language, in particular, peculiarities of collocability of some nouns with verbs in terms of animacy-inanimacy category.The study of the semantic interaction of nouns and animate-inanimate marked verbs, which are collocating with these nouns, allows to detect combination of signs of “animate” or “inanimate” in meanings of some nouns with fluctuant grammatical indicator of animacy-inanimacy category. Thus, this study can raise the issues about the cognitive factor in meaning formation process and also about specific character of the process how peculiarities of cognitive experience, received from human exploration of the environment, are expressed.
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The beginnings of the collective identity of Slovaks in the Central European context
Views:33The study analyses the linguistic, literary and cultural contexts of the formation of Slovak national identity during the Enlightenment and the early national movement. The Slovak intellectual elite identified and defined Slovaks and the Slovak nation in terms of modern Austrian statehood, traditional Hungarian patriotism and cultural Slavism. The study shows that modern Slovak nationalism was already richly structured atits beginnings, adopting diverse ideological impulses and establishing relations with neighboring Slavic and non-Slavic cultures.
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On the Reception of the Poem The Twelve by Aleksandr Blok in German Criticism and Literature Studies of the Past 50 Years
Views:103The article examines the German reception of Alexander Blok’s poem “The Twelve” based on selected criticism and works of literary history published by Slavists, poets and translators during the last fifty years. Analyses and interpretations of the poem are presented in detail, while other post-1917 writings and statements by Blok are also mentioned in order to provide context.
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The Cultural Heritage of the Ancient Russian City of Yelets
Views:148This article provides scholarly evidence the small historical city of Yelets as a potential cultural heritage site in the context of its socio-cultural significance for the state, society and the local community. The paper overviews the results of a comprehensive sociological study of the issues of the cultural heritage of this ancient Russian city. The issues of the cultural heritage of Yelets is considered from the perspective of internal and external identification processes which transformed it and make it lose its unique urban identity. For the analysis of cultural heritage, the types of identity of the city are identified: historical and cultural, visual and spatial, socio-psychological and communicative spatial. The main factors of the identification processes of the city are analyzed, such as urban identity, history, culture, social interaction and language.
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A Big Change Starts Small – Pronominal Clitics in 12-15th Century Old Russian Chronicles
14 p.Views:296East Slavic languages, in contrast with South and West Slavonic ones did not retain enclitic pronominals. In Old Russian (ОR) however, these forms were widely used. As manuscripts suggest, they dissapeared from the language by the end of the OR period, i. e. by the 15th-16th centuries. The paper gives an overview of the use of enclitic pronominals in the text of five OR chronicles relying on the diachronic corpus of Russian National Corpus. The analysis focuses on the distribution of clitic pronominals, their placement, clusterizing properties and deviating constructions. The last section is devoted to the placement of the investigated phenomenon in the complex of parametric variation envoked by the disintegration of the tense-aspect system.
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The Current Status of Corpus Linguistics in Russian Linguistics (Shuneyko, A. A. : Корпусная лингвистика. Учебник для вузов. 2020. Moscow, Yurayt ISBN 978-5-534-13603-6)
Views:219Corpus linguistics is a relatively new, however rapidly developing area of linguistics. Nevertheless, the methodology of corpus research and its results are scarcely applied in current linguistic research. In the present article a short overview of the history of corpus linguistics is given. The difficulties of the development and spreading of this discipline in Russia is also described. A brief outline of Russian textbooks on corpus linguistics is also provided with special focus on Shuneyko’s latest work.
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Interferences in the Field of Literature and Philosophy: Contact Points in the Poetry of Russian and Hungarian Authors: Dukkon Ágnes: A veszélyes szépség útjain. Eszmék, témák, kapcsolatok a klasszikus orosz irodalom világában, L'Harmattan Könyvkiadó – Uránia Ismeretterjesztő Társulat, Budapest, 2021, 340. p. ISBN: 978-963-414-702-2
Views:49The Hungarian literary scholar Ágnes Dukkon set herself a great task to complete in her new monograph by undertaking to offer a broad overview of the entire 19th century epoch of Russian literature through monitoring the transformation and evolution of the literary motive of dangerous beauty [ужасная красота]. While focusing on the concrete correspondences between a variety of literary worlds, the study presents interpretations of works by A.S. Pushkin, M.Y. Lermontov, F.I. Tyutchev, N.V. Gogol, I.S. Turgenev, F.M. Dostoyevsky, M.Y. Saltikov-Shchedrin, N.S. Leskov, and L.N. Tolstoy. At the same time, however, the author of this monograph never fails to keep in mind the conceptual context of the artistic texts by analyzing their relationship with the topical contemporary philosophical ideas of the age. For the Hungarian readers, the chapters incorporating the conclusions of research aimed at Russian–Hungarian connections, conducted with the methodology of historical poetics, comparative literary studies, intertextuality, and biographism, are of special interest. The scholarly findings of this renowned researcher would definitely deserve to be translated in the future into an international language.
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A Possible Slavic Etymology of Hungarian kullancs ’tick’
9 p.Views:119The present article is dedicated to the etymology of the Hungarian noun kullancs ”клещ (lat. Ixodes ricinus)”. The Slavic origin of the word was assumed in the 19th century, however this idea was rejected in the 20th century owing to phonetic reseasons. After a short overview of the history of the research of this word, arguments are lined up in favour of the fact that the phonetic difficulties can be ignored or at least taken as irrelevant when comparing the Hungarian word kullancs with its Slavic equivalents. Therefore, it is inevitable to raise the question of its Slavic origin again.
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New Trends in the Use of Metaphors and Similes Including Names of Food in Modern Russian Prose
Views:158The article discusses metaphors and similes including culinary vocabulary, functioning in modern Russian prose. The purpose of the article is to identify new trends in the use of such figurative constructions in modern prose compared with the previous period in the development of Russian literature. The work outlines the main thematic groups of names of food and drinks used in prosaic texts, and notes changes in their composition and character. New elements in the semantic classes of «vehicles» of metaphors and similes are also revealed. A tendency towards the differentiation and concretization of images of comparison, which is characteristic of modern prose, is noted, and the means of its implementation (specific names and qualifying definitives) are described. The article considers new subjects of comparison and figurative parallels used in modern prose texts.
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Language Registers’ Variety and its Implementation in the Commentary Novel The True History of “The Green Musicians”
Views:222The paper examines the tools and techniques Yevgeny Popov uses in his commentary novel The True History of “The Green Musicians", combining various styles and types of speech, thereby assembling a diverse linguistic picture of the Soviet era. Popov destroys the myth created by Soviet ideology and propaganda about the people supporting the government, emphasizing that the people expressed their true attitude towards the Soviet regime through adages, ditties and other genres of folklore. Gathering a broad collection of poems and proverbs, slang and officialese, examples of censorship and self-censorship, the writer gives his assessment of the Soviet totalitarian regime. Implementing a complex system of 888 notes to his early unpublished text, Popov also protests against the totalitarianism of the linear text, thus expressing his position not only at the thematic level of the novel, but also at the level of the novel’s form.
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Women's Prose: Past, Present and Future
Views:159The very expression "women's prose" in Russian literary discourse is debatable, since even many female writers refuse to identify themselves as such. A woman writer has all the rights of a writer, but she also has the additional right to self-identify as a representative of "women's prose". Women's prose requires a double research point of view: looking at it as an integral part of fiction and identifying the specific features of works created by women writers. During the period of perestroika (the second half of the 1980s), women's activity in Russian prose became more active, and L. Petrushevskaya and T. Tolstaya came to the forefront of literary life. An important milestone in the awareness of the specifics of women's prose was the series "Women's Handwriting" by the publishing house "Vagrius". A characteristic trend in the development of modern Russian women's prose is the democratization of the artistic thinking and language, the attraction of high prose tothe mainstream, to mass nature and the feeling of accessibility. In this regard, the article examines the prose of V. Tokareva, O. Slavnikova, D. Rubina, M. Stepnova, N. Abgaryan, G. Yakhina and others.
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Chekhov in New York: the Functions of Frame in Louis Malle's "Vanya on 42nd Street" (1994)
10 p.Views:174This paper focuses on Luis Malle’s creative adaptation of Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya”. The frame location of "Vanya on 42nd street" is not only documentary evidence and a sign of admiration for the actors' ensemble, creating the spirit of live improvisation in the unfinished theatrical production by Andre Gregory. It is argued that the film is far from being another spectacular 're-citing' of Chekhov's ‘transcultural capital’. A set of framing elements foregrounds Chekhov's art in general and the way he represents Vanya’s stoic endurance in particular as resonating with the living experience of a person of any culture in whatever language (Russian, English, Bengali, theatrical, cinematic, etc.) holds general validity. Among leitmotifs which interconnect the frame and the drama performance within the film there are also those of kinship, unselfish friendship and true involvement in life as an ongoing rehearsal and improvisation on an inescapable life project that is never successful.
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Artefact Metaphors and Similes in Modern Russian Prose
Views:196The article deals with comparative constructions (metaphors and similes) that include images of artefacts. The analysis involves the works of modern Russian prose writers such as A. Ilichevsky, E. Vodolazkin, O. Slavnikova, M. Shishkin, A. Volos, D. Bykov, D. Rubina, D. Glukhovsky, A. Makushinsky, S. Sokolov, V. Pelevin and others. It is concluded that modern Russian prose is characterized by the intensive use of artefact images as part of comparative constructions. The most common are metaphors and similes including the names of household items, fabrics, as well as machines, mechanisms, and their parts. These figurative means characterize, first of all, a person, parts of the human body, appearance, and people’s actions. Artefact comparative tropes giving a figurative description of various objects of nature are also widespread. Both traditional and new tropes including the names of artefacts in modern prose are discussed, in particular, the use of computer terms and names of new realities that have appeared relatively recently. A feature of modern prose texts is the regular use by writers of concretization and detailed transformation of images of comparison involving definitions of different types. Artefact metaphors and similes often act as key signs of the text and play a conceptualizing role in it.