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NSU Vestnik. Series: Linguistics and Intercultural Communication

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Vol 19, No 1 (2021)

TRANSLATION AND TRANSLATION STUDIES

117-126 489
Abstract
The article is devoted to the analysis of translatability of the French ethnophraseological unit “c’est pas grave” into Russian. Its ethnophraseological nature has been established according to Bert Peeters’ criteria: it has to be regarded as “typical French” by speakers of other languages, used as a title of movies, songs, books or articles. 964 translations of this expression into Russian were analyzed, and 40 possible variants were identified. In most cases, the translation of the phraseological unit into Russian is represented by affirmative constructions, in spite of the fact that it is negative in French, as for instance “это нормально / все нормально” (it’s ok; everything is fine). Some translations are sentences in the imperative mood: “забудь” (forget it), “не волнуйтесь” (don’t worry). The paper describes each type of translation. In the conclusion the phraseological unit “c’est pas grave” is presented in Natural Semantic Metalanguage which allows us to conclude that this saying is used after some event happened in which the speaker and his/her partner are involved. The speaker says that the event is not bad, has no negative consequences and that it is not worth worrying about. She / he asks the other communicant not to worry, thus implying that she / he himself / herself will not think about it anymore. The frequency of this saying, the fact, that it is regarded as “typically French” by others, and a large number of translation variants prove its ethnolinguistic character and its link with hypothetical French cultural values, which can be described as “insouciance”.
127-141 457
Abstract
The article reveals the decoding mechanisms of linguoculturemes occurring in the translation of the novel “Zuleikha opens her eyes” by G. Yakhina into the English language. In the original text of the novel linguoculturemes express ethnical and socio-cultural identity of the main character Zuleikha. Working on the translation of the novel Lisa Hayden, the translator, uses different types of adaptive transcoding for interlanguage and intercultural communication. The translation is characterized by double transcoding that is based on three languages: Tatar, Russian and English. Tatar words and expressions with explicit national cultural elements form a cultural background in the novel and often have no equivalents or definitions in the English language. The comparative analysis of the original text and its translations highlight a number of different groups of linguoculturemes, such as terms for members of ethno-cultural community and types of address, names of mythical and religious characters, names of objects, elements of interior design of a peasant’s home, pieces of furniture, and clothes. Linguoculturemes also help to recreate the historical atmosphere in Russia in the 1920-1930s, as well as the relationships in a traditional patriarchal family, conventional values of a local ethno-cultural community and socio-political realia depicted in the novel. A complex hierarchy of contextual image levels of the novel in the process of translation of the novel. The outer level of the story (the plot) is being transformed and many story lines are translated into English without any significant semantic change. Universal human problems represented via archetypes are well received by the English-language readers regardless of their language and socio-cultural background. The inner levels of the story expressing specific social relationships and interactions, ethnocultural, religious, and ethnopsychological stands with the help of linguoculturemes appear to be “encoded” for readers with different language backgrounds, but open in their complete semantic value to the bearers of the given social, religious and ethnical cultures. The authors’ message is that the English translation of the text does not lack in national cultural identity or ethnocultural values, it is just that these values become secondary and, as a result, harm the intimacy of the unique world perception of the main character.
142-158 278
Abstract
In this article we consider the lexical variability of the French translations of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”. The research material includes the following lexical classes: color designations, flora and fauna names, as well as warfare terms. Lexical units are selected manually and processed with the help of a self-compiled parallel corpus of translated texts. A distinctive feature of the monument’s translations into foreign languages is the absence of the original text, which leads to a situation of multiple “original” texts. We have analyzed 11 texts of French translations of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (some of the translations considered were unknown in Russian scientific practice), as well as the original Russian texts used by the translators (in case they were presented as parallel texts or mentioned in paratexts). We are faced with the situation of translation multiplicity, an actual area of research in modern translation studies, so we also considered the problem of multiplicity of original texts. The study revealed more than 30 occurrences of color designations lexemes, 99 uses of animal and plant names, as well as more than 100 occurrences of military lexical units. The features of translations of each lexical class were considered separately and the results of the analysis were compared. A number of reasons for lexical variability have been identified: differences in the original texts (reconstructions and translations into modern Russian), the abundance of “dark places” in the text of the monument (word boundary ambiguity in different reconstructions or lexemes that do not have a clear interpretation in modern Russian), different times of publication of the translation (during the period between 1823 and 2005), individual interpretations of the source text. A question about the correspondence of the translation devices used in recent translations of the “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” to the universal features of translation proposed by M. Baker, A. Berman and U. Eco has been raised. Most of them are applicable to the French translations of the famous epic. However, in some cases less common correlations have been found (meaning discrepancy, metonymic synonym, etc.).

LANGUAGE AND DISCOURSE STUDIES

67-80 306
Abstract
This article analyzes the geographical lexicon circulating in the Staroshentalinsky dialect of the Erzya-Mordovian language and the toponymic nomenclature of the village of Staraya Shentala in the Shentala district of the Samara region and its surroundings. Staroshentalinsky dialect belongs to the group of Mordovian dialects of the Samara region, characterized by a significant number of lexical archaisms in particular in the geographical vocabulary. Thus, a number of geographical terms that remain to this day in the dialect of the Erzya-Mordovian population of Staraya Shentala are contained in the oldest known Mordovian lexicographic monuments - the “List of Mordovian words” from the work “Northern and Eastern Tartary” by the Dutch researcher N. Witsen, which dates back to the second half of the 17th century. Vocabulary of the Staroshentalinsky dialect of the Erzya-Mordvin language shows the greatest affinity with the dialects of Erzya and Chuvash Sura region that may indicate the historical territory of the settlement of the native Staroshentalinsky dialect speakers. The structural and comparative analysis carried out in this work has shown that, in general, the toponymic space of the village of Staraya Shentala has the most of the characteristics of the Erzya-Mordovian toponymic spaces. A number of common structural elements for the toponymic nomenclature existing in the dialect in question, with corresponding clusters in other Erzya dialects of the Samara Volga region and the Republic of Mordovia, have been identified. At the same time, a number of unique phenomena are recorded in this toponymic space: both for the Mordovian dialects of the Samara Volga region, and for the Mordovian toponymy as a whole. The deetymologized toponymic bases of the space under study probably go back to the Volga Turkic languages, some of them may be archaic Finno-Ugric toponyms.
81-91 413
Abstract
The research addresses the etymologies of 82 toponyms proposed by the Russian scholar V. Trediakovsky in the mid-1700s book Three Discourses on Three Most Important Russian Antiquities compared with 148 etymologies of the toponyms from The Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language by M. Vasmer, where the etymologies had been identified under the modern etymological approach. The article argues that the alternative etymologies proposed by Trediakovsky and the toponymic etymologies having been established under linguistic principles possess similarities in terms of general semantic features. Identifying the semantic features of toponyms from the two selections required the classification based on etymological and semantic features, with the principal division into natural and cultural place-names. The research showed that 5 out of 7 semantic features: hydronym, choronym, people’s activity, ethnonym, and type of settlement, corresponded in both selections. The alternative etymologies from the discourses revealed more semantic features related to the climate and soil. The semantic features of flora and fauna, which are part of modern semantic classifications, were found in rare cases in both toponymicons. The research showed that although generally Trediakovsky’s etymologies seemed to contradict the existing linguistic principles, the semantic features remained comparable with those of the place-name etymologies that were compiled at the later stages of scientific thought.
92-105 412
Abstract
The current article is dedicated to the analysis of fictionality in modern English media texts. Fictionality is a term applied in narrative theory, and traditionally associated with the belles-lettres style (i.e. fictional narrative). In brief, fictionality is an intentional use of invented stories, which is opposed to factuality. We found that, being a fiction-specific narratological category, fictionality may appear in some kinds of media texts in the shape of separate pieces of text of different length - fictional inclusions. In our study we relied on the works by W. Schmid, J. Jenette, R. Walsh, Paul Dawson, H. S. Nielsen, J. Phelan etc. The main aim of the work is to prove that narratological analysis may be applied not only to the belles-lettres style, but also to media texts, along with other types of analysis. Also, we focused on the types, features and functions of the phenomenon under study. Investigation showed that opinion articles are more prone to contain fictional inclusions than others, which accounts for the fact that this type of articles possesses many features of the belles-lettres style. The application of stylistic and narratological analysis to fictional inclusions led us to the following conclusions. Functions of fictionality in media texts may be numerous, including attracting attention, setting up a contact with the addressee, avoiding judgment, sharing opinion, discrediting of an opponent etc. Fictional inclusions may help in creating such stylistic devices as metaphor, irony, hyperbole, implication. Altogether, the devices and functions mentioned above contribute to language manipulation of the recipient. Also, textual markers of fictionality in media texts were found, among which there were such language means as the change of narrative modes, along with modal constructions, conditional mood, negation, change of register and hyperbolization. The given means help the reader identify fictional inclusions in media texts. The results of the research support the idea voiced by modern narratologists about blurring boundaries between fiction and other cultural spheres.
106-116 216
Abstract
This paper deals with the acoustic features of the Surgut Khanty consonants. The research is based on the data gathered during fieldwork in Kogalym town (2018) and the Ugut village (2019). The audio samples are provided by three native speakers of the Tromjegan, Malyi Yugan, and Bolshoi Yugan idioms. The total size of the sample database numbers more than six thousand isolated consonant pronouncements. The data for the research was obtained using oscillographic and spectrographic methods, formant locus analysis, spectral moment analysis. The analysis was performed via Praat and Emu-SDMS software. Oscillograghy and spectrography methods reveal that voiceless fricative phonemes may be voiced in intervocalic distribution. It is common for the sonants to become devoiced in the final and preconsonantal positions. Moreover, due to devoicing, different phonemes may acquire low-obstruent and obstruent consonant features. For the fricative, lateral-fricative consonants, affricates spectral moment analysis has been carried out. The spectral moments technique gives an opportunity to represent complex noise data as a relatively small set of numbers that can be processed statistically. According to the data on spectral moments, four types of noise have been defined: high-frequency low-dispersion noise resembling /s/, medium-frequency low-dispersion noise resembling /ʃ/, /tʃ/, /cc/, low-frequency medium-dispersed noise for phonemes /ɫ/, / /, low-frequency dispersed noise for phonemes /w/, /γ/. The forman analysis is used o es ima e onsonan resonan frequen ies. As shown by he formant locus analysis, the smallest values of the second formant locus are associated with the labial and velar phonemes. Larger values are associated with the coronal phonemes. The largest ones are specific to the palatal phonemes. At the same time, the acoustic features make it possible to stably distinguish the nasal /n/ - /ɲ/, wherein the opposition of the middle and fron lingual ar i ula ions is observed only in some speakers’ re ordings for the pairs /ɫ/ - / /, /tʃ/ - /cc/.

COGNITIVE STUDIES AND PSYCHOLINGUISTICS

5-14 465
Abstract
This article dwells on a number of episodes related to the last years of Alexander Shakhnarovich, an outstanding Russian psycholinguist and a talented academic advisor. Alexander Shakhnarovich is known primarily for his research in child speech. The periodisation of speech development in early childhood he worked out is of particular interest. The article pinpoints that Shakhnarovich’s research was not related solely to speech development in ontogenesis, but elucidated a broader range of issues from those of general theory, like the structure of language consciousness, to those of special purposes, like linguistic expertise in forensics, dialectology, intonation and modality, peculiarities of text analysis, etc. It was Shakhnarovich’s great experience in analysing child speech that helped him to explore other psycholinguistic trends. The scientist proved to be an expert both in psycholinguistic issues that were intertwined with pure linguistics and in the psychology of speech. Alexander Shakhnarovich was a remarkable proponent of Lev Vygotsky’s scientific school whose theoretical insights made in the first half of the 20th century underlay Shakhnarovich’s findings. It is noteworthy that both Shakhnarovich and Vygotsky probed into child speech attempting to make conclusions on language capacity development as a whole and to tap into the fundamental through the applied.
15-29 327
Abstract
This paper presents an analysis of the deep language factors that predetermine polysemy of English adjectives denoting moral and mental qualities of human beings. In line with a well-established point of view in cognitive linguistics, this study treats the semantics of a word as a two-level phenomenon possessing the semantic (external) level and the conceptual (internal) level. Given polysemy belongs to the external level, this study aims to reveal the internal language factor allowing for umbrella adjectives to develop meanings of moral and mental qualities. This is the first research that has analyzed English adjectives from this perspective; it is proposed to unearth the deep language foundation of polysemy by modeling the conceptual foundation of polysemantic adjectives, which is undertaken via analysis of their etymological data. The choice of the adjectives encoding moral and mental qualities is substantiated by the following reasons: first, these words name the major human characteristics, whose recognition and verbalization can be traced back to the Pre-Old English period; second, they denote abstract qualities unperceivable by senses but estimated due to their indirect manifestation in individuals’ judgments, conduct and activity; third, since these adjectives convey evaluation of the quality, they reflect cultural axiological standards. The findings show that the semantics of the English adjectives in question is governed by a certain set of conceptual metaphors. The commonality of the adjectives’ conceptual basis seems to be the internal language factor that accounts for polysemy, i.e. an ability for an adjective to comprise meanings of mental and moral characteristics. In addition, the results demonstrate that the unearthed concepts form oppositions, namely, LIFE - DEATH, MOTION - STILLNESS, FRIEND - FOE. The opposed concepts are endowed with the positive or negative value that appears to determine the evaluative meaning of the adjectives. Besides, the research has shown that, while participating in the formation of adjectival semantics, the concepts can demonstrate ambiguous value, which enables a concept to underlie both the positive and negative evaluative meanings of an adjective; therefore, an adjective may comprise meanings of mental and moral characteristics that are opposite in their evaluation.
30-39 269
Abstract
The article considers the calculation of the narration time using the Russian Orthodox calendar as a regulator of the characters’ life cycle. The ideas of the Yakut people about time correlate with the traditional folk calendar and constitute a holistic cultural unit, which is reduced to regulating the course of life, mainly in accordance with the natural and economic cycle. Taking root in the first half of the ninetieth century, the Russian Orthodox calendar naturally fit into the traditional Yakut calendar, according to which the entire economic annual cycle was measured. This article makes a unique attempt to interpret the representation of time as understood by the Yakut people, indicated by the dates of the saints (or tanaralar) in the Orthodox calendar, coinciding not only with seasonal changes in the nature and agricultural work, but also with the events marked as conceptually important in the memories of the mother, on which the main storyline of the novel is built. It was shown that the calendar’s landmarks and the novel’s main reference points make an organizing axis calling for the author’s own chronotope. The temporal correlation with the depicted life situation of the characters is maintained within the framework of the traditional Yakut calendar, in accordance with the Christian calendar, or along the lines of the concurrency of both time locks. Thus, calendar traditions form an architectonic structure of this work. The novel mentions almost all the days of the saints of the Christian calendar. The author designates them as tanaralar (saints) and arranges the entire calendar following the natural cycle and the traditional economic activities of the Yakut people. However, the designation of the saints’ days (tanaralar) does not always mean one particular day, in other words, events may not be described within one specified day, but during a time cycle or a period before or after the onset of the holy day. Relevant examples were selected with the help of a continuous sampling method from three parts of the novel with a total volume of more than 1000 pages. From Yakut into Russian the examples were translated by the author of this article.
40-52 252
Abstract
The relevance of this article is dictated by the need to study one of the main components of the Yakut geocultural landscape - the liminal road space, which is considered to be an fictional system of its own. In this regard the scientific novelty of the article is obvious: the need to view the liminal (intermediate) space as a semantic structure manifested in the constancy of images, universals that have cultural, historical, and mental commonality. The study of one of the interesting aspects of the local text, the intermediate space, has not received detailed development in Yakut science to this day. The purpose of this article is to identify the borderlines and space boundaries in particular in the context of the chronotopic system of the Yakut novel. The author emphasizes the interest in the liminal chronotope and the road as a special chronotopic complex that strengthens other spatial structures, or rather topos of the alas (villages) and cities, without which it is impossible to build a complete geopoetic picture of the Yakut world. In the context of the above theme, the image of a literary hero, whose consciousness is extremely responsive to modifications of the surrounding landscape, acquires a new semantic function. The author of the article adheres to the viewpoint that the process of evolution of the hero of the path, which is fully revealed in the space of the road, most clearly shows cultural signs of the perception of the problem of life and death which in different literary periods acquire unexpectedly interesting properties. The results of the research undertaken in this article can be used in the fictional landscape study, which is becoming the most relevant in recent times in Russian Text Linguistics.
53-66 233
Abstract
The paper discusses the results of a series of experiments aimed at studying how the teacher image changes in the student’s mind with time. The hypothesis of the study was as follows: during the years of study at the university the image of the teacher undergoes significant changes not only due to the student teacher interaction, but also due to the personal evaluation of this activity. This hypothesis was tested by a series of experiments conducted by the methods of free associations and unfinished sentences, the results of which complement each other. The hypothesis was confirmed: a change in the teacher image in the student’s linguistic consciousness is due not only to gaining experience of interaction with the teacher, but also, to a large extent, due to his personal emotional experience. The image of the teacher “consists” of specific features, properties, and characteristics rather than of the actions carried out by the teacher. The image of the teacher in the undergraduate’s linguistic consciousness is more specific and individual and less stereotypical than the same image in the linguistic consciousness of the first-year student. Negative evaluation of images increases with the first-year and fourth-year students, but not dramatically, because positive judgments and attitudes, also found in the answers of the undergraduates, receive greater differentiation. In general, both the modality and the emotions become more diverse in the associations and answers of the fourth-year students during their stay at the university, which indicates a certain development in the images of consciousness under study.


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ISSN 1818-7935 (Print)