AUTOAND HETEROSTEREOTYPES OF CHINESE WOMEN AND MEN: APPEARANCE

The current paper reports the results of sociolinguistic experiment that aimed to determine the language patterns of expressing gender auto- and heterostereotypes about female and male appearance. The data were obtained from questionnaires performed by 60 subjects (30 males and 30 females). Semantic and statistic analyses were used to process the subjects’ reactions. The obtained reactions were grouped in accordance with common semantic features, and it resulted in developing the field models of stereotypes structure with the core, middle zone and periphery. The study showed a considerable similarity of the total number of semantic features in the core zones for men and women. The middle zone (with the common features of “slim”, “height” and “behavior”) and the periphery (with no common features found) demonstrated rather differences than similarity that indicated incomplete stereotypization of the features. As expected, autostereotypes contained less negative features than heterostereotypes.

Библейское повествование о потопе в контексте древних ближневосточных памятников

The biblical story of the flood has close affinities with other Middle Eastern literature. The story of the flood is found in the Sumerian and Akkadian literary monuments. They show considerable similarity to the biblical story of the flood, both in form and in content. However, there are also differences. The main difference is monotheism in the biblical story and polytheism in most ancient literary monuments.

COMPARING VOICE AND ASPECT CATEGORIES IN OROCHON AND EVENKI

Comparing voice and aspect categories in Orochon and EvenkiThe current article presents the results of examining the Orochon voice and aspect verb categories, their meaning and forming patterns. First, The dataresulting from the comparison of Orochon and Evenki verb categories reveal considerable similarity of the grammatical systems of the two closely related languages. First, voice category analysis demonstrates its general similarity. The reflexive voice not previously registered in the Orochon language, according to our field materials, is present there. The grammatical category of voice in the compared languages is formed by means of affixes; the affix forms mostly correlate with the exception of the imperative and cooperative voice where interchange of sounds is found within the affixes. Secondly, aspect types do not correspond in the two languages. Five aspect types demonstrate the correlation in meaning and formation. Nevertheless, each language has aspects which are notpresented in the other. The affixes of the same aspect types are generally equivalent. However, some aspect forms demonstrate vowel or consonant alternations within the affixes. Finally, larger spectrum of affixes characteristic for the corresponding verb patterns should be noted in Evenki compared to Orochon.

Comparative study of flocculation and adsorption behaviour of water treatment proteins from Moringa peregrina and Moringa oleifera seeds

Trees of Moringa oleifera are the most widely exploited species of Moringa and proteins extracted from its seeds have been identified as the most efficient natural coagulant for water purification. Largely for climatic reasons, other Moringa species are more accessible in some regions and this paper presents a comparative study of the adsorption to different materials of the proteins extracted from seeds of Moringa peregrina and Moringa oleifera to explore their use as flocculating agents in regions where each is more readily accessible. Results showed that Moringa peregrina seed proteins had higher adsorption to alumina compared to silica, in contrast to opposite behavior for Moringa oleifera. Both species provide cationic proteins that can act as effective coagulants for the various impurities with different surface potential. Despite the considerable similarity of the amino acid composition, the seed proteins have significantly different adsorption and this presents the opportunity to improve processes by choosing the optimal species or combination of species depending on the type of impurity or possible development of separation processes.

New Dental Finds Associated with the Paleolithic Selenga Culture, Western Trans-Baikal Region

We describe human teeth discovered in 2012 during the re-examination of the collection from Ust-Kyakhta-3 in the western Trans-Baikal region, excavated by A.P. Okladnikov. This is one of the key Final Paleolithic sites in this area, having a distinct twolayer stratigraphy, a non-contradictory series of radiocarbon dates, and the largest (and the most representative) collection of artifacts. Human teeth come from layer 1, whose dates range from 11,505 ± 100 to 12,151 ± 58 BP. Finds include fragments of a deciduous left upper second molar of a child aged 11–13 and an incompletely erupted upper permanent molar, possibly of the same child. Morphological comparison of these teeth with those from Malta in the Cis-Baikal region demonstrates considerable similarity. The fi nding suggests that the populations of Malta and Ust-Kyakhta-3 represent one and the same southern Siberian Upper Paleolithic dental complex.

The Armenian Epic “Daredevils of Sassoun” and the Mahābhārata: Similarity of the Ethnographic Substratum

The author summarizes the results of his search for parallels between the Armenian epic “Sasna cṙer” (“Daredevils of Sassoun”) and the Mahābhārata. The comparative study has revealed considerable similarity in the “ethnographic substratum” of both epics, particularly that relating to the archaic social organization mirrored by the epic. The earliest layer of both the Armenian and the Indian epics retains the memory of a rural, largely pastoral society, in which an important role was played by the fraternities of young warriors. In the Armenian epic, this is indicated by recurrent motifs such as the young heroes’ rampage followed by exile, the foundation of their own outpost in the backwoods, young male warriors’ fraternities, their defense of herds, warding off enemy attacks, battle frenzy (a common characteristic of all the Sasun heroes), their immutable tutor and leader (“uncle”) Keri Toros, allusions to orgiastic feasts, premarital freedom enjoyed by boys and girls, etc. In Armenians, these motifs were supported by the existence until the recent times of age sets, described by ethnographers. The comparative study of the Armenian epic reveals its hitherto unnoticed socio-historical aspects. Its wider use for studying other epic traditions (not only Indo-European but also those of other peoples inhabiting the Caucasus and the Eurasian steppes) will contribute to the comparative epic studies.

High Species Diversity of the Leafhopper Genus Hishimonus Ishihara (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae) from China, with Description of Ten New Species

Hishimonus Ishihara is a large genus of leafhoppers widely distributed in Asia, Africa, and Australia. Its greatest diversity appears to be in the Oriental region where recent investigations on Hishimonus suggest much of the diversity remains undocumented. In the present study, twenty-eight species of the leafhopper genus Hishimonus Ishihara from China are reviewed based on comparative morphological study, including ten new species: H. fletcheri sp. nov., H. lii sp. nov., H. dietrichi sp. nov., H. kuohi sp. nov., H. tenuis sp. nov., H. hamuleus sp. nov., H. triangulus sp. nov., H. virakatmathiellus sp. nov., H. paraphycitis sp. nov., and H. yuanmouensis sp. nov. Two additional species (Hishimonus knightiellus Virktamath & Murthy and Hishimonus subtilis Knight) are recorded from China for the first time. Furthermore, three new synonymies are proposed: Hishimonus reflexus Kuoh, 1976 syn. nov. and Hishimonus biuncinatus Li, 1988 syn. nov. are reduced to synonymy with Hishimonus bucephalus Emeljanov, 1969; Hishimonus lamellatus Cai & Kuoh, 1995 syn. nov. is a junior synonym of Hishimonus expansivus Li, 1988. All the taxa are described and illustrated based on observations of specimens from China. The first study of the female genitalia of Chinese Hishimonus reveals considerable similarity among the Hishimonus species studied. A key and list of all Chinese Hishimonus species are also provided.

Wiarygodność reklam kosmetyków i żywności w świetle wiedzy botanicznej

Wiarygodność reklam kosmetyków i żywności w świetle wiedzy botanicznej W 100 reklamach produktów kosmetycznych i spożywczych stwierdzono łącznie 112 taksonów roślin w randze rodzaju lub niższej. Wśród organów roślinnych najczęściej przedstawiane były owoce. Porównanie reklam kosmetyków i żywności wykazało duże podobieństwo pod względem bogactwa motywów roślinnych. Większe różnice dotyczyły składu gatunkowego i wynikały z odrębności składników roślinnych tych produktów. Nie udowodniono, by stwierdzone w pracy przypadki braku zgodności pomiędzy wykazem roślin przedstawionych w reklamie a zestawem surowców roślinnych deklarowanych w składzie produktu były efektem manipulacji. Zawarte w reklamach informacje z zakresu biologii i ekologii roślin są często nieścisłe, a niekiedy wręcz błędne. The credibility of cosmetics and food advertisements in the light of botanical knowledge A total of 112 plant taxa, in the rank of genus or lower, were found in 100 cosmetics and food advertisements. Fruits were the most often depicted plant organs. The comparison between cosmetics and food advertisements has shown a considerable similarity in terms of the richness of plant motifs. Food and cosmetic advertisements differed in species composition due to the distinctness of plant components of these products. In several cases, noncompliance between the list of plants presented in ads and the set of plant ingredients declared in the product composition was not proved to be a result of manipulation. Information on biology and ecology of plants contained in advertisements was often inaccurate and sometimes misleading.

METAFORIČKA ZNAČENJA ENGLESKOG PRIDEVA HARD I SRPSKOG PRIDEVA TVRD

Analiza predstavljena u ovom radu obuhvata identifikaciju pojmovnih metafora aktivnih u semantičkoj disperziji engleskog prideva hard i srpskog prideva tvrd, kao i utvrđivanje njihove produktivnosti. Cilj analize je poređenje metaforičkih obrazaca i njihove produktivnosti u semantičkim strukturama dva analizirana prideva, a time i sticanje uvida u sličnosti i razlike između engleskog i srpskog jezika u pogledu konceptualizacije apstraktnijih pojmova pomoću pojma fizičkog svojstva tvrdoće. Rezultati izvršene analize pokazuju da postoji značajan broj pojmovnih metafora zajedničkih za semantičke strukture prideva hard i tvrd, što ukazuje na visok stepen sličnosti između engleskog i srpskog jezika u pogledu konceptualizacije apstraktnih domena polazeći od fizičkog svojstva tvrdoće kao izvornog domena. Međutim, pomenuti zajednički pojmovni obrasci nisu jednako produktivni u semantičkim strukturama dva prideva, a takođe utvrđeni su i slučajevi u kojima su na osnovu istog pojmovnog obrasca izvedena različita značenja u dvema strukturama. Ključne reči: polisemična struktura, semantička disperzija, pojmovna metafora, metaforički obrazac, domen tvrdoće, metaforičko značenje, engleski jezik, srpski jezik. In this paper, there have been identified conceptual metaphors activated in the semantic dispersion of the English adjective hard and the Serbian adjective tvrd. Also, there has been determined the productivity of each of the identified metaphorical patterns in sense derivation. The aim of the analysis has been to compare the mentioned patterns and their productivity in the semantic structures of the two adjectives. Such a comparison has provided an insight into similarities and differences between English and Serbian concerning the conceptualization of abstract notions using the notion of physical hardness as a source domain. The results of the analysis have shown that most of the identified metaphorical patterns are common for both semantic structures in question. Therefore, it has been concluded that there is a considerable similarity between English and Serbian taking into account the conceptualization of abstract notions using the notion of hardness as a source domain. However, the given common patterns are not equally productive in the two semantic structures. What is more, it is a frequent case that, on the basis of the same conceptual metaphor, completely different senses have been derived in the semantic structures of the two adjectives. Key words: polysemous structure, semantic dispersion, conceptual metaphor, metaphorical pattern, domain of hardness, metaphorical sense, English, Serbian.

Quasi-conditional constructions in Catalan

This article aims to single out quasi-conditional constructions in Catalan and describe their main types. The author proceeds from the hypothesis that Catalan quasi-conditional constructions must show considerable similarity with quasi-conditional constructions in Russian, English, French, and other languages. The number of the constructions addressed is about 1 000 examples from Catalan texts by native Catalan authors and about 2 000 examples from Catalan texts by non-Catalan authors, selected by total sampling. The paper shows that quasi-conditional constructions, although formally similar to conditional constructions, differ on certain points from them. Their protasis does not express hypothetical condition, apodosis doesn’t imply consequence, the condition-consequence meaning is often missing from them altogether. In contrast to conditional constructions, transformation of quasi-conditionals ones into formally narrative constructions doesn’t change their meaning. Quasi-conditional constructions can be split into five major groups: presumptive constructions, constructions with protasis in the function of parenthesis, conditional-evaluative constructions, conditional-causal constructions, and logical conclusion constructions. The observables selected as criteria for this classification include: Construction meaning (comparative, existential, evaluative, causative constructions etc.); Changeability of the main dependent clause order; Use of markers. Both my analysis and literature on conditional constructions in other languages confirm that the structure of Catalan quasi-conditional constructions is similar to their counterparts in other languages. The findings can be used for teaching purposes as well as for research in Catalan, other Romance languages, or in typology/syntax.