Language consequences of modern psychological and information warfare in Russian mass-media: problem definition

The paper deals with the urgent and topical issue of political linguistics - the influence of information and psychological warfare on the Russian language. The aim of the paper is to describe the most frequent novices in the modern Russian language and speech which occur due to the domestic information and psychological warfare. The research was carried out on the basis of the mass-media texts, the traditional linguistic research methods were used (analysis and description, contextual and axiological analysis, etc.). As the result of the analysis the authors singled out both new and traditional words and word combinations which simultaneously serve as the weapon and the result of information and psychological warfare. Two groups of language (speech) means were defined: specialized (which perform the relevant evaluative function - either positive or negative) and non-specialized (which change the function depending on the context, the semantic ambivalent words and word combinations). The specialized means include pejorative words and word combinations: political labels, invectives, terribilitisms (bogey-words), delusions (trap-words), negatively connotative words, and euphemisms. Ameliorative means are not characteristic of information and psychological warfare, though words and word combinations are widely used which denote national concepts being the subject of information rivalry. Neutral language means in information and psychological warfare in the Russian language include terms and terminoids, naming various types of rivalries and technologies constituting them. The results obtained contribute to the development of the information and psychological warfare linguistics. Research perspectives encompass the refinement of some points and the analysis of information and psychological warfare language consequences in the light of linguistic ecology.

The Formation of Polycode Text Theory

This review article is devoted to the theory of polycode texts that are represented as a combination of verbal and non-verbal components. This unity is supported by the meaning, structure and function, under which we mean the focus on solving a single communicative task. A polycode text includes signs of various semiotic systems, for example, colour and kinesics. A number of synonymous terminological descriptions of this phenomenon - creolized text, polycode text, polysemiotic text, semiotically enriched test - indicates that we are currently witnessing the formation of the theory of polycode texts. Theoretical and terminological understanding of the object of our description occurs in such directions as the analysis of the components of polycode text and their correlation, description of methods and prospects for the study of polycode texts. The pragmatics of a polycode text, with a brief overview of the most notable works of Russian linguists, is considered in such main areas of its implementation as humorous polycode text and polycode text in cinematography. The most studied phenomenon in this direction is the description of the polycode text of advertising of various types. New directions of analysis are the description of the functioning of the polycode text in political linguistics and Internet communication. It is important to note the increase in the number of works that investigate the use of polycode text in school teaching and in teaching foreign languages. A new area of study of polycode text is its description as a reflection of the national linguistic picture of the world. This review is based on academic works, which are fundamental in this area of research, and also includes articles published in scientific journals in Russia over the past five years.

Emotives in the speech of linguistic personality of the politician in the US and Russian media discourse: comparative analysis

The relevance of this research is substantiated by the growing importance of the emotional aspect of modern media communication discourse, as well as the by the fact that linguistic personality of the politician in the realities of current electoral systems of the United States and the Russian Federation can be an instrument of emotional impact upon the audience, first and foremost with the use of emotive lexicon. The goal of this article lies in description of the results of comparative study of emotives in the US and Russian media discourse, determined in the speech of linguistic personality of the politician. The research material leans on media speeches of the candidates for the presidency of the United States and the Russian Federation, covering the period from May 2016 to April 2018. Methodological framework is comprised of the linguoecological and emotionological approaches, namely the linguistic theory of emotions of V. I. Shakhovsky, who outlines the three semantic statuses of emotivity of the lexicon. It is established that linguistic personality of the politician in the US and Russian media discourse is actively and diversely represented via emotive lexicon. However, the degree of intensity of emotional manifestations of linguistic personality of the Russian politician is greater than the verbal manifestations of the US politician. The determined emotives and their frequency in the speech of linguistic personality of the politician in the US and Russian media discourse are a new achievement for the discursive linguistics, pragmalinguistics, and emotionology. This research contributes to the development of psycholinguistics, political linguistics, and media linguistics, as well as further study of emotives in the political media discourse of different linguistic cultures from the comparative perspective.

The Influence of Political Discourse on the Formation of the Language Personality of a Politician

The current paper sums up the results of the dissertation research conducted by the author at the Moscow Region State University which was supervised by Professor Ye. A. Sorokina, Doctor of Philology. The relevance of the chosen research topic is determined by anthropocentrism of modern linguistics which manifests itself in progressive development of personology, including linguistic personology and political linguistic personology as one of the emerging scientific disciplines that is not yet fully separated from political linguistics. This article looks at some new issues of political linguistics, one of which is the notion of linguopersoneme, and suggests several types of linguistic personemes: the mythmaker, the actor, the alarmist, the gentleman (the lady), the aggressor, and the marginal. Most of these notions and terms were used in our previous articles and yet it is only now that we present a more or less holistic vision of the complex and versatile phenomenon of the language personality of a politician. In our opinion, the language personality of a politician is a variety of a creative professional language personality, to some extent comparable to the people working in such professional spheres as show business, sport, art, etc. The language personality of a politician is formed in political discourse, as follows from the sociological theories by P. Bourdieu and M. Foucault. It was found that the main characteristics of political discourse manifest themselves in the politician’s language personality in a specific way, thus forming its structure, which up to this moment was predominately described in terms of Yu. N. Karaulov’s influential theory. These are verbal-semantic, cognitive and pragmatic levels of the language personality.

Authority-Based Strategy of (De)legitimization in American Electoral Discourse: A Case Study

The paper presents an analysis of (de)legitimization in American pre-election discourse based on the tactics of appealing to “authorities”, any entity, person or value which continue to retain confidence, have credibility or are otherwise entitled to authority in the society and family. Sixty 2020 election campaign speeches of U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden and U.S. vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris were the material of this case study. Our research approach is based on theoretical and methodological findings of linguopersonology and political linguistics. The main methods used are those of intent, semantic and stylistic analysis. The purpose was to identify, describe and categorize the authorities cited by the two politicians during their campaign and to correlate them to voters’ aspirations in the cities and states involved. The analysis of relevant contexts revealed that the choice of authorities is primarily guided by the expectations of target groups of voters to whom the campaign speech is addressed. For this reason, the pre-election discourse of the politicians under study includes the authorities which are important for different target groups of voters addressed all over the country. The study of the American pre-election discourse yields a general classification of authorities to which both politicians are appealing; it includes famous politicians, public figures, renowned experts, scientists, outstanding representatives of the culture and art. The politicians may also appeal to the authority of the speaker himself, their parents (mom, dad); edifying example of ordinary people (not celebrities); authority of high positions; authority of institutions and bodies; authority of universal values; authority of different kinds of texts (reports, laws, Scriptures), and sometimes authority of some mass media sources. The multiplicity of the authorities represented in our classification is explained in the paper as a logical consequence of addresser-addressee interaction. It also reeals the important role of the politician’s personality to appeal at a rally to “authorities” that might in his opinion be attractive for his specific audience. The paper presents the results of the analysis of the linguistic features of the appeal-to-authority tactics.

Ethnic language in the polylingual space of the region: linguophilosophical approach

Multicultural mentality, formed in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, reflects the vectors of the state language policy of the Russian Federation, carried out in conditions of ethno cultural diversity. Philosophical understanding of bilingualism allows you to show the axiological and value-oriented functions of the native and second languages in the territory of compact residence of various ethnic groups. The study is carried out in an interdisciplinary manner, based on the achievements of the philosophy of language, political linguistics, and theoretical developments in the fields of cognitive and sociolinguistics, linguoculturology, bi- and polylingualism. A multifaceted Ossetian and Russian-language material, including data from parliamentary and government sites of North and South Ossetia, the results of a blitz survey of the population and the texts of genres of official congratulations, information messages and slogans, is at the heart of the search. The article is aimed at demonstrating the established conceptual field of ethnic community within the multicultural communicative space in the republics of ethnic Ossetians – North and South Ossetia, developed because of the application of a common humanitarian strategy for the preservation and development of all languages and cultures.

“Ethical Evaluation” as a Tactics of Delegitimization Strategy in the Pre-Election Discourse

The present study is based on such relevant areas of modern linguistics as Political linguistics and Linguistic personology. It included//includes samples of 30 speeches given by US President Joe Biden during his 2020 election campaign. A review of related scientific publications showed almost no detailed works on linguistic means connected with tactics that brings about delegitimization strategy; nor is there any unified term for a strategy of creating a negative image of a political rival in the election discourse. The authors believe that, in the election discourse, the abovementioned strategy aims at destroying the credibility of the political opponent and the solutions they have to offer beyond questioning their legality. Therefore, the tactics of ethical evaluation can be an effective means to destroy the credibility of a political oppo nent by using words of evaluative connotation. The tactics makes it possible to explicate a direct or contextual negative attitude to an opponent. Joe Bidens ethical evaluation of Donald Trump appeared to have three axiological aspects. The research used the theoretical and methodological apparatus of Political linguistics and Linguistic personology, e.g. such methods as content analysis, lexical-semantic analysis, and intent analysis. The paper introduces an analysis of lexemes that verbalize the tactics of ethical evaluation, which showed predominance of words and idioms of an unambiguous negative evaluative connotation. The authors also detected the absence of any abusive language that could be interpreted as a direct insult or accusation. The results can be used for a critical analysis of the political discourse of individual politicians.

American presidents and politicians in rhyming slang

The article is aimed at identifying onomastic rhymes as part of rhyming slang and analyzing them from a socio-cultural perspective. They are built on the names of American celebrities from the world of politics and social activities and believed to be fixers of cultural and historical items that are of certain value from the point of view of culture-oriented linguistics, cross-cultural communication and the general study of culture. TThe research methods applied are determined by the purpose and objectives of the research and include a descriptive and a linguistic ones, the latter comprising context and definitional analysis, and also semantic interpretation. The rhymes are based on the names that have been widely represented in the media from the middle of the twentieth century to the present day, thus forming part of the modern cultural collective memory of the carriers of the English-speaking culture. The noted tendency of preferential creation of new rhymes, exploiting precedent onyms, became dominant in the development of rhyming slang at the turn of the century. The authors come to the conclusion that the rhymes illustrating the world of high politics have been added to the well-mastered and familiar onomastic rhymes, built on the names of celebrities from the world of cinema, pop music, popular culture and sports. The article brings to light the rhymes that have not yet been recorded in authoritative slang dictionaries. The research results can be of interest to the specialists working on the topics of intercultural communication, linguistic and cultural studies, cultural linguistics, political linguistics, euphemization, contrastive linguistics of the English and Russian languages.

Discourse on the Linguistic Implementation of the principles of Political Correctness in German Political Linguistics

The article dwells upon the discourse on the linguistic implementation of the principles of political correctness (hereinafter PC discourse) in the German political linguistic culture. Like the concept of ‘political correctness’ itself, the key characteristics of the PC discourse came to Germany from the USA. However, Germany has a rich tradition of criticism of language use in politics, including a tradition of public reflection on the use of language by totalitarian ideologies. One might assume that the discussion about the linguistic implementation of political correctness in Germany will become part of this general critical discourse. These considerations served as the starting point for this study. The purpose of the presented article is to identify the specifics of PC discourse in Germany against the back-ground of other phenomena of German political linguistic culture. Discourse is understood as a corpus of texts united by reference to a common object of reality, in other words, a way of speaking about a socially significant topic that is formed in society in a certain historical period. On the basis of this interpretation, the empirical base of the study was compiled, obtained through the continuous sampling method from electronic versions of leading German newspapers and magazines, as well as from linguistic monographs devoted to the linguistic implementation of political correctness. Through the method of descriptive discourse analysis, significant methods of discursive interpretation of political correctness have been identified, which are the specifics of PC discourse. The main technique is metaphorical modeling of political reality. For almost thirty years of its existence, the German PC discourse has developed a stable framework of evaluative metaphors that set the perspective of the vision of political correctness. This framework consists of the metaphorical core, which relates political correctness to the conceptual field of “danger”, and additional metaphorical meanings, which actualize the conceptual field of “game”. The uniformity of the metaphorical frame-work reflects the ritualized nature of the argumentation of both supporters and opponents of political correctness. The latter set the dominant discursive strategy - the strategy of imaginary defense, due to which strong emotional pressure is achieved on the participants in the discourse. The metaphorical framework provides discursive unity, which is especially necessary in the context of the semantic diffuseness of the key concept ‘politische Korrektheit’.

Linguistic characteristics of Kazakhstan political internet comments

The aim of this work is determined by the importance of expanding and advancing in the development of conceptual directions within the framework of political linguistics, cultural linguistics, and consideration of linguistic characteristics based on the material of Kazakhstan political Internet comments, which has a greater effect on the consciousness of the people. It is implied in this statement there is an idea of ​​the most important characteristics of representatives of the population – a parameter that influences the development of political discourse in conceptual and expressive aspects. The results of the generalized analysis serve as a basis for deepening such studies and disseminating them to other languages. The conducted research Internet commentary makes a certain contribution to the general theory of modern linguistics, practical lexicography. Evaluating different approaches to discourse also pushes this area forward methodologically. Research shows that well-known discourse centers are organizing a networked public to conduct a survey.