PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF STYLISTICALLY COLORED LINGUISTIC UNITS IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE: ON THE MATERIAL OF V.V. PUTIN'S SPEECHES

Постановка задачи. В предлагаемой статье мы подвергаем прагматическому анализу употребление стилистически окрашенных языковых единиц в политическом дискурсе жанра устной речи: на материале телевизионных выступлений (таких, как заседание и интервью) Президента России. Исследование окрашенных языковых единиц в рамках политического дискурса представляет собой особый интерес, поскольку данные единицы обслуживают прагматику языка. Результаты. Прагматическая информация в политическом дискурсе распределена между всеми языковыми единицами. Однако стилистически окрашенные языковые единицы, под которыми мы подразумеваем коннотативно насыщенные слова, выражения, фразеологизмы и афоризмы, несут в себе наибольшую прагматическую нагрузку. Именно они способствуют не только привлечению внимания адресата, но и воздействию на него. Выводы. Политический дискурс, представляя собой специфический и комплексный вид коммуникации, требует особого подхода к его исследованию. Роль стилистически окрашенных языковых единиц в реализации речевой интенции адресанта в политическом дискурсе велика. В ходе исследования было констатировано, что использованные Президентом России слова, выражения, фразеологизмы и афоризмы носят в целом оценочный характер, точнее ироническую окраску (в частности, отмечается довольно частотное употребление фразеологизмов (81.81%), а иногда стилистически сниженных слов и выражений (6.06%)). Это возможно объяснить тем, что фразеологизмы, в отличие от афоризмов, являются носителями лексического значения и могут выступать в качестве эквивалентов слов. Кроме того, степень сочетаемости компонентов во фразеологизмах неодинакова, т.е. в них могут входить несвободные, но легко отделяемые по смыслу слова, и употребляться в переносном значении. Следовательно, они с большей лёгкостью создаются в процессе речи, способствуя достижению иллокутивной цели адресанта. Тем не менее фразеологизмы и афоризмы, а также стилистически сниженные слова благодаря своей экспрессивности способствуют не только привлечению внимания адресата, но и воздействию на него, производя при этом определённый прагматический эффект. Problem statement. In the proposed paper, we subject to a pragmatic analysis the use of stylistically colored linguistic units in the political discourse of the genre of oral speech: based on the material of television speeches (as meeting and interview) of the President of Russia. The study of colored linguistic units within the framework of political discourse is of particular interest, since these units serve the pragmatics of language. Results. Pragmatic information in political discourse is distributed among all linguistic units. However, stylistically colored linguistic units, by which we mean connotatively saturated words, expressions, phraseological units and aphorisms, carry the greatest pragmatic load. They contribute not only to attracting the attention of the addressee, but also to influencing him. Conclusion. Political discourse, representing a specific and complex type of communication, requires a special approach to its study. The role of stylistically colored linguistic units in the realization of the addressee's speech intention in political discourse is huge. In the course of the study, it was stated that the words, expressions, phraseological units and aphorisms used by the President of Russia are generally evaluative, more precisely, ironic (in particular, there is a fairly frequent use of phraseological units (81.81%), and sometimes stylistically reduced words and expressions (6.06%)). This can be explained by the fact that phraseological units, unlike aphorisms, are carriers of lexical meaning and can act as an equivalent of words. In addition, the degree of compatibility of components in phraseological units is not the same, i.e. they may include non-free, but easily separable words, and be used in a figurative sense. Consequently, they are more easily created in the process of speech, contributing to the achievement of the illocutionary goal of the addressee. Nevertheless, phraseological units and aphorisms, as well as stylistically reduced words, due to their expressiveness, contribute not only to attracting the attention of the addressee, but also to influencing him, while producing a certain pragmatic effect.

Observer Dependent Biases of Quantum Randomness

Quantum mechanics (QM) proposes that a quantum system measurement does not register a pre-existing reality but rather establishes reality from the superposition of potential states. Measurement reduces the quantum state according to a probability function, the Born rule, realizing one of the potential states. Consequently, a classical reality is observed. The strict randomness of the measurement outcome is well-documented (and theoretically predicted) and implies a strict indeterminacy in the physical world’s fundamental constituents. Wolfgang Pauli, with Carl Gustav Jung, extended the QM framework to measurement outcomes that are meaningfully related to human observers, providing a psychophysical theory of quantum state reductions. The Pauli-Jung model (PJM) proposes the existence of observer influences on quantum measurement outcomes rooted in the observer’s unconscious mind. The correlations between quantum state reductions and (un)conscious states of observers derived from the PJM and its mathematical reformulation within the model of pragmatic information (MPI) were empirically tested. In all studies, a subliminal priming paradigm was used to induce a biased likelihood for specific quantum measurement outcomes (i.e., a higher probability of positive picture presentations; Studies 1 and 2) or more pronounced oscillations of the evidence than expected by chance for such an effect (Studies 3 and 4). The replicability of these effects was also tested. Although Study 1 found strong initial evidence for such effects, later replications (Studies 2 to 4) showed no deviations from the Born rule. The results thus align with standard QM, arguing against the incompleteness of standard QM in psychophysical settings like those established in the studies. However, although no positive evidence exists for the PJM and the MPI, the data do not entirely falsify the model’s validity.

Figurative language in multilingual students’ L2 Swedish – a usage-based perspective

The aim of the current paper is to reinterpret some results of two previous studies on the mastery of figurative expressions from the perspective of usage-based linguistics. The reanalysis aims to shed more light on the learning and use of figurative language by multilingual students by exploring the complex interplay of linguistic creativity, expressivity, and conventionality in figurative expressions. The reinterpretation shows that many of the examples that were previously categorized as novel figurative expressions used in students’ writing, can be analyzed as instances of regular patterns, i.e. constructions, with certain lexical idiosyncrasies. Modifications of conventionalized figurative expressions are discussed and reinterpreted in terms of strength of entrenchment of links between form and meaning within certain constructions or links between constructions and conventionalized pragmatic information in the multilinguals’ mental construction. Implications for the treatment of Swedish figurative expressions in the second language class room are, in line with previous research, that focusing on regularity might reduce unpredictability, often seen as the core difficulty in the learning of such expressions in an L2. The paper also offers some directions for further investigation of the socio-cognitive processes involved in the learning of figurative language in an additional language.

Pre- and postnominal onymic genitives in (Early) New High German

This empirical study focuses on the diachrony of adnominal genitives of proper names in (Early) New High German (17th to 19th centuries), e.g., Carls Haus vs. das Haus Carls ‘Carl’s house’. Starting from the observation that word order variation exists within the whole period investigated, the study identifies determining factors for this variation and weights them in a multifactorial model of word order variation and change, the first time this has been done for German. The focus is on formal factors such as syntactic complexity, a factor that increases in importance over the observed time span. The historical data allow not only the investigation of established formal parameters but also the identification of new factors such as the type of inflectional marker (due to genitive allomorphy in older stages of German). In addition to these formal factors, genitive semantics, pragmatic information status and genre are also taken into account. Explanations for the trend towards the postnominal position of complex adnominal genitives as well as the stability of bare name possessors in the prenominal position are discussed.

Memory for Text: The Relationship between Form and Meaning

A linguistic sign, according to Saussure (1966), is a combination of a signifier (form) and a signified (meaning). Form without meaning is just half of the sign. Although in some situations surface forms are excellently retained in memory over time, in most circumstances, explicit long term memory for the surface details or memory for forms of long-past linguistic events is poor or non-existent. Taylor (2012) and Port (2007), however, have proposed that there may be implicitly accumulated memory traces for all aspects of the language— nothing is thrown away. In the present study, 'form refers to physical properties or surface features such as the orthographic, phonological and acoustic representations of a text, while 'meaning' refers to semantic properties, including contextual and pragmatic information. There are some curiosities about their relationship, which this paper will tease apart. The curiosities relate to how language is processed, represented and retained in different circumstances.

Pragmatic information in constructions

Despite recent advances in Construction Pragmatics, a systematic way for delimiting coded pragmatic information has yet to be offered. This squib provides a step in establishing such an account by assessing what kind of pragmatic information speakers generalize from various usage-events. Drawing on findings from Conversation Analysis, I propose a distinction between pragmatic functions as speakers’ actions, and interactional patterns as discourse-information sequences. A synchronic examination of the Hebrew multifunctional discourse marker ′at/a yode′a/′at (′you know.prs.sg.m/f′) demonstrates the consistent use of the construction in an interactional pattern across numerous usage-events. A qualitative diachronic analysis of ′at/a yode′a/′at suggests that speakers may associate forms with interactional patterns rather than with functions. This preliminary evidence provides support for the generalization of interactional patterns.

Pragmatičke informacije u dvojezičnim rečnicima za jezički par nemački i srpski (ili hrvatski)

Summary: This paper examines pragmatic information in the more extensive general German–Serbian (or Croatian), and Serbian (or Croatian)–German dictionaries: Osnovni rečnik nemačko-srpski i srpsko-nemački sa nemačkom i srpskom gramatikom (Đukanović et al. 2006); PONS. Univerzalni nemačko-srpski rečnik (Nikolić et al. 2010); NSSN. Nemačko- srpski i srpsko-nemački rečnik sa gramatikom (Vladović et al. 2008) and Njemačko-hrvatski univerzalni rječnik (Hansen-Kokoruš et al. 2005). Under pragmatic features of lexemes that should be marked in dictionaries, the author includes the following categories: 1) diachron- ic; 2) diatopic; 3) dia-integrative; 4) diamedial, 5) diastratic; 6) diaphasic, 7) diatextual, 8) diatechnical, 9) diafrequent, 10) diaevaluative, and 11) dianormative. The analysis points to the following: lexemes and their quoted equivalents often bear the same meaning at the lexical level, while not at the pragmatic – their use does not result in the same communicative effect with a collocutor. Poor lexicographic processing and lack of pragmatic information are distinctively visible in cases when some lexeme in the German language is marked in a diastratic and diaphasic manner. It is not only the indicators that are applied inconsistently, but other categories of information within the dictionary article do not show the marked lexemes to the user (except in the dictionary Njemačko-hrvatski univerzalni rječnik). Furthermore, culture-specific lexemes and culture-conditioned differ- ences in the use of lexical units are marginally treated in the analysed bilingual dictionaries. Although the selection of language tools depends on the context and perspective of the speaker, a good-quality general bilingual dictionary should pay more attention to informing users about the pragmatic aspects of lexemes and their typical use in accordance with the purpose of such a dictionary and target group. The key moment is that the general bilingual dictionary is directed only toward native speakers of some language – in this case the speakers of the Serbian language (or Croatian) with L2 in the German language, in order to make the information in the dictionary relevant to the target group. Additionally, the author suggests the implementation of other lexicographic means, such as examples, paraphrases, collocations, encyclopedic information, and open pragmatic comments that are transparent for the average user of the general bilingual dictionary.

Contrastive intonation effects on word recall for information-structural alternatives across the sexes

Focus highlights the fact that contextual alternatives are relevant for the interpretation of an utterance. For example, if someone says: “The meeting is on TUESDAY,” with focus marked by a pitch accent on “Tuesday,” the speaker might want to correct the assumption that the meeting is on Monday (an alternative date). Intonation as one way to signal focus was manipulated in a delayed-recall paradigm. Recall of contextual alternatives was tested in a condition where a set of alternatives was evoked by contrastive intonation. A control condition used intonation contours reported for broad focus in German. It was hypothesized that contrastive intonation improves recall, just as focus-sensitive particles (e.g., ‘only’) do, compared to sentences without such particles. Participants listened to short texts introducing a list of three elements from taxonomic categories. One of the three elements was re-mentioned in a subsequent critical sentence, realized with either a broad (H+!H*) or with a contrastive intonation contour (L+H*). Cued recall of the list elements was tested block-wise. Results show that contrastive intonation enhances recall for focus alternatives. In addition, it was found that the observed recall benefit is predominantly driven by females. The results support the assumption that contextual alternatives are better encoded in memory irrespective of whether focus is expressed prosodically or by a focus-sensitive particle. The results further show that females are more sensitive to pragmatic information conveyed through prosody than males.

SOME PECULIARITIES OF TRANSLATION OF COMPOSITE SENTENCES (ON THE MATERIAL OF BUSINESS COMMERCIAL CORRESPONDENCE IN ENGLISH AND IN RUSSIAN)

The present article considers some of the peculiarities of translation of complex and compound sentences used in business correspondence in English and in Russian. Translation of these utterances demands taking into account all the variety of information expressed by them as well as their pragmatic and stylistic peculiarities. Different translation transformations are used to perform adequate translation, such as: rearrangements, replacements, additions, omissions. In some cases, there may be loss and change of ethical information, but with mandatory preservation of the transmitted cognitive-evaluative and important pragmatic information, the general communicative-informational structure of the statement. Subject to the general stylistic norms of the source and translating languages that are characteristic of written business communication, differences are also observed between them, manifested in greater conciseness, categoricalness, realism, and assertiveness of the statements in Russian. The transformations made allow us to explicate “emotional psychological nuances” that give greater credibility to the assessment of the situation and emphasize the understanding by the addressee (one of the partners) of the significance of one or another fact.

«A Baptism of Fire»: Towards a Practical Hybrid Approach for the Lexicographic Indexation of Phraseological Units with Religious Lexical Components in English and Spanish

Traditionally, researchers have had a particular interest in the study of the relationship between phraseology and lexicography [e.g., Alonso Ramos (2006); Mellado Blanco (2008); Buendía Castro and Faber (2015); Paquot (2015); Nuccorini (2020)] to the point of having labeled it a «scientific marriage» (Leroyer 2006). In addition, scholars have been increasingly interested in the semantic analysis of phraseological units (henceforth PUs) [e.g., Grčić Simeunović and de Santiago (2016) and Torijano and Recio (2019)]. Among the problems that these and several other studies have pointed out, there is the recurrent reference to inaccuracy and difficulty in indexing PUs in lexicographic resources. Although some scholars consider onomasiological approaches as an interesting starting point [e.g., Bosque (2017) and Siepmann (2008)], a systematic methodology in phraseology that includes both the semantical analysis of the entries and their indexation is still needed. We intend to address that need here through the analysis of 242 idioms (199 in Spanish and 43 in English) extracted from a 21,045-idiom database that was compiled from two phraseological dictionaries: the Diccionario fraseológico documentado del español actual (henceforth DFDEA) (Seco, Andrés et al., 2004), and the Collins COBUILD Dictionary of Idioms (henceforth CCDOI) (Sinclair and Moon 1997). The criteria employed to select the resulting analysis units were: (i) they had to include at least one lexical component related to religion, and (ii) the idiom had to be nominal or verbal. The religious component was identified semi-automatically by using the UCREL’s Semantic Analysis System (USAS) (Archer et al., 2002). The contributions of this paper are as follows: (i) it presents a lexicographic analysis of the macrostructure and microstructure of the two phraseological resources previously mentioned, (ii) it offers a model of semantic analysis for PUs with religion-related components, (iii) it proposes an alternative indexation method of PUs in lexicographic resources involving semasiological and onomasiological approaches; and finally, (iv) it shows a systematic way to use semantic and pragmatic information in order to create semantic entries for PUs. In conclusion, by closely examining said set of phraseological entries, this study sheds light on the semantic composition of Pus. It also suggests a systematic hybrid approach for their lexicographic indexation in English and Spanish.