Principal stages of speech pragmasemantic sense formation and methods of its analysis

The article is devoted to peculiarities and differences of two linguistic fields semantics and pragmatics. The objective of the work is to state the extent of participation of semantic and pragmatic parameters in the process of sense formation. The relevance of the study is beyond doubt, since the pragmasemantic analysis of discourse functional space helps to identify the potential of linguistic means in the process of forming meanings and their transformation into integral sense under the influence of contextual factors, and to determine optimal ways of expressing communicative intention of the author of the discourse and of providing adequate understanding of the sense by the referent. The author also describes main features, differences and similarities of the concepts text and discourse. The specificity of semantic and pragmatic meanings, their correlation and the degree of participation in formation of discourse functional space are analyzed. On the basis of this, the algorithm for pragmasemantic sense formation is deduced. The author emphasizes that the initial meaning is formed by a semantic meaning, in the process of speech actualizing it is supplemented with a pragmatic meaning, which is further transformed into a pragmatic and semantic and communicative-pragmatic sense. This process is illustrated by fragments from works of fiction by contemporary English-speaking authors. The research uses semantic and pragmatic analysis and discourse analysis as the principal methods. The author describes their features, and proves the viability of their application to the object of the research. The author comes to the conclusion that the pragmasemantic analysis of English discourse makes it possible to understand the mechanisms of formation of meanings and sense of a speech work. The contribution of both semantics and pragmatics to the overall communicative interaction is undeniable, since any communication is necessarily analyzed taking into account semantic and pragmatic aspects.

Fenomena of compression, extension and quantitative equacomponence in the syntactic synonymy (based on French fiction of the 20th – the beginning of the 21st c.)

In this article the mono- and polypredicative utterances with syntactic synonymy of French fiction of the 20th – the beginning of the 21st c. are studied in the continuum language → discourse as transforms of virtual (linguistic) primary (pivotal) structures which are actualized in the form of mono- and polysynonymic compressed, extended and quantitatively equacomponential co(n)textually preferential options. The goal of this research is to distinguish the different semantic-structural types of analyzed constructions of modern French fiction and to inversely (discourse → language) reconstruct the primary structure of actualized synonymic transforms. In the article the transformational method is used to reveal the semantic-structural peculiarities of the pivotal syntagmata and propositions and of the mono- and polysynonymic transforms; and the method of the inverse reconstruction of virtual transformational processes in order to identify all the members of synonymic chains. It was proved that the redundant synonymic constructions are extended with adverbs, pronouns and predicates (active and passive extension), the compression is manifested most often by the contamination and the semantic and syntagmatic ellipsis. The elliptical constructions are defined in the research as structures with the implicit nominal/pronominal component and with the explicit, explicit-implicit or completely implicit predicate or the structures with the implicit complement where the implicit components are deduced associatively or co(n)textually. The different types of synonymic preferential options with the polysynonymisation at the level of syntagma or utterances were detected in modern French fiction. It was concluded that the author actualizes the mono- and polypredicative mono- and polysynonymiс constructions according to some communicative intention and planning of narration.

STYLISTIC DEVICES IN REVEALING CHARACTERS’ EMOTIONS AND WAYS OF THEIR TRANSLATION

The present research focuses on the analysis of the most common stylistic devices that are used to depict characters’ emotions in two novels “Flowers for Algernon” (2006) and “The Minds of Billy Milligan” (1995) written by the American author Daniel Keyes. The patterns of translation of emotionally coloured extracts of the text where these stylistic devices have been used are analysed in this research. As stylistic devices are considered to be an integral part of the composition of works of fiction and they add emotional colouring and exert pragmatic influence on the readers, translators Viktor Shovkun and Olena Stusenko faced onerous work as their task was to find accurate equivalents and use translation transformations in order to avoid literal translation, achieve adequacy on all levels and preserve the stylistic colouring. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that the translation should fully replace the original text and recipients should perceive the translated text as identical to the original even though stylistic devices and the emotional component of linguistic semantics are arduous to convey in translation. This research also concludes that translators most often resorted to lexical (concretization, generalization and modulation), lexico-grammatical (omission and addition) and grammatical (verbalization and nominalization) translation transformations to avoid literal translation. It has also been established and verified by a comparative method that more stylistic devices are used in the Ukrainian translation than in the original text. The most widely used stylistic devices are metaphors, epithets, comparisons and idioms. Key words: stylistic device, translation transformation, source text, target text, pragmatics, communicative intention, emotions.

The role of analogy in the verbalization of the realities of the objective world

Background. Being in a certain language environment, a person accumulates language resources, correlates them with the realities of objective reality on a subconscious level, as well as with the communicative intention and being used analogy, models the nominative unit. The appearance of the new name is based on the so-called “finished material”, that is the word-forming means and word-forming models which are available in the language.Purpose. To describe the role of analogy in the creation of derived nominative units in language and speech against the background of modern trends of verbalization of the realities of the surrounding actuality.Methods. The abstraction and descriptive-analytical methods were used to study the role of analogy in the verbalization of the realities of actuality.Results. The use of analogies is influenced by various factors: usually when the nominators use language actively to create according to a known wordforming model a name for a new concept or to offer an expressive name to an existent name of a known reality in a particular speech situation. Sometimes the analogy is used due to lack of speech experience to fill the nominative gap in a certain communicative situation.Depending on the nominative intention of the speaker and the corresponding models-samples it is possible to define kinds of applicable analogies: proper-nominative, associative, expressive, situational-compensatory, situational-correlative, nominative-adaptive.Discussion. The analogy often accompanies the process of verbalization of the realities of objective actuality, makes it simpler, systematizes, unifies the nominative resource of the modern Ukrainian language. The perspective of the research is to identify the most productive sample structures, according to which the nominative process takes place in different onomasiological categories.

The Functional-Cognitive Characteristics of Interrogative Utterances in Modern Ukrainian

The Functional-Cognitive Characteristics of Interrogative Utterances in Modern UkrainianThe article presents a comprehensive multifaceted description of interrogative sentences in terms of the interaction of their semantic-syntactic (syntaxeme) and formal-grammatical articulation with their communicative articulation (relevant). The syntaxeme structure of interrogative sentences is determined according to the communicative intentions of the speaker. In particular, the following substantial syntaxemes, which serve as a means of modelling questions, are outlined: 1) the indefinite-interrogative subject of an action (physical, locative, intellectual, verbal); 2) the indefinite-interrogative subject of a state (physical, psycho-emotional, intellectual, locative, emotional-evaluative attitude, possessive); 3) the indefinite-interrogative subject of qualification feature, identification; 4) the indefinite-interrogative subject of a qualitative feature; 5) the indefinite-interrogative subject of a process; 6) the indefinite-interrogative object of an action (physical, intellectual-mental, verbal, perceptual); 7) the indefinite-interrogative object of a state (desire, intellectual); 8) the indefinite-interrogative object of a process (physical, psycho-emotional); 9) the indefinite-interrogative object of a qualitative feature; 10) the indefinite-interrogative addressee of an action or state; 11) the indefinite-interrogative means or instrument of an action; 12) the indefinite-interrogative locative.All of these syntaxemes replace the positions of controlled subordinate parts in the formal-syntactic structure of a simple sentence. The emphasis is placed on interrogative words in the field of adverbial syntaxemes, in particular time, reasons, purposes, conditions, manner, and sources of information, which at the formal-syntactic level remain in the position of determinants — subordinate parts of the sentence. The specifics of the thematic-rhematic articulation of interrogative utterances and their communicative variants are examined. It is found that the communicative intention of the speaker’s request determines the intonation type of the question (full dictal, partial dictal, full modal, partial modal), and the syntaxeme and formal structure of the interrogative sentence. The communicative intention also determines the semantic, morphological and positional variants of the interrogative marker. It is observed that interrogative words are usually positioned at the beginning of the sentence and form the rheme of the sentence. Funkcjonalno-kognitywna charakterystyka zdań interrogatywnych we współczesnym języku ukraińskimAutorzy dokonują kompleksowego i wieloaspektowego opisu zdań interrogatywnych w planie interakcji ich wymowy semantyczno-syntaktycznej (syntaksemowej) i formalno-gramatycznej z ich wymową komunikacyjną (relewantną). Struktura syntaksemowa zdań interrogatywnych jest określana w zależności od intencji komunikacyjnej mówiącego. W szczególności zarysowują się następujące istotne syntaksemy, które służą do modelowania pytań: 1) nieokreślony-interrogatywny podmiot czynności (fizyczny, lokatywny, intelektualny, werbalny); 2) nieokreślony-interrogatywny podmiot stanu (fizyczny, psycho-emocjonalny, intelektualny, lokatywny, stosunek emocjonalno-oceniający, zaborczy); 3) nieokreślony-interrogatywny podmiot cechy kwalifikacyjnej, identyfikacyjnej; 4) nieokreślony-interrogatywny podmiot cechy jakościowej; 5) nieokreślony-interrogatywny podmiot procesu; 6) nieokreślony-interrogatywny przedmiot czynności (fizycznej, intelektualno-mentalnej, werbalnej, percepcyjnej); 7) nieokreślony-interrogatywny przedmiot stanu (pożądanego, intelektualnego); 8) nieokreślony-interrogatywny przedmiot procesu (fizycznego, psychiczno-emocjonalnego); 9) nieokreślony-interrogatywny przedmiot cechy jakościowej; 10) nieokreślony-interrogatywny adresat czynności lub stanu; 11) nieokreślony-interrogatywny środek lub narzędzie czynności; 12) nieokreślony-interrogatywny miejscownik.Wszystkie te syntaksemy zastępują pozycje członów podrzędnych w strukturze formalno-syntaktycznej zdania prostego. W zakresie składni przysłówkowej nacisk położony jest na wyrazy pytające, w szczególności o czas, przyczyny, cele, warunki, sposób i źródła informacji, które na poziomie formalnosyntaktycznym pozostają w pozycji determinantów — części podrzędnych zdania. Badana jest specyfika artykulacji tematyczno-rematycznej wypowiedzi interrogatywnych i ich wariantów komunikacyjnych. Stwierdza się, że intencja komunikacyjna prośby mówiącego decyduje o typie intonacyjnym pytania oraz o strukturze składniowej i formalnej zdania pytającego. Intencja komunikacyjna determinuje również warianty semantyczne, morfologiczne i pozycyjne znacznika interrogatywnego. Stwierdza się, że wyrazy interrogatywne są zwykle umieszczane na początku zdania i tworzą jego remat.

El compromiso social de Jean-Claude Izzo en Le Soleil des mourants

Jean-Claude Izzo, an author committed to reality, recreates in his work Le Soleil des mourants the life of an indigent condemned to exclusion and loneliness. His critique also extends to contemporary society, both urban and dehumanized, and to the institutions and organisms that govern it, incapable of coping with social stigmas. This paper aims to disentangle, through a semantic-stylistic analysis, the homeless figure who stands as the cornerstone around which the story revolves. This paper also tries to identify the textual, linguistic, and cultural singularities that, from a translation studies approach, are regarded as specific translation challenges in this novel. This study puts forth a proposal for the Spanish translation of a selection of passages that support our arguments. The translation decisions are made according to the concept of communicative equivalence (Wotjak 2015) and to the taxonomy of techniques compiled by Hurtado Albir (2008, 269–271). The paper concludes that the concept of communicative equivalence has become a relevant methodology for the translation of Le Soleil des mourants, as it enables the translator to render the denotative elements of the message, the connotative and expressive use of the language, and the author’s communicative intention.

Deconstruction of cultural space: death of the text

Starting from the understanding of the “death” of the text as a process of its deconstruction, fragmentation, simplification, when the text becomes a signal instead of a message, we will also consider more modern transformations of its role and system organization, leading to symbolic “death” through complication and transition to hypertext. The reasons for converting the text of a message into a narrative and into a participant in intertextual relations. The final departure to the pragmatic aspect of information exchange in various fields (interpersonal communication, advertising, journalism, didactics). Without death, a ritualized act, with the dominance of network forms of communication, its inclusion in the space of network content is impossible. Now, after the publication of the text, it has by and large only two ways: either it is interpreted and retransmitted in such a way that inevitably leads to the inflation of the content, or it is archived, which is equivalent to a “funeral”. In any of the variants, this is the “death” of the original author’s text, the fate of which we are considering. Speaking of the “death of the text”, we mean the transformation of the very general concept (communicative intention) that defines the functionality of modern textual activity. The leading characteristics of relevant information as a unit of communication are its trigger (motivating) potential and the ability to act as network content (liquidity). The features that characterize the text in the traditional sense: coherence, integrity, i.e. the ability to demonstrate the qualities of the “system”, gradually lose their significance in social practice.

Infants Learn to Follow Gaze in Stages: Evidence Confirming a Robotic Prediction

Gaze following is an early-emerging skill in infancy argued to be fundamental to joint attention and later language development. However, how gaze following emerges is a topic of great debate. Representational theories assume that in order to follow adults’ gaze, infants must have a rich sensitivity to adults’ communicative intention from birth. In contrast, learning-based theories hold that infants may learn to gaze follow based on low-level social reinforcement, without the need to understand others’ mental states. Nagai et al. (2006) successfully taught a robot to gaze follow through social reinforcement and found that the robot learned in stages: first in the horizontal plane, and later in the vertical plane—a prediction that does not follow from representational theories. In the current study, we tested this prediction in an eye-tracking paradigm. Six-month-olds did not follow gaze in either the horizontal or vertical plane, whereas 12-month-olds and 18-month-olds only followed gaze in the horizontal plane. These results confirm the core prediction of the robot model, suggesting that children may also learn to gaze follow through social reinforcement coupled with a structured learning environment.

Neural processing of facial expressions as modulators of communicative intention

Speakers use a variety of contextual information, such as facial emotional expressions for the successful transmission of their message. Listeners must decipher the meaning by understanding the intention behind it (Recanati, 1986). A traditional approach to the study of communicative intention has been through speech acts (Escandell, 2006). The objective of the present study is to further the understanding of the influence of facial expression to the recognition of communicative intention. The study sought to: verify the reliability of facial expressions recognition, find if there is an association between a facial expression and a category of speech acts, test if words contain an intentional load independent of the facial expression presented, and test whether facial expressions can modify an utterance’s communicative intention and the neural correlates associated using univariate and multivariate approaches. We found that previous observation of facial expressions associated with emotions can modify the interpretation of an assertive utterance that followed the facial expression. The hemodynamic brain response to an assertive utterance was moderated by the preceding facial expression and that classification based on the emotions expressed by the facial expression could be decoded by fluctuations in the brain’s hemodynamic response during the presentation of the assertive utterance. Neuroimaging data showed activation of regions involved in language, intentionality and face recognition during the utterance’s reading. Our results indicate that facial expression is a relevant contextual cue that decodes the intention of an utterance, and during decoding it engages different brain regions in agreement with the emotion expressed.

STRUCTURING OF A FICTIONAL TEXT IN THE COMMUNICATIVE-PRAGMATIC ASPECT (on the example of the novel by M. Frisch «Mein Name sei Gantenbein»)

Статья посвящена анализу структуры литературной коммуникации как многоуровневого явления. В коммуникативно-прагматическом аспекте рассматривается коммуникация двух уровней: экстра- и интратекстуальная коммуникация реальный/ абстрактный автор - реальный/ абстрактный читатель на примере поздней прозы М. Фриша - романе „ Mein Namesei Gantenbein “. Цель статьи - решение следующих задач: 1) описать коммуникативную модель художественного текста; 2) проанализировать коммуникативную ситуацию нарративного текста; 3) реконструировать коммуникативное намерение автора произведения. Анализ нарративного текста производится с позиции контекстуалистской нарратологии - основным предметом анализа текста выступает продуцирование и восприятие дискурса. С прагмалингвистической точки зрения целесообразно рассматривать абстрактного автора, учитывая при этом экстралингвистические аспекты продуцирования и восприятия художественного текста. Реконструкция интенций и стратегий автора выступает имманентной данному конкретному тексту: текст понимается как документ коммуникативной интенции автора вербализировать внутренний мир человека как личности, коммуникативная стратегия автора - ассоциативный монтаж. The article deals with the structure-analysis of literary communication as a multilevel phenomenon. In the communicative-pragmatic aspect the communication of two levels is considered: extra- and intratextual communication real / abstract author - real / abstract reader on the example of the late prose of M. Frisch - novel „ Mein Name sei Gantenbein “. The purpose of the article is to solve the following tasks: 1) to describe the communicative model of the fiction text; 2) to analyze the communicative situation of the narrative text; 3) to reconstruct the communicative intention of the author of the work. The narrative text is analyzed from the perspective of contextual narratology - the main subject of text analysis is the production and perception of discourse. From a pragmalinguistic point of view it is advisable to consider an abstract author taking account of the extralinguistic aspects of the production and perception of a fiction text. The reconstruction of the author’s intentions and strategies is inherent to this particular text: the text is understood to mean a document of the communicative intention of the author to verbalize the man's mental world as a personality, the communicative strategy of the author is the associative montage.