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Comparative study of languages reflects the coexistence of the universal and the particular in human languages. The development of both typological linguistics and contrastive linguistics is primarily associated with the study of structural similarities and differences between languages based on structural criteria for comparison. However, cognitive operations and forms of thinking that characterize the structural organization of expressed thoughts are fundamental mechanisms governing the functioning of various languages. In this study, a comparative analysis is presented as of the structural features of Russian subjectpredicate sentences and Chinese topic-comment sentences. Special attention is paid to different forms of thinking (rational and figurative) that underlie the differences in language structure between the two languages, as well as various cognitive processes (recognizing analogies and associations) that shape vertical and horizontal categorization, resulting in differences in thought patterns. As a result of the conducted study, the authors conclude that the form of thinking determines the form of language structure. The formation and functioning of different forms of language structure are operations and reflections of different forms of thinking in various language structures. Rational and figurative thinking, with their respective characteristics, limit and define the structural forms of Russian and Chinese languages. At the sentence level, it manifests basic structures both in Russian where the basic sentence structure is “subject-predicate,” while in Chinese it is “topic-comment.”.

Socio-economic changes, reforms of the pension system have transformed the perception of old age by Russian language native speakers. The authors deal with the dynamics of the semantic volume of the lexeme ‘pensioner’, caused by the above-mentioned extra-linguistic factors. The aim of the study is to describe the semantic transformation of the lexeme ‘pensioner’ representing the concepts ‘pensioner’, ‘pension’ and ‘old age’. The material of the research was the data of the National Corpus of the Russian Language for the period from 1995 to 2021, lexicographic sources, data of the associative experiment, which identified the conceptual, value-oriented and image-bearing components of the concepts ‘pensioner’, ‘pension’ and ‘old age’. The method of analysis and generalization of linguistic material from lexicographic sources, associative experiment, and the method of component analysis were used. The analysis of verbal elements reflecting cultural, traditional and value representations of Russian language speakers presented the dynamics of the semantics of the lexeme ‘pensioner’, its semantic transformation, which reflects changes in the Russian linguistic world picture. Semantic merisms identified as a result of contrastive analysis of potential associations allowed to present the semantic volume of the word considering the extra-linguistic data. As a result, the data were obtained, which can be used in lexicographic sources when defining the lexeme ‘pensioner’. Theoretical and practical approaches to modeling of Russian linguistic-cultural concepts are generalized. This reveals cultural and moral dominants of Russian language speakers and sacred meanings of the Russian culture.

The article studies functional features of verbs involved in the expression of interpersonal relations in the Russian and Chinese languages. Considering this group of verbs as a subfield of the general lexical-semantic field of attitude verbs is primarily conditioned by the fact that it expresses relations arising among people in the form of feelings, judgments and appeals to one another in course of everyday life. The group of verbs with a variety of both direct and figurative meanings, which are used in different spheres of human communication, is analyzed. The analysis of the studied verbs allows us find out the ways of their realization and appropriate the means to describe human relations in the Russian and Chinese languages. In accordance with the aim and objectives of the study, the article considers cases of expressing relations using adverbs in some constructions of fiction texts, which allows us reveal such features of relations as multiple repetition, duration and length. The analysis of this group of verbs of interpersonal relations helps us understand the semantic structure of the verb that plays a leading role in the context and show the characteristics of the author’s individual expression of interpersonal relations. It was revealed that in isolated cases the verb in Chinese can fulfill the function of a subject, which is explained by the syntactic peculiarities of the structure of this language. The results of the study confirm the hypothesis of incomplete correspondence between the functional features of verbs of interpersonal relations in the two languages under comparison.

The subject of the study is the concept of “politeness” in business communication, its lexical and grammatical ways//means of expression in Russian. Particular attention is paid to the social relationship between interlocutors in a communicative situation. The purpose of the study is to describe the concept of “politeness” and identify its linguocultural features. In accordance with the purpose and objectives of the study, the paper analyzes the features of the implementation of the concept of “politeness” in the system of language functions and considers the strategies of positive and negative politeness in speech behavior in the field of business communication. Based on the analysis of the content of the main functions of language, it was concluded that the category of politeness is realized within the framework of the communicative function of language; The study analyzed the strategies of positive and negative politeness and the peculiarities of its implementation within the framework of private//specific individual communicative functions that correspond to various areas of communication. As a result of the analysis of speech behavior strategies in accordance with the rules of politeness, it was concluded that politeness is an important component of business communication, and speech behavior strategies are based on the difference in the cultural values of a particular society and depend on the models of social behavior adopted in it. If the lines of behavior underlying the first of them are associated with the involvement of the interlocutor in the conversation, paying attention to him, then the second strategy contains lines of behavior associated with the provision of freedom to the interlocutor.

The research is devoted to the study of the functioning of paremias in the discourse of modern French social advertising. The relevance of the problem under consideration lies in the insufficient knowledge of the representation features of the French language paroemiological fund in modern public Internet advertising published in France. The utmost aim of the paper is to describe the main constitutive and linguistic features of modern French public Internet advertising and the specifics of the realisation of language paremiological units in it. The research material includes 312 objects of French public advertising distributed on the Internet in the period from 2016 to 2022. The study used methods of comparative, lexicographic and statistical analysis, as well as the method of semantic analysis of linguistic units. The results revealed that the use of paroemias as figure of speech in modern French public advertising is insignificant, due to the fact that the semantically complex message of the original proverbs and sayings can significantly narrow the target audience of public advertising. The use of paroemias as an element of public advertising (In its original, partially or completely modified form) makes it more intellectual and attractive directly to native French speakers.

The work is devoted to the origins and peculiarities of zodiac signs in the ancient Chinese tradition. The study is carried out within the frames of linguocultural approach towards interpreting animalistic metaphors, namely, the zoonyms of the twelve zodiac signs which in China, are used to characterize people concerning their date of birth and are passed on from generation to generation. Chinese zodiacs are based on the astronomic theory of constellations and human worship (idolatry) of totems. It focuses on the comparison of zoonym metaphors reflected as Chinese zodiac signs both in the Chinese and Russian languages proceeding from the theory of metaphor in modern cognitive aspect to detect similarities and differences, and as well, the study of cultural roots of zoonym metaphors revealed in the Chinese zodiac signs. The object of the study concerns zoonyms of zodiac signs possessing the relevant meaning in the Chinese zoological lexis. The work elaborates the definition of the notion zodiac, describes the processes of the genesis, formation and development of the Zodiac culture and its specific cultural relevance; according to the analysis undertaken, the means to differentiate twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac, and those of Chinese fairy tales, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, in Russian - animals were discussed and verified as to I.A. Krylovs fables. The conclusion states that metaphors are determined by the language itself, and linguocultures of various nations are reflected in specific metaphors and other peculiarities.

The article describes disputes about current issues of the modern scientific paradigm from the standpoint of systemic linguistics, whose powerful explanatory potential remains beyond the scope of the mass trends of linguistic science, and the formulation of new scientific issues as a result of a fruitful extrapolation of the systemic approach to the fields of philology that are not considered by the founders of systemic linguistics. In the first part of the article we considered differences in understanding the object, subject and method in Russian and foreign cognitive linguistics, leading to the loss of the international nature of linguistics, discussion of extremely painful issues for the Russian cognitive science about the cognitive futility of the term concept and the application of the cognitive approach in the study of discourse and text, violation of the continuity between the highest achievements of Russian and foreign scientific thought and the popular modern areas of linguistic research. Further in the article, the standpoint of a systemic typology is applied to the active processes of modern Russian speech. In the light of the approach taken, the facts that seem disparate from the standpoint of the culture of speech, from the standpoint of the systemic typology of languages, appear interconnected and determined by a general tendency - the deformation of the morphological type of the Russian language in the direction of the destruction of inflectivity. The result of the observed typological changes is the reduction in the possibility transfer highly intellectual meanings. An explanation of the principles of the organization of poetic speech in relation to the systemic typology of languages is an example how successfully S.Yu. Preobrazhensky applied the theory of the founder of modern systemic linguistics in the field which is far from interests of G.P. Melnikov. If the coincidence of the boundaries of the verse with the boundaries of the phrase within the sentence means the prevalence of the natural, that is, characteristic of the type of natural language in which the poem is written, principle of division, then the mismatch of boundaries speaks of a poetic technique that seeks to emphasize that the poetic statement is called upon to perform special communicative tasks leading to reconfiguring poetic syntax to other types of languages. The prospects of updating the systemic approach in modern semantic studies of grammar and vocabulary are discussed in the fourth and final part. The obtained results, which are set out in the article become the evidence base of the high potential for using the achievements of systemic linguistics in modern research practices.

The article is dedicated to the 85 anniversary of Yuri Nikolaevich Karaulov (1935-2016), a well-known Soviet and Russian linguist, Doctor of Philology, Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and winner of the USSR State prize (1991). The contribution of Yu.N. Karaulov to the development of philological education and modern linguistics is represented by the main directions of his multi-faceted research activities. Special attention is paid to the fundamental works of the scientist in the field of General and Russian linguistics, lexicology and lexicography, and applied linguistics. The article covers the results of applied research of Professor Yu.N. Karaulov, related to the main directions of its research activities: the theory of linguistic personality, cognitive linguistics and theory and practice of lexicography. Yu.N. Karaulov was the founder and head of the scientific school Russian language personality, the program of which United many research areas actively developed in modern linguistics.

The article studies the peculiarities of verbalizing the category of ambiguity on the material of English literary texts translated into Arabic. Seven texts of writers-postmodernist - J. Barnes, 1. McCarthy, I. McEwan, D. Lodge, D. Mitchell, were chosen to be analyzed. The subject of the category of ambiguity research is both logic and philosophical, and linguistic. Lexemes denoting ambiguity are described in terms of their belonging to semantic (thematic) fields, including their contrastive and stylistic properties. There are involved proper lexical units denoting ambiguity, and contextual, occasional means, while their dictionary definitions do not reveal the semes of ambiguity. The study deals with the role and functions of nominative units reflecting ambiguity and uncertainty of the world contemporary literary discourse through translation into Arabic. The methodology is based on the functional interaction of lexis and grammar as one of the systemic linguistics principles. The study conclusions proceed from the provision on the Arabic language to demonstrate the system of various lexical means to express the ambiguity category, and their determinant to be implied in paradigmatic relations of language system, and syntagmatic relations between textual semantic units which both explain grammar structure of language and the nature of semantic correlations in its lexical subsystem. The authors draw a conclusion that both English and Arabic languages possess universal extralinguistic meaning of nominative ambiguity, while the semantic field nucleus fulfils the crucial function to select and assort proper means and units to realize the ambiguity category in texts. Differentiation of ambiguity nominations according to their application is not homogeneous due to lexical nominations making up the main means to realize ambiguity principle as both semantic and grammatical category. In course of studying the topic issue it seems adequate to study the topic of ambiguity conceptualization in languages of different structure and arrange the means to verbalize the ambiguity concept using the method of systemic comparison.

This article is devoted to the study of Japanese loanwords in Chinese and their classification. Particular attention is paid to the lexical units in writing in Chinese characters, coming from the Japanese language as graphic loanwords in modern Chinese and Japanese, popular on the Chinese-language Internet. The material of the study is loanwords of Japanese origin, selected from dictionaries and scientific works on this topic, as well as word usage in messages on Russian and Chinese Internet forums. We distinguish between two types of Japanese loanwords in Chinese according to how they are borrowed: phonetic and graphic borrowed words. Graphic borrowed from the Japanese language, including the actual Japanese words spelled in Chinese characters, and words created by the Japanese using Chinese characters to convey tokens of other languages, as well as the words of the ancient Chinese language, rethought by the Japanese to create terms, then returned back to modern Chinese language, constitute a characteristic group of graphic loanwords in Chinese.

This article is devoted to the topic of analysis of borrowed vocabulary in Russian and Chinese languages that is relevant in modern linguistics and language processes based on the lexicon of Internet communication in the field of computer and network technologies. The article provides a comparative analysis of the ways of borrowing foreign language lexical units in the field of information and communication technologies in the Russian and Chinese languages. The authors identify such types of borrowings as phonetic and semantic (word-formation and combination of tracing paper; etymological tracing, semantic tracing paper) in Russian and phonetic and semantic borrowing in Chinese, as well as graphical borrowed computer and network terms used in Russian and Chinese-language forums, and borrowing of English abbreviation terms in Russian and Chinese. Separately considered professional and slang vocabulary in the field of information and communication technologies, used in the Russian-speaking and Chinese-speaking forums. The main attention is paid to the peculiarities of their formation and functioning in the Russianspeaking and Chinese-speaking communicative space of the Internet.

The article discusses the structure of lexical-semantic field “interpersonal relations” based on the novel “The Idiot”, by F. Dostoevsky. In the article we describe the set of lexical item representing the field, as well as the place of units of the field in the author's style. The subject of the research was chosen by the relevance of studying vocabulary as a layer of a literary language that discloses information about the material and spiritual culture of society. The relevance of this work can also be considered from the point of view of the need for the development of a comprehensive methodology for the linguistic analysis of semantic relations within the lexical-semantic field “interpersonal relations”. Our goal is to highlight all the variety of units of lexical-semantic field “interpersonal relations” used in F.M. Dostoevsky’s novel. Also we want to reveal the uniqueness of their contextual use, as well as to trace the dynamics of relations and at the same time the change in the lexical content as for relation descriptions between characters. We have developed criteria for selecting lexical markers. We used continuous sampling method, analysis of vocabulary definitions and componential analysis during the preparation of the article. It is established that the lexical-semantic field “interpersonal relations” is a clearly structured system, a well- structured system, which units are united by common semantic features. The pre-nuclear zone is made up of units united by the name of field “relation”, but with a small number of differential signs. In the field we are considering, these are 'negative attitude', 'positive attitude', 'intense', 'non-intensive', 'benevolence', 'hostility', 'sympathy', 'pity', 'indifference'. These features determine the structure and place of the field we are considering in the lexical-semantic system of the Russian language, helping to native speakers’ mind to expand the idea of the content and structure of the lexical-semantic field “interpersonal relations”. Most of the vocabulary of lexical-semantic field “interpersonal relations” are words with a high emotional code that characterizes the author’s style. The linguistic personality of Dostoevsky can be called an individually and creatively verbalized world view through the prism of the writer's consciousness.