Genre and stylistic markers of Ukrainian folk jokes

Author(s): Olena Yemelyanova,Svitlana Baranova,Irina Kobyakova / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2023

This article focuses on the study of Ukrainian social and domestic folk jokes that contain information about the life of people, their habits, customs, traditions, and relations, and ridicule the weak sides of Ukrainians. The research material comprises 311 folk jokes that date back to the second part of the 19th century – the beginning of the 20th century. They are selected from the collection by M.V. Nagornyi (1940) and the book of Ukrainian folk satire and humour (1959). The goal of the research is to study the main genre and stylistic markers of Ukrainian folk jokes. It is noted that Ukrainian folk jokes have a form of dialogue. Ukrainians’ longstanding tradition of self-deprecating humour is also mentioned. The stylistic markers of the texts under consideration are the choice of vocabulary with diminutive suffixes, a wide range of expressive means, and stylistic devices that are a basis for achieving humorous effects. Diminutive suffixes are proved to have acquired specific characteristics in folk jokes giving positive or negative evaluation. Ukrainian social and domestic folk jokes, some of which take the form of joke-stories, are distinguished by precision, witty expression, and concise and dynamically constructed plot. The future research might involve the detailed study of the peculiarities of the Ukrainian social and domestic jokes of the third millennium, focusing on their linguistic and extra-linguistic features.

THE PRAGMATICS OF DISCOURSE IN HEALTH CARE AND FOOD ADVERTISING TEXTS- A CROSSLINGUISTIC APPROACH IN TERMS OF ‘DEDICATED’ PHRASES (ENGLISH – ROMANIAN)

Author(s): Andreea DINU / Language(s): English Issue: 36/2024

This article aims to analyze the pragmatics of the advertising discourse. We live in a world in which advertising and the advertising discourse have a major significance. There are advertising messages or discourses with a pure informative purpose, but there are also other patterns, such as: the metalinguistic advertising discourse, the poetic advertising discourse, the advertising discourse with an expressive or emotional function, the advertising message with a conative or phatic function. Some forms of advertising discourse have cognitive and communicative functions. By means of this article, we tried to sketch a general view on the advertising discourse and its functions. We illustrated these theoretical examples with a series of illustrative examples, featuring some of the most famous commercials. To create a brand implies, in the end, concentration, efficacy, efficiency and coherence, all these dimensions and valences being present in the advertising discourse.

THE RECEIPT OF THE EDITORIAL

Author(s): Eliza Pop / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 36/2024

Starting from the main communication actuators, the transmitter and the receiver, the aim of this study is to analyze the editorial texts from the perspective of the receiver, i.e. the reader. Thanks to the facilities offered by the online environment, we have based our research on the comments found in the dedicated fields on the online pages of the publications from which the corpus was formed. The analysis led to an attempt to categorize messages from readers based on their content or formal layout: we have identified comments that refer to the content of the editorials, comments through which readers question the author of the text, or comments that are published as replies to previous comments on the same text. Regardless of the category these messages fall into, they prove the need for information and the individuals’ concern towards the issues discussed in the press.

EXPLORING SOCIAL REALITY IN ROMANIAN, ENGLISH AND FRENCH ANTONYMIC PHRASEOLOGIES: “SUCCESS” AND “UNSUCCESS”

Author(s): Oana Balan / Language(s): English Issue: 36/2024

This paper examines the social reality and cultural relativity surrounding the concepts of ‘success’ and ‘unsuccess’ across Romanian, English and French phraseologies and the way they are reflective of the values, norms, and aspirations of a society. Drawing upon cognitive linguistics theories, the analysis delves into linguistic expressions and cultural narratives related to ‘success’ and ‘unsuccess’, while also considering the biographies of prominent figures such as Queen Elizabeth II, Coco Chanel and Queen Mary of Romania. By comparing linguistic representations and cultural attitudes towards success and unsuccess in these three languages, this study aims to highlight both the similarities and differences between societies and their perceptions of achievement and failure.

REFERENCE UNIVERSE IN GOURMET LITERARY DISCOURSE LEXICOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Author(s): Emanuela Ciolacu / Language(s): French Issue: 36/2024

By utilizing lexicometric analysis of a study corpus to describe the way literary discourse functions and how the culinary imagination is constructed through gourmet literature, the components required to conduct pragmatic analyses of the discursive structures unique to this kind of discourse can be identified. In this paper, we investigate how computational methods might be used to find important phrases and semantic relationships in a collection of French short stories. Using Tropes and AnaText software, we verify reference universes that stand out as repeating themes in the corpus texts, starting from the premise that there is a substantial frequency of words belonging to the culinary lexicon in narrative gourmet writings.

CALQUE AND LANGUAGE IDEOLOGY IN CONTEMPORARY JOURNALISM

Author(s): Ionela-Cristina Bogdan (Sandu) / Language(s): English Issue: 36/2024

The aim of this paper is to show that the calque phenomenon has a major impact on the process of Romanian contemporary journalism, leading to its evolution. This way, the evolution of the press has also had a major impact on the media phenomenon. The process of calque, also known as loan translation, has been a subject of study in terms of enhancing a language's vocabulary through external methods. This aids the formation of fresh terminologies in both general and specialized areas of language.

CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC RECEPTION OF THE HEART (CASE STUDY: GREEK IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS)

Author(s): Ștefan Dumitru / Language(s): English Issue: 36/2024

From the perspective of cognitive linguistics, the Greek idiomatic expressions whose core term is the noun “heart” confirm the cultural representations of it in the most important cultures: headquarters of emotions and feelings, of reason and conscious decisions, of will. The three levels of human consciousness are captured in various ways in the corpus of the sixty-three expressions inventoried. In the present research we highlighted both the correspondences between the two domains established by cognitive linguistics, as well as their essential coordinates. The drafting of similar studies will allow the formulation of conclusions that interest both the study of Greek mentalities (with interdisciplinary developments) and modern directions of language study, such as neurolinguistics.

Новите значения на прилагателното чувствителен – защо да (не) ги предпочитаме

Author(s): Vanina Sumrova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2024

The article discusses the recently established meanings of the adjective чувст¬вителен ‘sensitive’ found in expressions such as sensitive information, sensitive data, sensitive issues, sensitive stories, which have emerged as a result of the English influence on Bulgarian. These meanings contrast with earlier uses of the word to the point of enantiosemy. Below I list a number of synonyms that can successfully replace this adjective in the expressions under consideration.

Когнитивни аспекти на метафорите в съвременните български политически речи

Author(s): Zhaneta Andreeva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: Special/2024

The development follows two sides of the manifestation of cognitive metaphors as a communicative mechanism in contemporary Bulgarian political discourse: the rhetorical aspects of Bulgarian political communication; the linguistic-communicative features of cognitive metaphors in political speech, through which they function as a mechanism for interaction between the parties of political discourse. An important direction in the course of the study is to clarify the mechanisms by which the interaction between the parties in communication is realized. In this regard, several specific features of the national political discourse can be identified: the authority of the speaker and his ability to control all levels in the structure of the context of the political message; the dominant role of individual discourse; aggressive linguistic presence in communication; the dominant presence of conversational speech at the expense of the official; manipulation of objectivity; low level of informativeness. The cognitive and semantic aspects of metaphors in contemporary Bulgarian political discourse impose the following differentiation of their features: specificity of archetypal metaphors - the possibility of the basic metaphor to be reproduced as a stable cognitive core in the contemporary political communicative act; specificity of variant metaphors - the cognitive projection of the archetypal metaphor and its inscription in a new metaphorical perspective (cognitive range of metaphors path and body); cognitive links between the source sphere, the conceptual sphere and the target sphere - the associative link between the target and the source is the specificity of the cognitive metaphor, and all variant projections between them make up the volume of the conceptual sphere. The summary affects the function of cognitive metaphorical models in Bulgarian political discourse.

ДА или НЕ в разговорната реч

Author(s): Verka Sasheva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: Special/2024

The purpose of the article is to present some specifics of affirmation and negation found in the spoken language. Special attention was paid both to the competition between yes and no, and to the competition between these particles and other parts of speech – interjections, particles and pronominal adverbs. Emphasis was also placed on the prag¬matic function of these particles, without at the same time neglecting their modal mea¬ning. Conclusions were drawn as to which of the two particles has greater functional-semantic diversity in conversational discourse.

IN MEMORIAM PROF. DR. MIDHAT RIĐANOVIĆ

Author(s): Nedžad Leko / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 1/2023

In memoriam Prof. Dr. Midhat Riđanović (1935–2023).

The language of multimedia presentation

Author(s): Rumjana Stefanova / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 17/2023

The present study is devoted to one of the forms of visual communication – multimedia presentation, considered in semiotic terms as a sign system. A structural approach is used in the present consideration and the basic principles for transforming a sign system into a signifying one are presented, as well as the conditions it should meet. The study uses the principles of linguistic analysis as a basis, analysing semantically the form and meaning of each text. In this case, the presentation is analyzed as a text and a part of language. Following the analysis, the study concludes that multimedia constitutes a sign system whose functioning is carried out in two axes: the simultaneity axis and the succession axis, which does not correspond exactly to the two axes in language: the paradigmatic and the syntagmatic. Each multimedia presentation is a complex hierarchical system with a tree-like semantic graph structure, but without meaning units and with syntax principles respected. Multimedia presentation in contemporary presentation forms is a typical example of the synergy of technology and the means of graphic design, and its integrated impact on the senses for marketing and advertising tailored to the specific target group of users.

On the Etymology of the Middle Bulgarian Anthroponyms Асѣнь (Asěn) and БѣлгꙊнь (Bělgun)

Author(s): Hristo Saldzhiev / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

The present article addresses the etymology of two Middle Bulgarian anthroponyms, Асѣнь (Asěn) and Бѣлгꙋнь (Bělgun). The Turkic hypothesis of their origin is critically considered and refuted because of phonetic and semantic discrepancies. On the basis of recently discovered ancient documents, the evidence of medieval sources, especially the correspondence between Tsar Kaloyan and Pope Innocentius III and analysis of early medieval Bulgarian anthroponyms, arguments in favor of a Romance hypothesis for the origin of both anthroponyms are suggested.

Slavic Languages in Contact, 11: Serbian between Turkish and Italian (ARAKÇINCI, ÇİZMECİ)

Author(s): Marek Stachowski / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

A newly (2023) published Orientalia series of the Lessico Etimologico Italiano brings much lexical material for professional discussion. In this author’s opinion, some Turkish words attested in Italian sources were borrowed via Serbian rather than directly from Turkish. That is to say, Serbian sometimes played the role of an intermediary between Turkish and Italian. Two such cases, previously unknown, are shown in this article.

Kongressbericht: Das interdisziplinäre Symposium „Angst und ihre Implikationen in den Gesellschaften Südosteuropas und ihren Sprachen, Literaturen und Kulturen“

Author(s): Corinna Leschber / Language(s): German Issue: 1/2024

On the Indeterminacy of the Concept of Beauty and the Reasons for its Use

Author(s): Andrej Démuth,Slavka Demuthova / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2023

The study explores the etymological and semantic challenges associated with the term beauty. The authors highlight that beauty is among the most vague and multifaceted concepts. As a result, its users often grasp completely different aspects/dimensions of it. After addressing etymological differences and conducting a conceptual analysis of its synonyms, the authors present empirical findings and a model outlining the semantic space of the term beauty. In the second part of the study, the authors shed light on the reasons behind the use of this ambiguous term, particularly focusing on its evolutionary and existential significance. The conclusion of the study draws attention to the fact that, despite the vagueness of the concept, beauty continues to play a key role in our lives, reflecting our need to share it, and portraying the human being as homo aestheticus.

Possession in the Damaskini Literature. Reflections of Vernacular in Historical Corpora

Author(s): Ivan Šimko / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

In our study we focus on expressions of possessive relations in Balkan Slavic texts from the 15th–19th centuries. These show, at first sight, a great variety, but it is not clear, which forms were still productive in the vernacular at the time. Besides the archaisms, emerging due to the influence of text tradition and norms of the written language, we also study the semantics of elements of the possessive relation (possessor and its object) as possible factors in the choice of particular variant of expression. The results also show individual preferences of particular writers. Old inflectional endings were used in nearly all of the text sources, especially while marking possessors based on nouns placed high on the animacy scale. Constructions using the preposition na, preferred today, became the preferred choice for all possessive relations in sources from East Bulgaria as late as in 19th century.

THE FACILITIES AND DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSLATING PROUST À LA RECHERCHE DU TEMPS PERDU MASTERPIECE

Author(s): Paul-Cristian Albu / Language(s): French Issue: 37/2024

The purpose of the paper is to offer a panoramic view of the difficulties of translating an epic masterpiece written by the most prolific and prodigious French writer Marcel Proust. Its creative language could be an obstacle for our contemporary reader, because of the lengthy language style and the remembrance of all the events that occurred in the private life of the author whose work we analyzed quickly and successfully. I am also interested in researching how these difficulties can be understood in contemporaneity and how this work's message can be reflected. To offer an enriched view of the analysis of A la recherche du temps perdu, we have used the technique of close reading the masterpiece entirely, focusing on how we can explain the lexical and syntactic difficulties.

THE STUDENT'S OPINION - DEMOCRACY IN THE PRESS

Author(s): Valentina Andreea Popovici / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 37/2024

Reading the political articles in the current press, we find that the journalistic style has undergone strong changes, mostly after the year 2000. The Romanian press of the last two decades contains articles in which there is an interference of styles, but also from a thematic point of view one can notice the intermingling of the news with the subjuctive interpretation pushed to the extreme with the pertinent or less pertinent opinion of the journalist who cannot refrain himself from metaphors as rich in nuances as possible when presenting either political or social events.

THE RATIONALITY OF ADVERTISING. AN ANALYSIS OF RATIONAL, EMOTIONAL, INTEGRATIVE AND MECHANISTIC ADVERTISING

Author(s): Dan-Laurențiu Cardaș-Răduța / Language(s): English Issue: 37/2024

Given that several opinions have emerged in the literature over time according to which advertising addresses the irrational side of the public, this study aims to demonstrate that there is rationality even in types of advertising that at first glance do not target the consumers' rationality: emotional, mechanistic and integrative advertising. The study also aims to identify what types of rationality exist in these types of advertising, with reference to the Weberian theory of rationality, from which it focuses on instrumental rationality and value rationality. The main results of the research show that beyond the emotional impact that advertising has, the public is looking for rational objectives to purchase a product. These objectives are linked to the audience's values and its need to adapt to the demands of society. The study also shows that all types of advertising can be rationalised, as audiences do not automatically react to 'irrational' messages but decide on the basis of reasoning. Advertisers know this game of rationality and irrationality and use it frequently.