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.

Елизиите в устната реч и тяхното отражение върху българския език на едно второ поколение емигранти

Author(s): Katya Issa / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: Special/2024

The article examines various manifestations of elision in the oral speech of Bulgarian emigrants living in Sydney, Australia. Parts of informal conversations recorded in a domestic setting, using the involved observation method, are presented. Many elisions prevail in them (in the speech of the first generation), in some words without exception, and these words are perceived by the children (second generation) who were born abroad or left very young with their families, as the only (“correct”) option of the correct speaking. Since native Bulgarian abroad often functions only in its oral form and is practiced only within family and friendly gatherings, the children get the impression that these words are spelled the same way and have no other spelling options. Morphological, syntactic, stylistic, and phonetic interferences were found in the speech of the second generation of emigrants. The deformation is also reinforced by Bulgarian lexemes mutilated by elisions. Keywords:

За някои разстройства на детската реч: ранен детски аутизъм, вербална диспраксия на развитието, фетален алкохолен синдром

Author(s): Evelina Grigorova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: Special/2024

The main function of speech is the communicative one, i.e. the transmission of comprehensive information from the speaker to his interlocutor and vice versa. The communicative chain model has long been known in linguistics and its simplified form includes addressee (encoding)→ message/noise→ (decoding)→ addressee. It can be seen that interference could occur on both sides of the communication chain. In this paper, we will briefly describe some problems in communication due to pervasive developmental disorders such as early childhood autism as well as developmental verbal dyspraxia, and fetal alcohol syndrome. A relationship between neural patterns and the disorders under consideration will be outlined in general terms.

Комуникативно взаимодействие в интервюто

Author(s): Yovka Tisheva,Marina Dzhonova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: Special/2024

This paper examines the communicative interaction within the media interview. The types of turns that journalists choose when conducting an interview are examined. From a formal perspective, the initial turn contains an interrogative, an imperative or a declarative, or a combination of two of these utterance types. In communicative terms, all three types of utterance have a directive illocutionary force, as the response indicates. The conclusions base on data from media speech.

Book review

Author(s): Reza Arab / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2023

Book review

Author(s): Aikaterini Mariatou / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2023

Humour and the public sphere

Author(s): Giselinde Kuipers,Dick Zijp / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

In this article, which serves as an introduction to a special issue on humour and the publicsphere, we argue that humour has become increasingly central to public discourse in the 21stcentury, and that this necessitates a rethinking of the relationship between humour and thepublic sphere in contemporary democracies. In the article, we bring together the dispersedacademic literature on humour and the public sphere, and show how humour and comedyscholars have engaged with the long-standing academic debate around this contested concept,which was coined by Jürgen Habermas in 1962. We also introduce the eleven contributions tothis special issue and situate them within this ongoing debate.

Стратегии за комуникация в контекста на пандемията от КОВИД-19

Author(s): Gergana Dacheva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2024

This article is part of a larger study related to the current and interesting topic of communication strategies during a pandemic. The main aspects of the study are to outline the existence of pre-prepared or situational plans and strategies for responding to global crisis processes. In order to analyze the situation of speech behavior in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is possible to influence with common models (strategies) for communicating different institutions and groups in society. The main topic in this article is on shaping messages in order to achieve a positive effect on the population to avoid fear and stress, to compensate for psychological and social problems in society, to reach the maximum number of people with minimal, but concentrated and concrete strategies for communication.

Grammaticalization and the Permeability of Composite Renarrative Forms in Modern Bulgarian

Author(s): Krasimira Aleksova / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

The article examines the permeability of composite renarrative forms in the active and passive voice in Modern Bulgarian. Two cases of permeability are distinguished: 1) those due to the insertion of clitic dative and accusative personal pronouns and of se, a particle with a pronominal origin, and 2) permeability due to the insertion of the interrogative particle li and stressed particles, parenthetical remarks, adverbs, and clauses. In addition, an overview is provided of the specific and generalized models of permeability, illustrated by examples from language corpora and the Internet. The conclusions highlight both the common and the specific features of the permeability of composite renarrative verb forms. To substantiate this, I rely on examples obtained from language corpora and the Internet, encompassing short personal pronouns, adverbs, particles like se and li, parenthetic expressions, clauses, as well as composite forms where permeability is not feasible. Several cases are identified where insertion of the same linguistic elements is possible in two places. The examples and models presented, along with the resulting conclusions, prove that the process of grammaticalization in the Bulgarian verb paradigm is not fully accomplished at a formal level. This is evidenced by the fact that composite forms are permeable by other elements. I apply one of C. Lehmann's parameters of grammaticalization claiming that, with the progresses of grammaticalization, both the ability to rearrange elements and the permeability by other linguistic units decreases.

The collective and individual expressions of humour in social media spaces: insights from the socio-political context of Jordan after the 2011 Arab Spring

Author(s): Yousef Barahmeh / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

This article seeks to establish a theoretical framework for considering how the collective and individual expressions of humour in social media spaces have been used and presented in the socio-political context of Jordan after the 2011 Arab Spring. This framework moves from the collective to the individual and makes Mikhail Bakhtin and Sigmund Freud complementary to the study of Jordanian social media humour after the Arab Spring. It argues that Mikhail Bakhtin’s theories of carnival and the carnivalesque (folk humour) have a functional similarity to Sigmund Freud’s theory of humour (release theory) because both seem to agree on the role of repression to influence the production of humour. Although repression is being understood differently (for Bakhtin it is political repression, which is usually a conscious decision, while for Freud it is self-repression, which is usually unconscious), humour can provide us with a strong mechanism for overcoming repression, or at least, giving the individual or the crowd the impression that they are challenging repression without necessarily challenging the status quo i.e., calling for regime change or revolution

Humorous elements in virtual onymic creations

Author(s): Magdalena Kawęcka / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

Informal use of anthroponymy is an integral part of the lexical resource of every language. The subject of this article is issues related to media onomastics (the review concerns terminology in internet forums). The aim of the article is the material exemplification of proper names, emphasising their formal features and ways of functioning on a specific communication plane.The task is to show certain tendencies and motivations in the field of creating virtual proper names in terms of their humorous value. In accordance with the adopted research perspective and the purpose of this article, when explaining the process of creating media onyms, reference was made to the mechanisms of name-forming derivation and the theory of humour, in particular the theory of incongruity. The specific communication channel creates new opportunities for language users and is an interesting research field for onomasts because, with the development of computer technology, the terminology began to go beyond the traditionally accepted standards

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.

Сучасні технології застосування комунікативних стратегій і тактик у фаховому дискурсі. (Современные технологии использования коммуникативных стратегий и тактик в профессиональном дискурсе)

Author(s): Milena Paliy,Nina Lytvynenko,Nataliia Misnyk / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 3/2021

The article explores approaches (views) of Slavic researchers for the use of communicative strategies and tactics in the contemporary medical discourse. Their common features and differences are determined. The phenomena analyzed reveal opportunities for the optimization of professional speech in Bulgarian, Ukrainian and Russian, having an important practical orientation in communication in the field of healthcare.

Рецензия на монографиs: Петкова-Калева Стефка. Концептът „празнота‟ в езиковото съзнание (върху материал от българския и руския език)

Author(s): Tatyana Chalakova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2020

Приближаването в пространството в руската и българската езикова картина на света

Author(s): Stefka Petkova-Kaleva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2020

The article is part of author‘s large study, dedicated to the linguistic presentation of the concept of ‗emptiness‘ in the Bulgarian and Russian linguoculture. The semantic components of the situation `approach` are considered as a dynamic conceptual model of distance, as well as the specifics of the verbal forms in the Bulgarian and Russian languages, presenting the situation of approach in its semantic structure. Particular emphasis is placed on the interlingual asymmetry between the elements of the two language systems and their internal semantic distribution.

Сленгизмы как средство выражения оценки в газетной публицистике

Author(s): Silvia Petkova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1/2019

The paper discusses the role of the common slang nouns as devices for realization of evaluation strategies in contemporary Russian mass-media discourse. A distinction is made between slang nouns which express general evaluation and those which express specific evaluation based on a particular quality of the object. A contextual analysis of a group of slang words that give negative evaluation to people, events and actions according to the criteria referring to the norms of ethics is carried out.

Refusal and politeness strategies favoured among Iraqi and Malaysian learners in marriage proposals

Author(s): Tabarek Ali Qassim,Nawal Fadhel Abbas,Hooi Chee Mei / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2023

The study targets exploring the similarities and differences between Iraqi and Malaysian learners of English in refusing marriage proposals. Also, it examines the favored politeness strategies that learners use to protect their interlocutors’ face, heeding both their social distance and status. Data were gathered by a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) which contained six marriage situations. Responses were analyzed based on Beebe et al.’s (1990) refusal taxonomy and Scollon et al.’s (2012) politeness system. The findings indicated that both the Iraqi and Malaysian learners preferred the indirect refusal strategies in marriage proposals, as well as the hierarchical politeness in the form of independence strategies regardless of the social status and distance between interlocutors. However, they differed in the sort of indirect strategies most frequently utilized. The Iraqi learners favored reason, regret, and non-performative statements, whilst the Malaysian learners preferred regret, non-performative statements, and reason.

Tt’s complicated: the relationship between lexis, syntax, and proficiency

Author(s): Christopher Williams / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2023

This paper explores the relationship between lexical and syntactic complexity measures and proficiency in L2 English argumentative essays written by L1 Czech high school students. Syntactic complexity is generally understood as referring to the “range and sophistication” (Ortega 2015) of grammatical constructions, whereas lexical complexity can refer to the range and frequency of the words used. The research used 100 essays written by final year high school students. Lexical complexity was analysed using the Lexical Complexity Analyzer (Ai & Lu 2010, Lu 2012), syntactic complexity using the L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer (Lu 2010, 2014) and Biber et al.’s (2011) hypothesised developmental stages for complexity framework. Despite a large number of measurements failing to produce any significant patterns, positive correlations were found between lexical diversity measures and vocabulary scores. Similarly, Mean Length of Clause (MLC) and Complex nominals per clause (CN/C) showed weak positive associations with grammar scores, as did Stage 5 of the developmental stages. The findings provide an insight into the kinds of complexity features that can be given more focus during instruction and underscore the potential of these measures as determinants of proficiency.

A genre-based approach in esp classes to teaching clinical communication focusing on breaking bad news to patients

Author(s): Veronika Dvořáčková / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

Healthcare professionals have the responsibility to regularly convey difficult information such as unfavourable diagnoses, as well as adverse treatment outcomes. While this task can be uncomfortable, successfully carrying it out plays a crucial role in determining patient outcomes (Sweeney et al. 2011: 230). This necessity has led to the creation of evidence-based protocols such as SPIKES developed by Baile et al. (2000). The goal of the paper is to explore the suitability of the genre-based approach for the study and teaching of medical English, focusing on the integration of the selected clinical communication tool into the ESP classroom. As this study stems from the ESP practitioner’s experience and its outcomes will directly influence her future ESP classroom teaching, action research has been conducted. The feasibility of using an authentic clinical tool in an ESP lesson was assessed through a two-step methodology: i) devising an ESP task based on the SPIKES protocol, emphasizing linguistic elements, and ii) obtaining student feedback focusing on the perceived usefulness of the tool. Overall, the collected data indicate that students acknowledged the significance of effective clinical communication for successful therapeutic practice. However, given the fact that medical English is inconveniently scheduled in a pre-clinical phase of their curriculum, they also exhibited a certain level of hesitancy, unsurprisingly, when it came to readiness in handling serious communication scenarios.

Impact of Task-based and Task-supported L2 Teaching on the Use of Connective Markers in Learners’ Written Performance

Author(s): Tomasz Róg,Artur Urbaniak / Language(s): English Issue: 10/2024

The current study investigates the impact of two types of instruction on teaching connective markers in learners’ written performance. Eighty-two EFL learners were assigned to two experimental groups (EG1, n = 2 9 a nd E G2, n = 25) and one control group (CG, n = 28). The experimental groups were introduced to a set of connective markers in two sessions. EG1 followed a task-based approach, while EG2 experienced task-supported language teaching. CG took part in regular classes that were not intended to teach connective markers. The analysis of variance showed that instruction in both experimental groups positively impacted the number and quality of connective markers used in learners’ essays, with a slight but non-significant advantage of TBLT in the delayed post-test. The study is timely in that it addresses an inconclusive line of research on L2 pragmatics instruction, investigates the thriving area of task-based teaching, and employs the most often-used type of essay on a nationwide secondary school-leaving examination.