Linguistics

The article analyzes the main defi nitions of the concept of „language norm“ by domestic and foreign linguists of the early 20–21st centuries. Thus, the dichotomy of F. de Saussure “language” and “speech” is considered, on the basis of which most studies of the concept of “norm” were built. The defi nitions of the norm given by E. Coseriu, representatives of the Prague Linguistic Circle are analyzed. The social and dynamic nature of the language norm is revealed in the defi nitions of Russian scientists: A. M. Peshkovsky, S. I. Ozhegov, D. N. Ushakov and V. I. Dal, L. V.

The article considers the comparative analysis of the articulation-acoustic characteristics of the vocalism of the modern English and Russian languages (on the examples of the scientifi c discourse), taking into account combinatorial and positional changes that aff ect the characteristics of unstressed vocalism, a number of typical modifi cations in the timbre, temporal, dynamic and tonal characteristics of unstressed languages are identifi ed.

The article contains a comparative analysis of legal terms in the British and American variants of the English language. The author points out that the British term is understood as the one belonging to the law of England and Wales since Scotland and Northern Ireland have a diff erent law system. The article contains a classifi cation of legal terms based on the absence or presence of diff erences between the British and American variants, as well as the character of diff erences.

Current research studies the concept of “gender” as one of the social factors that determine the choice of language means defi ned as more typical for female or male speech. The study focuses on the speech of Theresa May, the former British Prime Minister, the second female Prime Minister after M. Thatcher. The analysis of 10 interviews with male and female journalists is based on the classifi cations of masculine and feminine language means described in the studies of such linguists as R. Lakoff , a representative of feminist criticism of language, W. O’Barr and B.

The article examines the changes that have occurred in family-related communication. The research is based on family speech handwritten notes and transcripts of voice records made by the author and the students of her special seminar, correspondence of family members and relatives in various messengers, as well as on the speech material presented in articles and books published by various researchers.

The second half of the last century is characterized by an increased interest in the literature of Ancient and Medieval Russia. Since the 40s, a large number of fundamental studies dedicated to various works before the time of Peter the Great have appeared. This attention was accompanied by a more thorough study of the Church Slavonic language itself: its spelling, morphology and, of course, vocabulary, as evidenced by the work begun in the 70s on compiling a dictionary of the Russian language of the 11–17th centuries.

The article deals with the dialectal vocabulary of Russian dialects on the territory of the Middle Volga region. The author relies on new materials collected in the regional atlas and dictionary. The article provides the facts that the sources reflect the uneven development of dialect lexical systems, in which, on the one hand, under the influence of standardization and inter-dialectal contact, new words appear and, on the other hand, archaisms are preserved.

This article discusses linguistic units which actualize the fi gurative potential of zoonyms (animalisms, animal names) – metaphors, comparisons, phraseological units. The purpose of this research is to establish the lexical and semantic features of the units included in the fi gurative fi eld of zoonyms.

The article deals with the clarifi cation of the terminological concept of “small-format text”, in particular, an attempt is made to establish the criteria and boundaries of “small-format” in relation to the texts currently employed in the process of real communication. The topic is addressed due to the fact that the tendency towards the optimization of communication and reduction of textual volume represents a characteristic trend of modern speech interaction in all communicative contexts.

In the article, playing techniques of the schoolchildren’s reactions, the causes and the modes of the design of non-usage words are investigated on the material of the Associative Dictionary of the Schoolchildren of Saratov and the Saratov Region. Such reactions are considered as the manifestation of linguistic creativity of the schoolchildren.