Linguistics

This article considers the historical aspect of the interaction between lexical semantics and discourse. A special emphasis is put on the role of discourse determined synonymic rows in the evolution of the meaning of lexical units. The material of the research is represented by English, French and Spanish medieval written records.

The article is devoted to language units possessing vague semantics and to actualization of their meanings in situations. It deals with the concept of situation itself, gives different approaches to its investigation, as well as provides a classification of referential meanings of the temporal adverb maintenant.

Based on the material of the analysis of how the units naming persons by perceptive actions function, the article offers the interpretation of some peculiarities inherent to this group of words, as well as to the whole category of person naming which is distinguished, as compared to other types of naming, by linguistic and cognitive principles of origin and development.

The role of metaphor in the formation of the modern computer slang is analyzed in the article. The main groups of lexis are singled out; they are used as the source of the figurative slang meanings formation; they are compared with the general language tendencies; the system of metaphorization sources is researched as the reflection of the unique world picture of this certain idiom.