Saturday, April 27Институт «Высшая школа журналистики и массовых коммуникаций» СПбГУ
Shadow

2021. Volume 8, No. 4

2021
№ 4
(Vol. 8)

Based on the material of modern Internet media (text queries of the Yandex search engine), the article examines the widespread type of headings “How + X”, where the X form includes the infinitive. It is shown that this type is assigned to intentions of advice and instructions, which are in high demand in modern Internet communication. The formalization of possible variants of X is carried out: As + Adv + Vmod (including negation) in the infinitive + V (fullvalued verbs) + Odirect and indirect + Circonstant. Of these, the mandatory components are — How V, the optional ones are Adv, Vmod, O and Circonstant. Based on the results obtained, the main structural (structural-syntactic) and content (primarily lexico-semantic) groups are distinguished. It is established that by the presence and quality in the form “How + infinitive” of the Vmod term, the most frequent constructions are: How + V, How not + V, How necessary + V, How possible + V, How better + V, How effectively + V, how well + V, how correctly + V, how to start + V, how to learn + V, how to learn not + V, how to quit + V, how to stop + V. Complete lists of semantic verbs V in these groups are provided, structural types are distributed on the semantics of headings. Thematic groups of verbs acting in position V in the found contexts are highlighted and examined in detail: the state of the addressee of speech (appearance, health, physical, intellectual capabilities, technical, medical, culinary, etc. skills); communication (effective) and building social hierarchies; equipment (gadgets) and its maintenance; games (primarily computer and role-playing); cooking. A general vocabulary list is provided at the end of the article.

2021
№ 4
(Vol. 8)

The article based on the material of “Vedomosti” of the era of Peter I, “St. Petersburg Vedomosti” and “Moscow Vedomosti” of the 18th–19th centuries traces the formation of the use of the letter Ѣ. The established usage is compared with the recommendations of grammatical works of the 18th–19th centuries. The specificity of this norm is that the use of Ѣ was determined not only by the Church Slavonic spelling tradition and artificial rules for differentiating homonyms, but also by some special patterns of oral and bookish pronunciation. The letter in Peter’s “Vedomosti” occurs very consistently in accordance with the ancient tradition in numbers of both church and civil type, though older and contemporary grammatical works do not offer any list of words with Ѣ, nor a list of rules governing the spelling of this letter. “Vedomosti”, “St. Petersburg Vedomosti” and “Moscow Vedomosti” demonstrate great stability in the use of Ѣ, primarily at the end of adverbs, function words, comparative and superlative degrees of adjectives, as well as in the prefix нѣ of indefinite pronouns and adverbs. The slight variability observed in the spelling of inflections disappears by the 20s of the 18th century. The least regular use of Ѣ reveals itself in the roots of words, but even here its use in newspapers is more regular than in the Ѣ lists provided by grammars. A century before the appearance of the first list of its kind in the Academic Grammar of 1802 in Peter’s “Vedomosti”, the main corpus of words systematically written with Ѣ in the root was formed, subsequently recorded in full only in the “Russian Spelling” by Ya.K. Grot in 1885. The variation of root vowels in newspapers found mainly in foreign words ceased long before the codification of these words in grammars and dictionaries.

2021
№ 4
(Vol. 8)

New linguistic formations in the media’s description and evaluation of the protest events in Belarus (“belmaidan”) on 09.08.2020 are considered as a thesaurus. The study is based on descriptions of the sociolinguistic and historical context of Belarusian realities, on the provisions of the reference theory (which manifests itself only in speech and represents not reality itself, but its image) and the theory of the thesaurus as a system of knowledge about the world, presented in texts and expressed in verbal signs. In the development of these theories, the main parameters of the “belmaidan” thesaurus are highlighted: subjects of speech, media texts and the thesaurus itself as a bicentric structure in the polarization of the centers we and they. New linguistic formations of the they-thesaurus are characterized in lexical-thematic, derivational and grammatical terms, as well as in their correlation with objects of reality: several synonymous variants of names that are isofunctional to a proper name correspond to the same referent, as a result these units form a structure of synonymous series different from the one in the dictionary. As a holistic mental-speech formation, the they-thesaurus, due to its communicative nature, referential orientation and attachment to reality, represents objective knowledge about a fragment of the real world and reveals its pejorative intentionality at the intertextual level. Two conclusions are drawn: the event thesaurus is a specific system with its own social time and space coordinate, having the structure and forms of expression, internal and external connections as well as capability to expand; the thesaurus analysis of media speech has explanatory power in the presentation of objective knowledge, on the one hand, and the expressive capabilities of language, on the other.

2021
№ 4
(Vol. 8)

The authors of this article present the results of the psycho-linguistic stage of studies which aim to develop instruments for automated identification of online communication texts according to a set dictum and modus parameters. The intentional, volitional, and emotional content of the texts was analyzed which determines their genre and linguo-semiotic peculiarities. As a result of an introspective analysis of the content of texts on the topic of a professional crisis, a number of communicative-textual categories were identified that are significant from the point of view of diagnosing the psychological state of the subject of speech. A description is given of both segment markers of subjective meanings — predicates that directly reflect the intentional-volitional state of the speaker and text fragments that, not being direct modus indicators, with a high degree of probability refer in this context to a certain internal state of the author text. The well-known discursive conventions are taken into account. Methodologically, the authors are guided by the theoretical guidelines of the concept of stylistic-speech consistency (M. N. Kozhina) and the model of relational-situational analysis developed within the framework of the theory of artificial intelligence by G. S. Osipov. When analyzing the modus-dictum content of texts, a scenario approach and methods of “internal and external reconstruction” of subjective meanings were used, interpreted with reference to both segment markers within the analyzed text unit (utterance), and their connections with such adjacent (external) text fragments, which, in the context of a network discussion, refer to certain intentional-volitional states of the subject of speech and are, in fact, their semantic anaphors. It is shown that the content of texts on the subject of a professional crisis is characterized by a high degree of emotiveness, the automatic “reading” of which is an important task of computer linguistics and artificial intelligence.

2021
№ 4
(Vol. 8)

The article is devoted to studying the pragmatics of using relative adjectives in media discourse. Relative adjectives pose a serious problem for Russian lexicography. Their lexical meaning depends on the generating stem of the noun (cf. лесной from лес, кирпичный — from кирпич, пламенный — from пламя), but it does not always coincide. The article examines two questions, illustrated with examples from newspapers and magazines in Russian. The first question is related to the behavior of relative adjectives in the syntactic structure of an utterance. These words are actively involved in various transformations (reorganizations) of the phrase in inner speech. Examples are expressions such as проходной балл (passing score), онегинская строфа (Onegin stanza), чеховское ружье (Chekhov’s gun), вертолетные деньги (helicopter money), etc. The mobility, dynamism of this grammatical class of words represents a significant benefit (bonus) for the journalist. It is shown that the mechanisms of metaphor and metonymy are involved in the processes of syntactic transformation. The second question is the acquisition by relative adjectives of additional pragmatic shades of meaning due to the ideological attitudes (principles) of the speaker. These definitions acquire evaluative (axiological) semantics, which can be used, among other things, for the purpose of manipulating the reader. With the help of these adjectives, a positive or negative image of a concept is formed. Many such expressions originated in the Soviet era (пламенный борец, порочная практика, гнилая буржуазия), but their range continues to expand today (вегетарианский период, санкционные меры, материнский капитал, силовые министерства). The combination of relative adjectives, as well as their pragmatic connotations, require reflection in lexicographical publications.

2021
№ 4
(Vol. 8)

The author of this article considers some aspects of the functioning of terms denoting various mass media, historical aspects of their origin and semantic transformation in the Russian language, languages-sources of borrowing. The history of the terms gazeta, zhurnal, kuranty, vedomosti, radio, kinozhurnal and televidenie, internet is considered in detail. The first Russian periodical was “Vesti-Kuranty” or “Vestovye Pisma”, as it is conventionally referred to in research, a handwritten newspaper published since 1600 (regularly — since 1621). Since the beginning of the 18th century, printed “Vedomosti about Military and Other Matters Worthy of Knowledge and Memory” have been published. Soon the word gazeta was borrowed from the Italian language, which was first found in the papers of Peter I for 1707, but its spread in the Russian language was probably influenced by Prince Boris Ivanovich Kurakin, who spoke Italian well and used this term in his papers. The word gazeta was popular in many European languages, it was regularly included in the gemeronyms. The word zhurnal was borrowed from the French language to refer to time-based book publications. In the Russian language, the lexemes almanac, vedomosti, bulletin, tabloid are also used to refer to periodicals, scientific periodicals and non-periodical publications including words with a gemeronymic meaning: uchyonie zapiski, trudy, chteniia, materialy, kommentarii, akty, memuary, etc. Radio and television also joined the mass media system, and at the end of the 20th century, the Internet. The existence of the terms SMI and media in modern usage is noted, the latter’s frequency of usage is actively increasing. There is a derivational explosion of almost limitless new formations from this term. The term SMI also continues to exist in the Russian language, fitting into the composition of abbreviations and having a transparent semantic content with the full use of the abbreviation.

2021
№ 4
(Vol. 8)

The author of this article examines some specific language mechanisms for expressing a special type of implicit evaluativeness in modern Russian media discourse. The author proceeds from the assumption of the existence of so-called “pseudo-values” in the communicative environment of society, which are understood as non-unconditional values. It is noted that the diagnostic, representative context for identifying values of this type in the speech practice of Russian native speakers is a statement that includes a meta-language commentary “v khoroshem smysle (slova)” (“in a good sense (of the word)”). The goal of the study is to identify the main models of language representation of so-called pseudo-values in modern Russian media discourse. The main research methods are the method of logical analysis of implicit information in language utterances and the method of contextual analysis of metalanguage elements of the text. Based on the material of the Newspaper Corpus as part of the Russian National Corpus, the work shows that values of the new Russian reality, declared as positive in the media, such as a career, competition, individualism, “the West”, fashion, etc., actually act as pseudo-values that are not regarded by native speakers in usage as unconditionally positive ones. This is confirmed by the very possibility of using these nominations in mass media discourse with a clarifying meta-language indicator “v khoroshem smysle (slova)”. Special attention is also paid to the use of this meta-language commentary as a conscious means of speech influence and a language manipulation technique. It is concluded that the use of contexts with the said reflexive in media discourse always has the character of an internal polemic: the speaker diverges from the value stereotypes assigned to the depicted phenomena and concepts in an objective language evaluation, in generally accepted nominations, and in the direction of both increasing the evaluation register and lowering it.

2021
№ 4
(Vol. 8)

In the context of the broad mediatization of public life, medical discourse finds its realization not only in scientific, professional, sphere but also in the media space. The mediatization of scientific knowledge contributes to its popularization, the dissemination of reliable professional information, an improvement in the quality of the information space and, as a result, an increase in the medical literacy of the mass addressee. However, at the same time, the mediatization of medical discourse carries the risk of spreading some destructive social practices. The auhtor of this article summarizes the main theoretical aspects of communication in the context of global informatization of the communicative space. Special attention is paid to the concept of mediatization and its theoretical understanding in modern linguistic works. Two main ways of implementing medical discourse in the media space are considered: through the inclusion of a professional from the field of medicine into the media and through the media implementation of a professional medical text. The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the attributes of mediatization of a professional medical text in the space of mass communication, to characterize the level of symmetrization in the presentation of medical material by means of media language and ways of perceiving a media-medical text by the addressee. The study was carried out within the framework of the discursive-interaction approach to the analysis of media communication. Texts from Slovak media resources were used as empirical material. Based on the linguistic analysis of the medical text in its media implementation, it can be concluded that there is significant content and linguistic transformation of scientific discourse in the media space. This is due to the mediatization of the medical text, when the personal function comes to the fore, and the information is presented in a manner of advertising. The wide informatization of the communicative space allows the addressee (heterogeneous in their knowledge, experience, ideas, goals) to directly participate in the subsequent interpretation of the text, which leads to the active participation of the layperson in the process of forming the information space. As a result, the choice and dissemination of often destructive social practices is directly affected.

2021
№ 4
(Vol. 8)

The author of this article studies the issue of intonation and speech deviation. The relevance of addressing the problems of intonation norms is determined by the expansion of the public demand for educational services in the field of speech technology. In particular, these services are sought-after by those whose sphere of professional activity does not include ensuring media functioning, yet they show a reasonable interest in forming their own information field by speech means of self-presentation. The author believes that in these conditions, speech pedagogy faces new tasks, both practical and theoretical: determining the attitude to the use of the intonation-grammatical norm and its ontological status, as well as looking for effective ways of teaching the mastery of this norm. In this regard, it seems fruitful to refer to the phenomenon of media speech and the impact of this phenomenon on the formation, consolidation and existence of speech norms, especially intonation norms. The author attempts to address the problem of teaching correct intonation through the prism of her pedagogical experience in teaching the course “Speech Techniques”. The starting point of the pedagogue’s work is to determine, on the basis of the theoretical provisions of Russian grammar, the content of the concepts of intonation norm and deviations from it, provide reference examples and explain the reasons for certain distortions in media speech. The author analyzes ideas about the norm in general and the speech norm, revealing the concepts of intonation-grammatical norm and intonation-grammatical deviation. Based on the materials of media speech produced by subjects of media activity with different levels of mastering speech competencies (which are hereby understood as the sources of media speech), the author establishes the peculiarities of intonation and grammatical design of speech within the subject groups, draws conclusions about the specifics of deviations from the norm, identifies types of deviations and provides assumptions about possible reasons for such deviations. Among the reasons, the author lists physiological reasons for the first time. The results of the study reveal new aspects in determining the norms of modern media speech and they can be applied in the development of individual educational routes in teaching speech techniques.

2021
№ 4
(Vol. 8)

The societal crisis’ influence on the crisis of the language in contemporary Serbian journalism is prevailing. Words have been increasingly framed into inappropriate content. Homonyms are gradually becoming the only way to debate and give second opinions. Globalizing vocabulary with fashionable phraseology, manipulative rhetoric and the artificial realignment of language serve as the basis of rhetorical and stylistic research presented in this work. Casual populist political speeches and sensationalistic topics in Serbia are in the centre of events, even though they are easily forgotten. An apparent lack of creativity in language results in the glorification of a globalizing rhetorical model. This leads to a sort of recycling of language patterns and a pathetic usage of metaphors in everyday life, hence the apparent emergence of a new kind of sensationalism. Different linguistic matrices obsessively repeat themselves in the same rhetorical frame. Therefore, the language of journalists is increasingly reduced to the form and the form is reduced to the void. In this article, the analysis of the contemporary use of stylistic knowledge by media professionals will be conducted within a sample of one year of broadcasts during 2019–2020, prior to the pandemic. The authors explain the methodology of the research by describing the theoretical approach and the methods used to substantiate the hypothesis. The research aims to show the gradual change of media language during the current professional, economic and moral crises. A vast majority of media have a common inherited loss of truly free expression. Instead of free relations, a plethora of excessive self-censorship and hidden advocacies and connections is being extended. This appears to be a certain eternity or bad infinity of the shadows in the media.