2020
№ 4
(Vol. 7)
The article considers the problem of functioning in the language of the media of the Russian explanatory structure. The study is based on the results of studying explanatory sentences in Russian syntactic science, which is reflected in the article as a brief history of their study. The study is based on observations of explanatory constructions in the language of various modern media presented on the Internet. As a starting point, it is argued that in order to solve a problem in a media text, it is necessary to distinguish between the text itself and the paratext, as well as the author’s beginning of the text. The study revealed that the explanatory structure acts as the headings of news texts, subheadings of author columns and interview leads. At the same time, news texts found a special type of speech news, the heading of which is an explanatory structure, and the author’s beginning is mainly verbs of speech. The most significant grammatical result is that the media language not only uses the entire repertoire of explanatory constructions known to the literary language, but also forms a number of special constructions based on the reduction of various elements of the modus proposition and even its whole: these are constructions with a omitted modus predicate of the type “Author about the problem”, “author: replica”, as well as a predicative deliberation with interrogative pronouns like who, where, why, what, it is increasingly used as a heading in a number of publications. All these reduced constructions meet the conditions of media communication and genre differentiation of media texts. In addition, it has been shown that important textual and grammatical characteristics of the media text are set in the paratext.
2020
№ 4
(Vol. 7)
The article deals with some general grammatical peculiarities of news texts on the Yandex portal. According to the author, they reflect the present-day tendencies in the identified sphere. Following Van Dijk, the author examines text as a macrostructure with certain sequences of sentences. The present-day news text has a heterogeneous structure formed through the combination of the voices of the author and those who convey “the words of others” and act as immediate participants of the defined situation. The change in punctuation used to convey the speech of others in Russian texts highlighted by the author may have happened under the influence of English punctuation. This change creates a new pattern for the conveyance of the speech of others, according to which the boundaries between “one’s own” and “somebody else’s” words blur, with the role of the author becoming weaker. The voice of others represented in different ways, i. e., through the use of direct and indirect speech with various modifications and the author’s interpretation of the Other’s words, becomes dominant in the news text. Due to the repetition of the same thought through the use of different means the news text quits being informatively impeccable. On the basis of the analysis of the syntactic structure of the news texts headlines, the author points out the frequency of indefinite-personal sentences in them. Both the fact that the author’s voice is diluted by “somebody else’s” speech and the elimination of the subject in the most frequently used syntactic form of the headline, that is, the indefinite-personal sentence, allows us to think that in the contemporary world the role of the subject is being weakened, its “dissolution” in the actions of others or in “other” discursive practices argued by the postmodern philosophy is reflected on the grammatical level of text.
2020
№ 4
(Vol. 7)
The work analyzes the functionality of the Russian verb in the genre of information reporting. The use of the verb in the form of this actual (real reportage) is considered one of the main features of the genre of reporting. However, the analysis shows that along with the forms of the present topical in the report are actively used forms of verbs of the past time of imperfect kind. The authors pay attention to the functional identity of these verb forms. The present reportage (real topical) can only be formed from the verbs of an imperfect kind. It is the imperfect appearance of the verb that gives the reader a sense of inclusion in the event, which is mentioned in the report. It does not matter whether the verbs of an imperfect kind are in the form of the present or the past. The functionality of the verb in the text of the report is described in close connection with the nature of the media text, in particular with the category of social spacetime. The concept of the communicative status of the media library is introduced — the degree of relevance of the media text for society, due to the nature of its connection with the coordinates of social space-time. There are three communicative statuses. The actual mediatext is such at the time of publication, when it is part of the general practical activity of the society. The mediatext is being created for here and for now. Texts of the past time lose direct connection with the present topical society, but do not lose their importance. They store important information, experience acquired by society. Mediatexts that have lost touch with society become artifacts of a bygone era, acquiring the status of a cognitive text. The ability to describe a mediate based on the chronotop category is analyzed. The use of the category of chronotop in the understanding of M. M. Bakhtin can be considered correct only in relation to the study of the essay and reportage of a large volume with a developed visual and analytical beginning.
2020
№ 4
(Vol. 7)
The article deals with prepositional units formed on the basis of prepositional-noun and widely used in modern Russian media. These units were studied in different aspects and were referred to by different terms. We, following M. V. Vsevolodova, use the broader term “prepositional units” and divide prepositional units into three groups. The first group includes prepositional units of the type ввиду (чего-н.), вместо (кого-чего-н.), вроде (кого-чего-н.), which have a structural integrity. The second group includes such as в силу (чего-н.), в честь (кого-чего-н.), в течение (чего-н.), which differ separately. The third group is prepositional units of the type в рамках (чего-н.), в области (чего-н.), на фоне (чего-н.), etc., which were characterized by the possible insertion of consistent adjectives or pronouns. In the article, using the transitivity scale of V. V. Babaytseva, the similarities and differences of prepositional units are revealed, and the stages they occupy on the path of identification depending on the specific use are revealed. From the point of view of the diachronic transition of language phenomena, these prepositional units reflect the process of their lexicalization, that is, it is clear that they have turned from separate syntactic units into a single lexical unit. On the other hand, there is also a grammaticalization process, that is, there is a desemanization and decategorization of each element within the unit. It indicates a close relationship between lexicalization and grammaticalization. The functional similarity of the prepositional forms of the noun and the preposition, a high frequency of use «предлог+падежная форма существительного» facilitate the transition into the prepositional units.
2020
№ 4
(Vol. 7)
This paper discusses linguistic and psychological aspects of the problem of automatic modusdictum analysis of texts published in social networks and other electronic media. Thereupon, theoretical questions are raised anew on the linguistic nature of modus, on the means to express “ego-meanings” in speech, on the differentiation of proper modus (autoreferential signs) and modal-evaluating predicates in dictum position, on the implicit methods of communicating modus information, and the resources to read this information based on discursive speech practices (conventional meanings). The applied goal of the paper is to provide “humanitarian” (psychological and linguistic) support for development of machine “mining” programs, i. e. automatic monitoring of network content and text identification with a certain subjective modality. To achieve this goal, we describe, in particular, such lexical-grammatical features of the texts that can be significant for determining psychological state of an individual or a professional group to identify certain public opinions. Conceptually, this research is connected with the idea of speech system which is manifested both at the level of styles and genres and within independent communicative units, as well as with one of the most important trends in the field of artificial intelligence — the method of relational-situational analysis of texts in natural language. Thematic groups of words (TGW) were compiled including “evaluation collocations” typical of those texts. The templates created on the basis of psychological and linguistic description model suggested in this paper can be used hereafter to develop algorithms for automatic monitoring of the network texts of a given theme (professional stability or mobility, professional crisis, etc.) and evaluation.
2020
№ 4
(Vol. 7)
The paper discusses several advantages of multimodal approach to the analysis of nature and specifics of media audience’s reception of texts. The authors base their ideas on the principally multimodal nature of media communication, which reflects in the way the recipients interpret texts. Thus, various factors impact on the interpretation of the initialized text. Moreover, such factors predominately include other semiotic resources that are not formally affiliated with the basic text. In the research, the hypothesis was about the impact of verbal comments on interpretation of visual objects by recipients. According to this goal, the authors selected two groups of respondents — a control and an experimental one, which were offered a photograph and were asked to describe it verbally in a free manner. The experimental group of respondents was offered the same photograph with motivating verbal comment, including the general information about the origins and topics of the photograph. The authors compared the results of the both groups descriptions by matching verbalized categories of representation, individual evaluations of the photograph and “the syntax” of verbal description of the visual media text. The research results proved the general supposition: the multimodal approach, being aimed at finding, describing and explicating the meaning effects of semiotic ensembles, contributes to understanding the features of interpretation of visual objects under the influence of other semiotic (here — verbal) resources. Thus, the results show that the interpretation of visual objects is motivated by the verbal comment: it topicalizes and contextualizes the visual reception and interpretation of the basic message. In the conclusion, the authors define the perspectives both of the research and the multimodal approach to media texts study.
2020
№ 4
(Vol. 7)
The article presents the results of a study of digital content reflecting conflicting urban communications related to road construction in Moscow. The empirical base of the study was data from social networks, microblogs, blogs, messengers, forums, reviews, and videos dedicated to the construction of transport interchange hubs (TPU). Date of material collection: 1.08.19 00:00 — 30.09.19 23:59. We used a multimodal approach to analyze the content of social media using neural network technologies, text analysis, content analysis, sentimental analysis, and psycholinguistic techniques. As a result of the research, the analysis of residents’ perception of the implementation of these construction projects was carried out, as well as social stress in the construction areas was identified, and the risks of conflicts with the population of Moscow were assessed when planning and conducting construction works. The analysis showed that five objects (TPU Varshavskaya, TPU Dmitrovskaya, TPU Nekrasovka, TPU Pyatnitskoe shosse, TPU Ryazan) do not have risks during implementation, the content differs in the absence of aggression and social tension. TPU Nagatinskaya is characterized by an average degree of social stress. A high degree of social tension is caused by the projects of TPU Michurinsky Prospekt and TPU Khovrino. Thus, the analysis allowed us to predict the absence of conflicts with the population in the implementation of the projects of TPU Varshavskaya, TPU Dmitrovskaya, TPU Nekrasovka, TPU Pyatnitskoe highway, TPU Ryazan. The construction of TPU Nagatinskaya and TPU Khovrino causes social tension, but conflict is expected only in the virtual environment. The content of the TPU Michurinsky Prospekt should be defined as a conflict-prone digital zone with a high degree of social stress, and the escalation of conflict between residents and city authorities, builders, both in the online and offline space should be predicted.
2020
№ 4
(Vol. 7)
This analysis is a part of a bigger study on the presentation of Muslim women in the media. The focus here is on Ilhan Omar, the first Muslim Somali-born woman in American Congress, and more specifically on the latest publications on Omar which delve into her personal family life and the alleged marriage she has entered into with her brother, so that she can provide him with a green card for the USA. The topic presents a cross-section of several major fields of study such as feminism, media studies, and culture studies as the emphasis is on the biased media representation intended to diminish the real worth of a woman politician who is a carrier of several different identities, namely: gender, religious, ethnic, and class. The corpus for this study consists of 42 articles published in various online media over a period of four months from January 2020 to April 2020. The paper argues that first, the presentation Ilhan Omar enjoys is gendered and second, that it is subjected to the stereotypical image of Muslim women as submissive and silent, being of a lower status than men, especially in a male-dominated field such as politics. In addition, it is also argued that although Omar breaks the existing stereotypes of Muslim women, the way media present her actually reinforces the preconceived ideas she refutes. To prove the above, the main methods of analysis applied are Critical Discourse Analysis along with Multi-modal analysis when the non-verbal part of the presentation on the image is concerned.
2020
№ 4
(Vol. 7)
A number of approaches to media texts tend to apply an interactive model to communication, and the texts are seen are intrinsically dialogic, relying on the receivers’ subjective interpretation of meaning and activation of intertextual relations. In addition, media texts are increasingly used as material for linguistic analysis with the aim to reveal how their linguistic potential is utilized by journalists to convey messages and ideas, and influence the audience. The paper discusses the pragmatic functions of interrogatives and the way they are realized in media text, more specifically in newspaper articles’ headlines, leads and bodies excerpted from British and American online media over a period of two months. The analysis is mapped against previous research of interrogatives in the field of pragmatics and medialinguistics. The main findings show that interrogatives in headlines realize a range of pragmatic roles when used on their own or as part of paratactic or hypotactic complexes. These roles are closely dependent on their syntactic and semantic features and can range from attracting and focusing readers’ attention, to urging readers to think about issues, look for certain types of answers in the text, or think of their own answers or reactions. Headlines can be expanded or clarified in the sub-headings, lead and main body of the article. In the main body, interrogatives help to structure and authenticate writer’s dialogue with the audience, making the narrative or argumentation more emphatic, and soliciting active commitment to issues, feedback and empathy from the audience. Furthermore, some topics of high public interest and importance might lead to an increase in the number of questions in media texts. Further research of larger and more varied thematically material might throw light on the way different topics affect the frequency and distribution of pragmatic roles of interrogatives in media texts.
2020
№ 4
(Vol. 7)
The article discusses the forms of deviant speech behaviour in an online environment in various situational contexts. The approach proposed by the author represents a new level of understanding of the problem. So far, the vast majority of publications have been devoted to describing the phenomenon of network behaviour that deviates from accepted ethical standards. Considering the problem in the context of a situation that is characterized by clear role prescriptions, it becomes possible to identify the motives of the communicative behaviour of the participants. This, in turn, allows us to answer a question of a different level: how to correct the deviant behaviour of participants in network communities. The findings are based on representative empirical material collected in accordance with three sequential procedures. At the first stage, the most frequent semantic equivalents of the phrase “ethics and the Internet” were selected using the Google search engine web service. In the second stage, cases were selected that fell into the top of search results for search queries selected at the previous stage. At the third stage, the “snowball” method was used — a detailed search for information of the most common forms of deviant network behaviour. The author offers a classification of deviant behaviour by two types of factors: socio-psychological and institutional. Socio-psychological factors include dialogism and game motivation, which are actualized in the context of a virtual environment. When it comes to “serious” communities, UX designers should take care to reinforce the signs of NOT — gaming reality. Among the institutional factors, the most significant is the immaturity of the professional community of SMM — managers engaged in the promotion of goods and services on social networks. In this case, unfair competition takes place, which is qualified by Russian law.