Abstract
The Russian lexemes « dame » and « lady » which were borrowed from European languages to designate wealthy, educated and high society women became assimilated in the Russian language and culture. The words gave rise to culture-oriented colocations (кaвaлерственaя дaмa/ chivalry dame), and developed new connotations, which the lexeme «женщинa»/ woman does not have. In addition to neutral and positive connotations (“истиннaя леди”/ true lady), the lexemes acquired negative connotations like “дaмa полусветa”/ demimondaine dame, which indicate to the woman’s inferior social status (полковaя дaмa/ regimental dame), highlight women’s weaknesses not inherent to men (aвтоледи/ auto lady), and stereotypical ideas of women’s low intellect (дaмский ромaн/ love story). The inherent and adherent connotations of the lexemes «дaмa»/ dame and «леди»/ lady revealed through analysis are based on traditional stereotypical ideas about women’s social roles and imply evaluation of the woman’s performance in traditionally male spheres. Thereby, acquisition of negative and ironic connotations by the lexemes is conditioned in society denying women’s new functions and roles from feminist perspective.
Highlights
According to Merriam Webster dictionary the Word of the Year for 2017 was feminism
The public interest in the word and in its definition is proved by the statistic data based on the number of lookups for “feminism” and their spikes, which chronologically correlates with the events in 2017
We argue that researching into connotation from sociolinguistic perspective involves outlining cultural, social and historical conditions and factors which contribute to the emergence and evolution of the word connotation
Summary
According to Merriam Webster dictionary the Word of the Year for 2017 was feminism. The public interest in the word and in its definition is proved by the statistic data based on the number of lookups for “feminism” and their spikes, which chronologically correlates with the events in 2017. The Women’s March on Washington in the USA and similar marches in the world represent protests against Trump’ Presidency, because Trump made a number of statements offending women. Trump’s political consultant Kellyanne Conway enhanced the public interest in the term “feminism” by arguing about different aspects of the feminist phenomenon. The issues of women’s status in the films The Handmaid's Tale и Wonder Woman provoked interest in feminism. Disclosure of incidents of sexual harassment from male colleagues and powers that be made feminist issues timely as well
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