Features of preposition usage in the diplomatic sub-style of the Russian and Chinese languages

Abstract

The article is devoted to the use of prepositions in the diplomatic language of the Russian and Chinese languages. The subject of the study is the structural and semantic characteristics of prepositional constructions typical of the diplomatic substyle. The main goal is a comparative analysis of the preposition use as one of the diplomatic substyle linguistic features in the languages under consideration and the identification of their features in terms of their structure and meaning. To achieve this goal, methods of comparative analysis, statistical analysis and component analysis were used. Bilingual diplomatic documents from the official websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and China over the period from 1994 to 2023 were selected as research material. As a result of the study, we conclude that prepositions are actively used in both Russian and Chinese diplomatic styles, but their structures and meanings differ. We have found that from the point of view of the constructions’ meanings, both languages possess prepositional constructions to express the meanings of goals, methods and bases. However, in the Chinese language there is a special group of prepositions expressing the subject or object of an action, while in the Russian language such meanings are conveyed using case forms.