Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate the means of representation of the indefinitely expressed subject in Russian and English for the purpose of structuring and classifying the linguistic means of its expression. As the basis for investigation we chose the fictional text of the novel by M. A. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita” and its parallel translation to English. In the paper we used the method of semantic analysis, contextual component analysis, comparative analysis and the method of linguistic modelling. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the results of the comparative analysis which show that there exist symmetrical and asymmetrical forms of expressing formally indefinite semantic subject. Symmetrical means of implicit expressing semantic subject is mostly nominalization. Generalized subject can be expressed either symmetrically or asymmetrically by various syntactic constructions in Russian and English. Asymmetrical means of expressing semantic subject can be traced in the syntactic constructions of different kind which are represented by binary oppositions. As a result of the research it has been found that the preferred ways of expressing indefinite semantic subject in Russian are indefinite pronouns; in English – passive constructions.

Highlights

  • The relevance of the research is due to the need to consider in a comparative way the means of expression of an implicitly presented semantic subject

  • We develop the problem of the polyphonic expression of the subject in various linguocultures, including Russian and English, paying special attention to the paradigm of the means of expressing an implicitly presented semantic subject, as a universal phenomenon that characterizes the dynamism and diversity of linguistic forms and performs important nominative and communicative functions

  • The English language seems to be more formalized and ususal than the Russian language, which has a certain established word order and an abundance of stable grammatical and semantic combinations, each element of which is determined by the meaning of the statement, and by the tradition of use as it was explained by Chomsky in his work Syntactic Structures (Chomsky, 2001)

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Summary

Introduction

The relevance of the research is due to the need to consider in a comparative way the means of expression of an implicitly presented semantic subject. This universal phenomenon, which characterizes the dynamism and diversity of linguistic forms, performs an important nominative and communicative function and, as a result, requires its own special consideration. The purpose of this article is to identify and compare the ways of representing the implicitly expressed semantic subject as it is formulated in Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary by Arutyunova (Arutyunova, 1990) in Russian and English. To achieve the set goal of the study, it was necessary to solve the following tasks: 1) to conduct a sample of factual material; 2) classify the types of means of expression of the subject; 3) to conduct a comparative analysis of lexical and syntactic forms of expression of an implicit semantic subject; 4) to identify the general and the particular cases in the expression of the implicit semantic subject, which is characteristic of the Russian and English languages

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