Linguistic Instruments Research Articles

Genre differentiation of small-format texts in modern English

A number of objective conditions that have formed in the modern society are reflected in language as the tendency to reduce the volume of communicative units – texts – that are used in the process of communication. Currently, short textual formations are characteristic of all types of discourse, including those of interpersonal and institutional communication in the media, scientific, official and business environments, as well as in the context of creative writing. The relevance of studying small texts is explained by the need to identify specific ways by which the pragmatic potential of a limited number of linguistic means is most efficiently realized within a small construct, allowing the text to successfully fulfill its complex communicative goal in the process of verbal interaction. Specifics of discursive interaction of linguistic instruments within the framework of the textual structure are closely related to the genre parameters of a particular text variety, however at the moment researchers have not yet adopted a unified approach to systematizing genre variations of small texts. The purpose of this article is to work out a set of classification parameters for systemic arrangement of various small-format texts, which will potentially bring them to a single standard of description. As a result, a number of classification criteria for genre systematization are proposed including ontological, functional stylistic, quantitative, semiotic, formalization and environmental ones. Within the framework of each criterion, variants of genre implementations are singled out with the latter being supported with linguistic illustrations in the form of contemporary English small-format texts.

Information retrieval linguistic instruments in e-catalogs of Russian large libraries

The article is based on the findings of the study of linguistic instruments of information search used in e-catalogs of Russian largest libraries. For the study, the libraries with the collections of over 4 million entries were sele cted. The authors analyze search types applicable to e-catalog search interface. They specify the following search types applied in the above libraries: single-line (simple) search, standard (basic), advanced and professional search. The advanced search options are discussed, namely refinement systems, ranking and sorting of search results; at least one of these options is used in the e-catalogs under study. The authors also analyze the systems of search dictionaries, guidelines and use characteristics. The popular information retrieval languages are discussed with the conclusion made that the e-catalogs under study offer search options for various sets of bibliographic elements, among them author, title, year of publication, and subject search based on verbal languages (every library under study) and classification languages (majority of the libraries). The authors formulate the common features inherent in the libraries' e-catalogs and information retrieval linguistic instruments. They also offer recommendations on how to develop and efficiently use these instruments for upgrading library e-catalogs.

Ecological reflection and its verbalization in the Russian, English and French media discourse space: a comparative approach

The article covers the problem of ecological reflection and the ways of its linguistic realization in the Russian and foreign media discourse space at the present epoch of digitalization and sustainable development. The main goal of this research is to characterize the key linguistic ways of expressing ecological reflection at its individual and collective levels of information perception by human consciousness in Russian, English and French media discourses. The study contains a comparative approach towards the analysis of the language units that express ecological reflection in the media discourses of different language domains. This method helps define the relevance of the study, which is primarily explained by the increasing number of interactive media materials focused on the environmental issues of the third millennium. The results of the study demonstrate a different degree of the language expression of ecological reflection (evolutionary, mediative and radical) by means of a particular choice of linguistic instruments specific for a certain language media space. In the end, one common principle is identified in the expression of ecological reflection in the Russian, French and English media discourse space. Despite almost opposite linguistic approaches towards the implementation of ecological reflection in the Russian, English and French media, there is one common challenge that unites them all, and this is the survival of the planet as well as its further sustainable development. Thus, at this stage the language choice for the promotion of eco-reflective ideas becomes convergent for three media discourse space of Russia, France and the English-speaking world.

Pragmalinguistics Politeness in the Balinese Language

This study aims to determine the linguistic patterns of politeness in the Balinese language. The pragmalinguistic approach was used because the linguistic patterns and politeness of the Balinese language are related to descriptive and pragmatic aspects. Data were collected through closed questionnaires distributed to informants consisting of lecturers, teachers, and Balinese language practitioners. The respondents were asked to give a politeness score for each proposed sentence pattern using a Likert scale, where 1 = very impolite, 2 = impolite, 3 = polite, 4 = more polite, and 5 = very polite. The analysis results showed that (1) passive sentences (score 3.64 – 4.29) were perceived as more polite than active sentences (score 2.76 – 3.14), (2) modality phrase forwarding (score 4.00 – 4.79) were perceived as more polite than sentences without modalities (score 2.64 – 2.71), (3) the use of institutional personification (score 4.07 – 4.76) was perceived as more polite than using the position as the subject of the sentence (score 2.88 – 3.00), and (4) the use of indirect speech (score 4.14 – 4.79) was perceived as more polite than using direct (score 2.76 – 3.00). Furthermore, the use of these linguistic instruments to determine politeness in the Balinese language is motivated by the speaker's desire to focus on information, soften and weaken the impositivity, as well as efforts to save a positive face.

Persuasion in science communication

AbstractScience communication has gained high importance in the current knowledge and risk society. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of qualitative studies on how non-experts and experts engage in opinionated scientific debates and which linguistic devices they use to gain influence on other people’s attitudes toward a scientific issue.In our study, we examine dialogical modes of science communication (i.e. weblogs) used by bloggers and audiences to engage into opinionated discourse about scientific endeavors. As those exchanges easily lead to controversies between different points of views, stances and attitudes, we focus from a rhetorically-driven linguistic perspective on devices to persuade the other participants and readers and to control the discourse. Hence, we ask which linguistic instruments are used to gain influence on influence. The aim of our study is to get deeper insights into the persuasive strategies mainly used in those forms of external science communication.

CULTURAL AND TOURISM DIVERSITY ON INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT OF BANDUNG CULTURAL AND TOURISM BOARD: A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS APPROACH

Cultural diversity is one of the nation's wealth that can be a tourist attraction in an area. The city of Bandung as the capital city of West Java Province has the potential and allure of tourism so that it can attract tourists to come. The Bandung City Tourism Culture Office is one of the offices that maximizes their official Instagram account @ disbudpar.bdg as a medium for promoting various tourist attractions and cultural diversity as one of the attractions of Bandung for tourists. The promotional content displayed in the Instagram account feeds represents the cultural and tourism diversity of Bandung city. Various potentials and cultural attractions are displayed in visual images and captivating narratives. The previous studies focuses on the potential value of Instagram for promoting tourism site in Indonesia, especially in Malang and Bali, and describing how Instagram creating brand destination through photography side.This study analyzes the topics presented and the linguistic instruments used as markers of cultural diversity and tourism in these contents. The analysis uses Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis (1995) theory regarding text analysis and the research method is descriptive quantitative. Topics that are displayed such as tourist attractions, art attractions, the use of Sundanese language, culinary tours, etc. show the various cultures and arts from the city of Bandung. The results of the analysis show that there are 11 classification of topics regarding cultural diversity and tourism namely

Smashing ourselves to smithereens: Object collection, death, and creative writing as salvation

David Malouf (1985) describes the objects children first encounter as symbols of the unknown – we are ‘set loose in a world of things’, and our only tool to exert power over these objects is the body, as we ‘try to swallow them, then to smash them to smithereens… If they refuse to yield their history to us they may at least, in time, become agents in ours’ (p. 9); especially once we are able to wield linguistic instruments. But objects go beyond becoming mere ‘agents’ in the narratives of our lives. As rendered things – selected, curated, labelled and preserved in our minds and the pages of books, these objects undergo a horror just as brutal as Malouf’s metaphors of consumption and demolition. Objects become us, just as we become objects. This holds true in both life and death – perhaps even more apparently in death, when our objects must be subjectively ‘inventorized’ (Baudrillard), collected or discarded by those who grieve. Can writing salvage the past? Or does the very act of writing things ensnare us in a melancholy gaze? This fictocritical work explores these questions through theoretical and performative discourses, ultimately asking: Through writing, are we smashing ourselves to smithereens?

A Jurilinguistic Analysis of Proverbs as a Concept of Justice Among the Yoruba

Polemical surveys of the rich cultural heritage of the peoples of Africa, especially before their contact, and eventual subjugation to the western imperialists have continued to reverberate across Africa and beyond. The surveys bemoan the abysmal disconnect between the African societies and their indigenous socio-cultural and institutional values. It has been pointed out, more than three decades ago, by Nkosi (1981) that indigenous languages formed part of a living organism forever changing to accommodate concepts and ideas which, over time, became the common heritage of all those who speak the same language. This paper examines the jurisprudential concept of justice among the Yoruba of South West Nigeria, with examples drawn from Yoruba proverbs. What linguistic instruments were available to canonize the justice systems and how were they deployed? The plethora of examples, it is found, have become etched on people’s consciousness and sensibilities, such that they become canonized into unwritten laws in many of the societies. In strict consideration of jurisprudence as the science of law, the study investigates how Yoruba proverbs constitute a corpus of linguistic materials used in informal administration of law among the Yoruba. Although lacking established benchmarks, many of the proverbs have become the codes in the process of administration of justice, which in many cases is conciliatory and not adversarial. In effect, therefore, the study is a contribution to the growing research on African linguistics and jurisprudential analysis. This viewpoint is ensconced in a metaproverb: “a re ma ja kan o si”. (Disagreements are inevitable amongst folks).

Prescriptive Discourse and Grammatical Objects. Their Treatment from the Standpoint of Glottopolitics

En el proceso de estandarización de las lenguas, la descripción ha tenido tradicionalmente una dimensión prescriptiva. Esta se ha explicitado en enunciados que censuran determinados usos y postulan cuáles son los correctos. Las gramáticas, fundamentalmente, han participado en ello. Pero, también, los instrumentos lingüísticos que se inscriben en la tradición retórica (como manuales de estilo periodístico, artes de escribir o guías de lenguaje no sexista) han prescripto, con el objetivo de incidir en la producción discursiva, sobre las formas gramaticales más adecuadas para ciertos espacios sociales o para resolver determinadas problemáticas. En el artículo, abordamos, en primer lugar, la relación de los discursos prescriptivos con la determinación de las jerarquías sociales, el lugar de autoridad que construyen y los juicios en los que se apoyan. Luego, nos centraremos en la prescripción acerca de unidades gramaticales en dos tipos actuales de instrumentos reguladores de la discursividad: los simplificadores y uniformizadores y los antidiscriminadores. Adoptamos la perspectiva glotopolítica, que se interesa por los modos de intervención sobre el lenguaje y sobre la distribución social de la palabra e ilustramos con textos producidos en el mundo hispánico en diferentes épocas.

Industry-wide linguistic instruments: The role in information support of scientific research in Russia’s agricultural industry

The studies were accomplished at the Central Scientific Agricultural Library (CSAL) to update the industry-wide linguistic instruments used in the Library’s Information Retrieval System and union catalog of the research institutions’ libraries of the Agroindustrial Complex (AIC) of Russia. The set of linguistic tools is briefly described; the two-level model of the linguistic support structure is introduced. The significance and advantages of using information retrieval languages in the Automated Information-Retrieval System are discussed. The purpose of the study was to improve the information support of research in the AIC in terms of actualization of the database (BD) of the Information Retrieval Thesaurus in Agriculture and Food and the database “Authority File (AF) of Scientific Research Institutions (SRI) in the AIC”. Brief descriptions of these information retrieval languages and their functions are included. The functions of the Information-Search Thesaurus are: to index documents and inquiries; to reflect the paradigmatic relations between lexical units; to control and normalize lexis in agriculture and food; to provide unified and formalized information representation in AGROS database; to expand automatically document search profiles; it also functions as a terminological guide in agriculture and food. As the guide, it retrieves the names of institutions since the foundations date; it can be also used for constructing the bibliographic record element (organization’s name. or corporate author); and retrieves information from information resources. The procedures for adding new lexical items and revising the previously included data are described.

The Language of Fear in Children’s Literature: A Case Study of Ted Hughes’s Poems for Children

The article tackles the issue of the language of fear exploited in children’s literature, taking Ted Hughes’s Nature poems for young readers as the object of analysis. It presents a perspective of linguistic stylistics and literary semantics and as such is not meant to be a critical literary evaluation of Hughes’s poetry. Rather, it focuses on linguistic instruments of creating the aura of fear in children’s poetry and their cognitive import. The author has chosen a neuroscientific paradigm for the two closely related emotions – fear and anxiety – as propagated by American researcher Joseph LeDoux, most prominently in his work “Anxious” (2015). LeDoux maintains that the feeling of fear is not inborn but rather a cognitive construct emergent from the use of one’s native language practiced within a particular socio-cultural context. The unique atmosphere of Hughes’s poetry has been achieved by a rich lexicon of fear-related notions and a skillfully applied figuration (anthropomorphisms, similes). His poetic imagery powerfully complements the vocabulary and troping in calling to life fictional worlds, often uncanny and menacing, remote from the young readers’ experience. The author of this article perceives in the lexicon, figuration and multimodal imagery (both verbal and visual, the latter realized as illustrations in picture-books) an important didactic device that teaches children how to manage fearsome experiences. This capability will also prepare children to face anxiety, an emotion typical of adult life and related mostly to existential problems.

The Transmission of Moral and Cultural Values across Borders: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Moral and Cultural Writings on Vehicles in Southwestern Nigeria

Using the ethnography of communication approach as the research construct, an examination is made of the domain of writings and stickers on vehicles that communicate moral and cultural values to the type of reader who constitutes the major audience for this type of vehicle insignia. The data used were drawn from face-to-face interviews and questionnaires, as well as from writings on commercial vehicles in southwestern Nigeria. Findings show that writings on vehicles that convey moral and cultural values are veritable linguistic instruments for imparting edifying messages that can help in redirecting and reorientating the general public.

Para ler além da palavra: instrumentos para a análise do discurso político

Esta resenha discute criticamente a conferência Instrumentos Linguísticos para análise do discurso político proferida pelo professor Uli Reich no evento Abralin ao Vivo, em que o autor apresenta conceitos linguísticos do campo da pragmática formal que podem ser utilizados para compreender a configuração ideológica de textos ou enunciados. Mais especificamente, Reich apresenta os conceitos de fundo comum ou common ground (STALNAKER, 2002), Questions under discussion (ROBERTS, 2012), implicaturas convencionais (POTTS, 2005) e “mesa” (FARKAS; BRUCE, 2010), para então analisar trechos da reunião interministerial realizada em 22 de Abril de 2020 pelo governo de Jair Bolsonaro. Por meio da análise, o professor demonstra quais fundos comuns são projetados pelos discursos proferidos pelos interlocutores presentes. A fala de Reich, além de ser uma aula sobre o papel da Linguística na compreensão da atualidade, fornece subsídios para o desenvolvimento de uma leitura crítica do mundo.

Konstruksi Hermeneutika Tafsir Sufi

The debate of scholars on Sufi interpretation is caused by differences in the methods and sources of interpretation used. Some scholars think that the Sufi interpretation does not have a theoretical method. It is only based on the findings of the Sufis when reading the Qur’an. In fact, the 'urafā' are considered to have violated the rules or regulations that apply in the realm of interpretation in general. Some others consider that the Sufi interpretation does not ignore the interpretive signs that have been agreed upon by the commentators. This interpretation only tries to explain the various dimensions of the meaning of the Qur'an. This paradigm difference necessitates a methodological study of the methods and steps of the Sufi interpretation in an effort to explain esoteric meaning of the Qur'an. This study uses an analytical-comparative method. The research found that that Sufi interpretation has a hermeneutic construction that is different from other methods of interpretation. The differences can be seen from the sources and methods used. Apart from using linguistic instruments, sufistic interpretation uses ‘irfān (intuitive knowledge) which is obtained through kasyf (inspiration). For Sufis, knowing God’s intention as stated in His Kalām can only be done by using knowledge that comes directly from Him, not by looking at the context of the text.

MİZAHIN ARKA SOKAKLARI: GÜLMECE KÜLTÜRÜ VE ARGO ÜZERİNDEN KARİKATÜRÜ YENİDEN OKUMAK

When considering its elements, humor culture cannot be thought of independently of the elements of oral culture. Humor culture, which takes its strength from already existing inequalities and linguistic practices, uses many linguistic instruments while forming its critical style. The first and foremost of these instruments is slang. Based on the assumption that humor culture has been shaped in street domain of the people, it is possible mention about a close relationship between slang, which is one of the most important elements of colloquial speech, and humor. This situation manifesting itself particularly in comics, points out the formation of a ridiculous meaning by using slang terms. The slang used in humor magazines is so unusual, which increases further its funniness. When various slang terms and characterizations, which are frequently heard in the street but are unaccustomed to be read, are seen in the comics, this increases its funniness. Especially some slang terms used in the comics are covered so that they gain an implied appearance. For this reason, auto-censoring is applied on a slang phrase by placing punctuation or removing certain vowels and consonants. Additionally, it is observed that some 'lighter' slang phrases are directly expressed and any censorship is not applied. This study focuses on slang-heavy comics in three popular humor magazines: Penguen, Leman, and Uykusuz. Selected randomly these comics were analyzed in terms of discourse and the relationship of humorous expressions with slang was emphasized. In brief, the aim of this study is to reveal the relationship between slang and humor culture based on comic discourse.

Cтратегии и тактики речевого воздействия в публичных речах испанского монарха Филиппа VI

Nowadays the ways to influence an audience by the rhetoric of public speeches are widely studied. The analysis of speech influence in institutional status-orientated discourse is a promising and actively developing area in modern Linguistics. The institutional discourse of the Spanish monarchy plays an important role in social relations in modern Spain. However, its features still have not been described in detail in Roman studies, especially in the linguopragmatic perspective. Moreover, due to the current socio-economic and political context it is extremely important to analyze what linguistic instruments Felipe VI uses to save the image of the Spanish Crown. The present paper deals with the public speeches of the Spanish King issued from 2014 to 2020 and focuses on the “external” addressee. Felipe VI’s messages represent a fundamental resource to create a favorable image of Spain in the international arena and to convince the world community of the necessity for peaceful coexistence and international cooperation. The speeches, which are ideologically driven and politically motivated, are analyzed in the context of linguo-pragmatics. The theoretical value of this paper is in providing an exhaustive analysis of speech strategies and tactics used in the King’s messages delivered abroad. Firstly, the country’s presentation strategy allows the monarch to emphasize that Spain belongs to the European Union and plays a crucial role in the international arena while making decisions and fighting challenges. Secondly, the emotional strategy is used to create a trustworthy atmosphere (mainly by appealing to the sense of pride) and to give moral support to Europeans and other nations. Thirdly, the interpretation strategy may be considered a conventional resource used to strengthen the institution of the monarchy in the eyes of the international community. Finally, agitation and argumentative strategies are employed to convince the addressee of the necessity to strengthen international cooperation.

Instrumentos linguísticos e discursos de disponibilização de/em instrumentos digitais de aprendizagem

Pela História das Ideias Linguísticas, este trabalho faz uma análise da relação entre tecnologia e ensino, a partir de um fragmentário de saberes, com sua historicidade sobre a língua, disponíveis em rede digital. Levando em conta que Estado, instituições e saberes se apresentam na divisão dos sentidos, na tensão entre o dito e o não dito, considerando a contradição e o político – a análise busca a opacidade nos discursos de disponibilização de conteúdos educacionais em redes digitais. A análise possibilita refletir sobre o caráter material e o processo de significação dos instrumentos linguísticos pela sua historicidade, como objetos históricos e discursivos – e na sociedade contemporânea significada pelo digital. Compreender os processos de significação desses instrumentos, em sua dispersão, é o objetivo. Além disso, também se e como a materialidade digital passa a (re)significar esses objetos enquanto instrumentos que constituem os saberes linguísticos relacionados ao ensino da língua.

Il corpo come luogo di negoziazione di significati

The paper focuses on the relation between body, subject and identity in the field of performing arts (i.e. dance and theatre). The starting point of the reflection is that, despite Identity Studies (Disability Studies, Feminism Studies, Queer Studies etc.) and artistic practices which question the categories of body, health, subjectivity and identity, theater scholars are far from adopting methodological and linguistic instruments that are suitable for the interpretation of the artistic and philosophical contemporary scenario. Today, the scene is populated by actors with strong physical connotations that challenge the adoption of uniform and stable categories in the interpretation of the actor’s work. Is it not reductive to designate the person-actor with the generic term “body”, despite the pluralism and differences present on stage today? What are the most appropriate tools to read, deconstruct and interpret the work of a disabled actor? To give an answer to these questions and to avoid the situation where my reflection returns the body to disciplines of social discourses, I propose to begin this exploration with an analysis of Chiara Bersani’s artistic production. Chiara Bersani is a performer with “imperfect osteogenesis”, a congenital bone disorder characterized by brittle bones that are prone to fracture. She takes her vulnerable embodiment as a starting point for her performative work and the concept of the “political body”. With this term, Chiara Bersani means the display of a perpetual dynamic between the self and the other, between the individual and society, the singular and the universal, personal responsibility and the political dimension. The assumption of the paper is that the actor’s phenomenology cannot be grasped by remaining within the limits of the scene and of theater pedagogies. Chiara Bersani’s works can perhaps offer a starting point to rethink the relationship between body and subjectivity in the field of the contemporary theatrical practices, provided that we rethink the latter category within the broader philosophical debate.

ЛИНГВОРИТОРИЧЕСКИЙ ИНСТРУМЕНТАРИЙ РЕАЛИЗАЦИИ ДИСКУРСИВНОЙ СТРАТЕГИИ СИНТЕЗА РОМАНТИЗМА И РЕАЛИЗМА (М. ГОРЬКИЙ)

В статье представлены результаты исследования лингвориторического (ЛР) инструментария реализации дискурсивной стратегии синтеза романтизма и реализма в дореволюционном идиодискурсе М. Горького как языковой и литературной личности (ЯиЛЛ).

Uma análise da historicidade de sentidos de ensino de língua portuguesa

Situado no campo teórico da História das Ideias Linguísticas em interlocução com a Análise do Discurso, o artigo apresenta uma historização dos sentidos de ensino de língua portuguesa. Propõe ainda a noção de instrumentos educacionais, em contraste com instrumentos linguísticos e instrumentos pedagógicos.