Superlative Degree Research Articles

On the issue of the development of adjective degree forms in the Western Lithuanian and Latvian dialects

Abstract In the Lithuanian and Latvian languages, forms of adjective degrees do not have a common etymological basis. The New Curonian (Kuresnieku) language which is a relatively new Baltic geolect has preserved a fairly distinct archaic layer of phonetics and grammar, where one can look not only for the archaisms of the western dialects of the Latvian language but also for traces of the substrate of Old Curonian. Although synthetic forms of the degrees of adjectives with the suffix -āk- are used in the current Latvian language area they are almost unknown in New Curonian. The forms of the comparative degree are made with the particle juo and an adjective of the positive degree. Analytical forms with the pronoun visu and the pronominal form of an adjective express the superlative degree. In the western Latvian and Lithuanian dialects and the Livonian language in Latvia, the relics of the analytical forms of the comparative and superlative degree are recorded in written sources and rarely in modern spoken language. Since a large part of the western dialects of the Lithuanian and Latvian languages take up the former territory of the old tribe, it may be assumed that the analytical forms of adjective degrees are possibly a sign of the substrate of Old Curonian.

Delegitimising Potential of the “Friend-Foe” Axiological Opposition (Exemplified by English-Language Political Internet Comments)

The article considers the axiological opposition “friend-foe” on the material of non-professional political discourse. English-language comments to the posts of Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City, and Sadiq Aman Khan, Mayor of London, published in 2016–2021 in social networks are analyzed in the linguapersonological aspect. The speech techniques of expressing the “friend-foe” binary used in discrediting the current government by users of social networks are revealed. The authors of the comments use various means of verbal aggression to undermine the legitimacy of the authorities. At the lexical level, invective and pejorative units are used. At the grammatical level, the users have recourses to imperative constructions and the superlative degree of adjectives with negative evaluation. Internet users’ comments to politicians’ posts in social networks are shown to form the image of a political actor on the basis of the dominants ‘deviant behaviour’, ‘bad manager’, ‘foe, not their own’, which are determinants in discrediting the authorities. Delegitimising characteristics-determinants used in American and British non-professional political discourse are revealed to be similar due to the general unification and globalization trends. When writing a negative response, the universal institutional characteristics of a politician come to the fore. The unique individual and personal characteristics of mayors are also found to be important in creating a more voluminous image of an illegitimate leader.

Karakteristik Penggunaan Adjektiva dalam Iklan Produk Kecantikan

Adjectives are words used to describe the qualities or states of nouns, including living things, objects, and concepts. In advertisements, adjectives are frequently employed in various forms and styles to attract consumers. This study aims to analyze and describe: (1) the forms of adjectives used in beauty product advertisements, (2) the degrees or levels of adjectives used in beauty product advertisements, and (3) the semantic functions of adjectives used in beauty product advertisements. This qualitative research employed a descriptive method. The data consisted of words and phrases containing adjectives in various forms, degrees, and semantic functions, extracted from beauty product advertisements on Female Daily magazine's online platform. Data was collected through observation and note-taking. The data collection process involved opening Google, taking screenshots of product descriptions on Female Daily containing adjectives, and identifying the adjectives relevant to the study. Data analysis was conducted in four stages: classifying data according to research objectives, analyzing data, discussing data, and drawing conclusions and reporting the research findings. Based on the research findings, the following conclusions were drawn. Firstly, based on their forms, two types of adjectives were found: (1) basic forms, and (2) derived forms, which include affixed, reduplicated, and compound adjectives. Secondly, based on their degrees, four types of adjectives were found: (1) positive degree, (2) comparative degree, (3) superlative degree, and (4) emphatic degree. Thirdly, based on their functions, eight semantic functions of adjectives were found: (1) stative, (2) durative, (3) affective, (4) benefactive, (5) causative, (6) possessive, (7) habitual, and (8) comparative.

Exploring global linguistic nuances: analyzing region-specific inflectional morpheme frequency in ICNALE

This study investigates region-specific inflectional morpheme frequencies within the ICNALE Corpus, exploring significant global linguistic intricacies. Through a quantitative, corpus-based approach, it conducts a comprehensive contrastive analysis, leveraging the extensive accessibility of the online ICNALE. Despite inherent limitations in data collection primarily reliant on interviews and written compositions within the ICNALE Corpus, the study offers illuminating insights into how diverse linguistic backgrounds influence the usage of inflectional morphemes in English. The findings bring to light interesting patterns in possessive usage, reflecting variations among ESL learners in acquiring grammatical features. Additionally, it highlights complexities in acquiring comparative and superlative degrees, aligning with challenges encountered by learners in mastering specific inflections. Analyses of plural noun inflections, subject-verb agreement, past tense, past participle, and present participle usage underscore the multifaceted influences of language background, acquisition stages, and instructional emphasis on learners’ morphological patterns. Future inquiries could further investigate the impact of instructional methodologies on inflectional morpheme acquisition, undertake comparative studies across proficiency levels and age groups, explore morphological transfer from learners’ native languages, and deepen comprehension of cognitive processes guiding effective learning strategies. These endeavors hold promise in refining pedagogical methodologies and enriching language learning experiences for diverse learner cohorts.

Morphological Peculiarities and Level of Usage of Comparative Degree of Adjective in the Tajik Literary Language Referring to the 12th century

The given article dwells on the issues beset with morphological peculiarities and level of usage of comparative degree of adjective in the Tajik literary language referring to the 12th century on the example of the historical production entitled as Tarjumai Ta’rikhi Yamini” by Jurfodiqoni. It is noted that in modern Tajik literary language comparative and superlative degrees are expressed in two ways: synthetic and analytical ones and the theme explored is of a long history and passed various periods and evolution throughout its development. Adducing the results of the analysis concerned with the theme explored one can come to the conclusion that in “Tarjumai Ta’rikhi Yamini” by Jurfodiqoni, the comparative degree of adjective is evinced analytically. The relevant degree of adjective possesses certain common and distinctive peculiarities, on the whole.

ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИE СТИЛИСТИЧЕСКИХ ПРИЕМОВ Б. ДЖОНСОНОМ В КОНТЕКСТЕ ПРОДВИЖЕНИЯ БРЕКСИТА

The stylistic devices of lexical and syntactic levels, encountered in B. Jonson’s political discourse, are considered in the extra-linguistic context of the forthcoming Brexit in terms of their manipulative function achieved by putting an emotional strain on the audience and increasing the expressiveness of the message. The politician’s speeches, promoting the exit from the EU, are characterized by an extensive use of epithetical adjectives in the comparative and superlative degrees, antitheses, metaphors, hyperboles, repetitions, including anadiplosis, anaphora, epiphora, polysyndeton. They serve to convince the listeners in the advantages of Brexit for the country, instill in them the inadmissibility of its delay, underline the necessity in the integrity of the society, various political forces and all the parts of the United Kingdom in this matter, imply the inevitability of the exit from the EU, indicate its significance and fatefulness and enhance the pressure on the audience. The interaction of the abovementioned language means in the utterance is described and the correspondence between them and certain functions is stated. The solution of the listed communicative tasks contributes to the persuasion of the audience in the necessity of Brexit. Key words: political discourse, Brexit, B. Jonson, stylistic devices, manipulation

AN ANALYSIS OF MORPHOSYNTACTIC CONSTRUCTION OF ENGLISH WRITING TEXT PRODUCED BY THE POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS AT UNISMUH MAKASSAR

This research aimed to find out the most frequent types of inflectional suffixes, derivational suffixes, noun phrases and verb phrases produced by the Postgraduate Students in writing argumentative text. This research used Descriptive Quantitative Research. The data were obtained by using writing test. The samples of this research were 16 Postgraduate Students of English Education Master Program in Academic Year 2023 selected by using Total Sampling Technique. The results of data analysis from 16 samples found that 1) The inflectional suffixes of plurality {-s} were 46,06%, 3rd person singular {s/es} were 8.33%, past tense/passive {-ed} were 14.58%, participle {-ing} were 17.59 %, possessive {-s} were 3,93%, and comparative/ superlative degrees {er/est} were 3.47%. 2) The derivational suffixes forming noun were 52.4%, forming verb were 3.2%, forming adjective were 23.92%, and forming adverb were 19.28%. 3) The constructions of simple noun phrases were 18.86%, rather complex noun phrases were 23.58 %, and very complex noun phrases were 56.83%. 4) The constructions of simple verb phrases were 82.5% and rather complex verb phrases were 16.87%. Thus, it can be concluded that the most frequent types of inflectional suffixes used by the students were plurality {-s}, the type of derivational suffixes was noun formation, the type of noun phrases was very complex noun phrases, and the type of verb phrases was simple verb phrases.

The Persistence of the Emotional Lexicon in Political Discourse

Several researchers argue that political discourse or, especially, political communication, is strategic interaction, because several actors participate in this communication, such as: a politician and the public, or a politician – a politician. Political discourse is one of the most emotionally consistent. The emotional universe in political discourse is sometimes even exaggerated and/or false. It is represented by means such as: affective verbs, conditional-optative verbs, inverted topic, adjectives at the superlative degree. The purpose of political discourse is to manipulate the opinion of the public so that the speaker emerges a winner, to present his own opinion in a reasoned manner. The speaker’s desire is to gain the public’s trust, to accumulate sympathizers, to spread political ideologies in masse, most often political speech arouses controversial opinions among the public, therefore it is considered a speech with a strong degree of emotionality.

Analysing the Power of Language in a Political Text

This research tackles the analysis of overstatement as a persuasive tool and one of the manifestations of the power of language in a political text. It aims at: 1.Demonstrating the concept of the power of language and the common theories related to it. 2.Demonstrating the concept of persuasion as an effective tool in language power. 3.Illuminating the effect of overstatements, as a kind of persuasion, on the audience to accept or reject certain opinions or strategies. The researcher has chosen a political speech delivered in front of the US Congress on March 16, 2022 by the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which is taken as a sample. The procedure followed in this research was reading and writing down the overstated sentences used by the Ukrainian President and illuminating their powerful effect in persuasion. The President presented his issue in an exaggerated way to get the desired effect on Congress to obtain their support in his war against Russia, using some Stylistic ways as superlative degree of comparison of adjectives, metaphor, and hyperbolic metaphors.

Формирование темы бедности в художественном пространстве произведений Ф. М. Достоевского

The aim of the study is to characterize the features of the poverty theme formation through the use of language units with semantics of extremes in the literary works by F. M. Dostoevsky. This work has a scientific novelty, since in this aspect the creative work of the word-painter has not yet been the subject of study. In addition, the study allows us to characterize the category of extremes with the greatest completeness. As a result, it has been revealed that the poverty theme formation in the artistic space of the works by F. M. Dostoevsky occurs through a set of descriptions of characters’ place of residence, clothing, appearance, hunger, etc. It has been established that in these cases F. M. Dostoevsky often uses diminutive forms of nouns (the first and second derivational steps). In addition, various combinations of linguistic units with semantics of extremes are also typical of the analysed literary works, namely: the universal quantifier вся (the whole), the particle даже (even), the superlative degree самым безобразнейшим (the most ugly), the syntagmatic juxtaposition хотя (although) and the indefinite pronoun with the affix -нибудь (-something) help to depict a situation in which the poverty of the character reaches the extreme.

Превосходная степень имен прилагательных и наречий как средство репрезентации центра и периферии функционально-семантического поля компаративности в немецком, английском и русском языках (на материале метеотекстов)

The research aims to identify the common and distinctive features in using the forms of the superlative degree in the compared languages. The paper is dedicated to the examination of morphological and syntactic means of comparison expression in the German, English and Russian languages using the material of meteorological texts. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that the representation of the comparability category by means of superlative forms is considered and the morphological and syntactic means forming the centre and the periphery of the functional-semantic field in meteorological texts in German, English and Russian are compared for the first time. In the course of studying the functional-semantic field of comparability as a macro-field, it has been found that its structure contains equality micro-fields and inequality micro-fields. Superlative forms produced with the help of the synthetic, analytical and suppletive ways act as constituents of the gradual difference mini-field and the opposition mini-field within the inequality micro-field. The analysis of meteorological texts in German, English and Russian has shown that in the compared languages, the centre of the field under study is formed by morphological means, namely superlative forms as attributes for nouns or nominal predicates, while the periphery is formed by syntactic means, which include comparative constructions and comparative subordinate clauses.

ГЕНДЕРНАЯ НЕЙТРАЛЬНОСТЬ В РУССКОЯЗЫЧНОМ НАУЧНОМ ДИСКУРСЕ

This article is supposed to prove an assumption that scientific and technical texts in academic discourse are void of gender specificities which get neutralized. The scientific novelty of the study is in survey and description of discursive gender means in scientific and technical articles, identification of gender-neutral language means equally used by both men and women in scientific texts. The proposed study reflects the linguistic features of achieving gender neutrality in scientific texts written by men or women. The study is aimed at more careful thought of gender neutrality and gender markedness of discourse. The data for study is the texts of articles presented in the journal of “ Current Issues of Oil and Gas”( The I.M. Gubkin Institute of Oil and Gas Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences) schedulized in the List of peer-reviewed scientific publications of the Higher Attestation Commission of Russia. The journals publish the scientific achievements in the oil and gas industry. The read out included texts from 2009 till 2022. In total, 60 texts of scientific and technical articles written both by men and women have been analyzed. A comparative method is used to draw an analogy between similar phenomena presented by authors of different genders; a componential analysis ; discourse-analytic approaches for pointing out sustained discursive formulae in scientific discourse. The article presents institutional features of the scientific discourse, articulates the concepts of gender markedness and gender neutrality. The characteristic linguistic properties of the gender neutrality in the scientific discourse are revealed. The discursive and lexico-grammatical analyses of the scientific and technical texts written both by men and women extracted a trend to neutralization of gender in scientific discourse. Gender markedness of the discourse is specified through either implicit or explicit linguistic gender properties. The gender neutrality of the scientific discourse is meant the usage of discursive formulas and lexical units which do not indicate the communicators’ gender parameters. The survey of scientific articles published in technical journals demonstrated zero gender differences in scientific discourse between male and female authors’ texts. Thus, according to research carried out Russian scientific discourse is specified by a consistent trend in gender neutralization which is proved by a lack of gender marked discursive and linguistic means pointing at gender properties of the authors. A scientific article as a genre of scientific discourse contains specific evaluative vocabulary used by both men and women. Although scientific functional style is void of expressive means the research points out a tendency to use colloquial expressions, idiomatic units and also descriptive-representational devices such as metaphors and adjectives in superlative degree. Directions for future research are seen in the development of a universal for different discourses gender model.

ЯЗЫКОВАЯ РЕПРЕЗЕНТАЦИЯ РЕЗУЛЬТАТОВ ВЫБОРОВ В ИТАЛИИ В БРИТАНСКИХ, НЕМЕЦКИХ И ИТАЛЬЯНСКИХ СМИ

The authors analyze the coverage of the results of the parliamentary elections in Italy in 2022 in reputable mass media in Great Britain, Germany, and Italy. The aim of the authors was to study the attitude of journalists in different countries towards the results of the elections. The journalist’s position on the covered event should be impartial. Nevertheless, the authors of articles on the results of the elections often use emotionally coloured evaluative vocabulary, grammatical constructions (for example, Konjunktiv, absolute superlative degree) and stylistic devices (metaphors, epithets, allusions) in order to represent it to the disadvantage of the party that won. The texts of the articles are marked by implicitly and quite often explicitly expressed aggressive tonality. The authors widely use quotations and refer to authoritative opinions, label people and facts and create threatening emotional images to make readers' mistrust the new government. In order to obtain their goal, namely to create an extremely negative image of Giorgia Meloni and the representatives of her party, the authors of the articles also select facts very carefully and use specific techniques to present information. The results of the research can be used to study newspaper texts and linguistics of discourse.

ВЕРБАЛЬНЫЕ И НЕВЕРБАЛЬНЫЕ АТТРАКТИВНЫЕ ЭЛЕМЕНТЫ АНГЛОЯЗЫЧНЫХ САЙТОВ ОТЕЛЕЙ КЛАССА «ЛЮКС» НА ПРИМЕРЕ САЙТА THE DORCHESTER

The article is devoted to the study of the attractive features of the websites of English luxury hotels. The website of The Dorchester Hotel in London is used as an example. This hotel is one of the most prestigious and premium priced hotels of the UK. The official web-site is the main way of communication between the potential guest and the hotel. That’s why the content of the hotel site is the necessary requirement to persuade a person to become a real guest. The article shows different verbal elements that can be attractive for potential guests such as emotional and expressive vocabulary (bespoke luxury, deluxe, executive, etc.), the superlative degree of adjectives (the most iconic, the best, etc.), lexical units referring to hotel business (the gold standard of care, the perfect room for your every need, etc.) A lot of ways of non-verbal communicative elements are used to attract the potential guests’ attention. However, different photos of the luxurious interiors of the hotel and the famous guests are the main semiotic sign for the discerning client.

Specifics of Appealing Headlines in Russian Mass Media Materials Dedicated to Science

The article attempts to study the impact of headlines in science news and popular science messages in Russian in the news agencies, the Internet newspapers, on the websites socio-political media, as well as on the popular science sites. It is noted that the theme of science occupies one of the last places in the hierarchy of news content, which significantly limits the possibility of getting news data on the information agenda. Thematic varieties of effective headings are given, in which constants such as health, life safety, and sexual relations are distinguished. Linguistic and stylistic markers of clickbait headings are considered, among which quantitative numerals, colloquialisms, hyperbole created by using the epithet or the superlative degree of the adjective. The analysis of syntactic features leads to the identification of typical sentence schemes in which click-through ratio triggers are determined, forcing the user to turn to the article for details. The organicity of the appealing headlines of the concept of infotainment, which is a productive mechanism for popularising science on Russian popular science sites, is approved. It is indicated that the corpus of appealing headlines on these resources is characterised by individual author’s decisions embodied with the help of a comic mode, allusions, precedent texts and quotes, differentiation of the “image” of the addressee, oxymoron, antithesis and grotesque. In the system of popularising science, appealing headlines become organic components of news, gamified, and animated messages. Keywords: Headline, clickbait, popularisation of science, mass media, agenda.

استعمالات صيغة (أَفْعَل) التفضيل في المثل العربي دراسة تداولية في مجمع الأمثال للميداني (ت518هـ/1124م)

The superlative degree of comparison is apparently connected with the Arabic proverb as it is an important form of expressing socially-communicated meaning in a brief, specific, and accurate way. The study aimed to identify the distribution of proverbs that make use of the superlative degree of comparison in Majma' al-Amthāl by al-Maydānĭ to show their pragmatic function in delivering speech and to highlight the achievement impact these proverbs have made in the process of rhetorical communication. The study came up with several results, the most important of which is the frequent circulation of these proverbs in language use, as they constitute (22.58%) of the total proverbs in Majma' al-Amthāl by al-Maydānĭ. The superlative degree of comparison in Arabic proverbs is regarded as a morphological unit used to express the comparison between the preferred and the non-preferred. Moreover, proverbs in this structure include a statement to convey influence, conviction, stimulation and values that make the listener follow the most appropriate feature through comparison between the preferred and the non-preferred.

Dialogicity of Texts Representing Book Publishing Internet Discourse (on the Example of a Russian Publishing Group “Azbuka-Attikus”)

The article is devoted to the description and analysis of the peculiarities of book publishing internet-discourse from the perspective of its dialogicity. The problem touched upon in the article is relevant due to the significant role of the book in social and cultural life. The study is integrated into the sphere of internet-linguistics and analysis of institutional discourses in the framework of modern anthropocentric paradigm. The complexity of the book publishing discourse, that lies in the fact that it interacts with different subjects in its communicative activity, proves the necessity of understanding not only the essence of institutional communication but also the linguistic manifestations of the participants’ interaction, whose roles may have impact on the form of the utterance. The work is aimed at analyzing linguistic means that serve as dialogicity markers in book publishing discourse on the example of an internet-site of a Russian publishing group “Azbuka-Attikus”. The result of target language means selection analysis is presented in an overview on the realization of dialogic features in the discursive space of one of the major Russian publishing groups’ internet site. The data analysis is divided into three parts. The first part gives a general view on the main sections of the site and studies some recurrent means of establishing dialogue. The second part gives a detailed analysis of 16 book collection descriptions, The third part is devoted to the study of dialogue means used in three texts that represent the genre of publisher’s paratext known as “blurb” or “synopsis”. The research identified the most conspicuous markers of dialogicity. Among them there are pronouns of 1 and 2 person, several types of interrogative sentences, qualitative adjectives in positive and superlative degree forms, imperative constructions. Above all, we created a scheme that shows the process of communication between the participants of book spreading process in which their implicit dialogue is realized.

USE OF STYLISTIC MEANS OF COMIC CATEGORY AT THE LEXICO-SEMANTIC LEVEL: FIGURES OF QUANTITY

The article deals with the study of linguo-stylistic means of the comic category representation at the lexico-semantic level. Modern English prose is characterized by a specific comic modality, which is a characteristic feature of the author’s individual style. The leading means of the lexico-semantic level, that contribute to the realization of the comic effect in belles-letters texts, have been analyzed. The material of research is the English-language prose works of small forms by the most prominent writers, such as: K. Barry, K. Vonnegut, R. Carver and R. Dahl. The aforementioned authors use hyperbolization, which is introduced by means of similes, indefinite pronouns, nouns formed from numerals (in the process of numeralization), temporal and spatial adverbs, a set of lexical units with negative colouring, adjectives in the superlative degree of comparison, modal verbs in the negative form, emphatic constructions.

English Legal Terms Containing Adjectives

The article deals with English legal terms formed with the help of adjectives. The author points to the relevance of adjectives in the formation of legal terms due to their evaluation capacity which is an important component of legal concepts. The article reviews the most productive affixes used for the formation of adjectives. It identifies the usage frequency of legal terms with simple adjectives, terms with adjectives in the comparative and superlative degrees of comparison, attributive prepositional and postpositional word-combinations.The paper contains a classification of the legal terms in question according to their structure. Special attention is paid to word-combinations with connotative meaning. The author gives examples of connotative legal terms with adjectives including figurative connotative lexical units and connotative phrases with evaluation components. The article offers a set of exercises helping law students to understand the peculiarities of usage and functioning of legal terms with adjectives as a component.

Comparative and superlative degrees of comparison of adjectives and adverbs as a means of representation of the center of the functional-semantic field of comparativity (based on modern publicistic texts of in the German and Russian languages)

The relevance of the selected topic is substantiated by rapid development of the functional vector in modern linguistics and its impact upon the nature of contrastive research. Shift in the focus of attention is associated by the scholars’ pursuit to view the linguistic phenomena and facts from the perspective of their functionality in speech. The characteristic feature of the research conducted by modern linguists is the application of field approach towards studying the linguistic phenomena. The starting point within the framework of this approach is certain common meaning; it is followed by determination of the various linguistic means for expressing this meaning. A number of scholars, including L. G. Popova, L. M. Shatilova, I. S. Kalyatin, and A. V. Shatalov, in their works conduct a linguistic analysis of linguistic means  that function within the boundaries of functional-semantic field of comparativity based on the material of cognate and non-cognate languages. The object of this research is the grammatical means of expressing comparativity in the German and Russian languages. The subject of this research is the semantics and structure of the central components of functional-semantic field of comparativity in the languages under consideration. The goal lies in revealing the common and distinctive features in the formation and use of comparative and superlative forms in the German and Russian languages. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that this article is first to examine the category of comparativity on the material of German and Russian languages, and the representative grammatical means that form the core of functional-semantic field of comparativity, using the texts of modern journals and newspapers. It is determined that the core of functional-semantic field of comparativity in the German and Russian languages lies in comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs.