The article describes the interpretative potential of abstract and concrete common nouns. In interpretational linguistics, any word may become part of dialogue, which means that its semantics is not static. The research objective was to identify differences between abstract and concrete common nouns in interpretational discourse. The linguistic experiment consisted of two stages; its goal was to identify the effect of the word type (abstract / concrete) on its interpretative potential. The respondents were first- and second-year students of the Polzunov Altai State Technical University aged 18–22 y.o. The first stage (109 people) involved modeling the associative field of common nouns while the second one (270 people) featured their use in dialogue speech. The surveys yielded 5,248 associations and 218 dialogues. The interpretative orientation of a word was determined by association, and words that formed an associative chain could be considered as key lexemes used by the recipient to build their own discourse. The semantic components of the associative field of abstract and concrete common nouns generated both synonymous and antonymous reactions. However, the associative field of lexemes with a concrete semantics proved to be more diverse. The analysis of key associates made it possible to identify the referential areas of nouns of abstract and concrete nouns, which were not directly linked to the dictionary lexical meaning as most of them did not correspond with the dictionary definition. Dialogues with abstract nouns seldom included areas associated with their direct (dictionary) definition. Dialogues with concrete nouns hardly involved areas connected with interpretative and figurative meaning.

Cognitive studies describe explicit and implicit means of revealing cognitive and linguistic skills. Allusions play a particular role in distributed cognition in language and speech. This research featured the cognitive potential of linguistic allusion in line with the theory of distributed cognition. The authors used the methods of conceptual and contextual analyses to clarify the main research concepts, describe allusion as a cognitive phenomenon, and define its functions. The article covers such issues as the interaction between the speaker and the language within the linguistic eco-system, the concepts of linguistic ecology and ecological linguistics, and the biological approach in linguistics. Allusion appeared to have constitutive and verifying functions. The constitutive function arranged discourse by correlating the information given by the respondent with the additional meanings that occur in the process of communication. The verifying function provided the accuracy of perception. These functions made it possible to use allusion to describe distributed cognition in speech as consisting of three stages: evaluation, correlation, and interaction.

L’articolo offre un’analisi comparativa e definitoria dei concetti di comportamento e di gioco nelle immagini del mondo linguistico di lingue non imparentate. Il problema dello studio sta nel fatto che non tutte le componenti comportamentali della categoria di relazioni sono collegate al gioco. Tale connessione esiste ed è espressa in alcuni tipi di relazioni negli aspetti semiotici e assiologici. Lo scopo di studio è quello di determinare le somiglianze e le differenze tra i significati comportamentali del gioco in italiano e inglese. Gli obiettivi dello studio prevedono un'analisi linguistica delle relazioni comportamentali di gioco negli aspetti linguistico culturali e cognitivi. Nella presente analisi, viene introdotto il concetto di Osservatore per studiare frammenti di immagini del mondo linguistico italiano e inglese che esprimono il comportamento di gioco. Nell'articolo si applica il concetto di Osservatore come soggetto percettivo-cognitivo e interprete della categoria di relazioni. I risultati dello studio comparativo mettono in luce le somiglianze e le differenze tra i lessemi che implementano i concetti il gioco e play in senso comportamentale, e le peculiarità della loro rappresentazione nelle lingue non imparentate. La ricerca condotta ha mostrato che, in primo luogo, il comportamento di gioco può essere, in una certa misura, visto come una semiotica delle relazioni, cioè ha una segno, che può essere interpretata e valutata; in secondo luogo, la caratteristica assiologica della categoria delle relazioni di gioco ha un'ampia gradazione valutativa, da valutazioni positive a quelle negative. In generale, si sostiene che, in italiano e in inglese, ci siano più valutazioni negative che positive, ci sono differenze nelle interpretazioni riscontrate attraverso l'analisi definitoria, nonostante le caratteristiche positive di base delle relazioni di gioco in italiano e in inglese.

Ethnically-specific concepts and bilingual consciousness are topical issues of cognitive linguistics, psycholinguistics, cultural studies, and language theory. Associative fields of culturally-marked vocabulary make it possible to study ethnic worldviews. The authors used the psycholinguistic method of associative experiment to study the associative fields of Shorian words Chyl-Pazhi (a New Year celebration) and chalama (a festive ribbon) in the language consciousness of the Shor people who live in the Kemerovo Region, Western Siberia. The survey yielded 412 associations to the stimulus Chyl-Pazhi and 359 associations to the stimulus chalama. The psycholinguistic experiment involved 89 members of the Shor ethnic group aged 14–65 y.o. and was conducted on October 29, 2022, in the settlement of Sheregesh during a local festival of national cultures. Shorian and Russian New Year traditions appeared to merge with those of other indigenous peoples of Western Siberia, which was obvious even at the level of spelling as many respondents used Khakas or Russified variants. Chyl-Pazhy was conceptualized as a holiday when multi-colored chalama-ribbons are tied to a birch tree while black ones are burned in a fire-well. As a New Year celebration, Chyl-Pazhy could be described as a seasonal holiday of sunlight and spring that remains integral to the contemporary Shorian worldview. Chalama-ribbons were associated with making wishes, and that was the only aspect that linked this stimulus with the Russian New Year.

Linguistic studies of art discourse are gaining more and more relevance in the context of rapidly developing artificial intelligence. This research featured the impact of art discourse on the audience and their interpretation of images generated by AI image generators based on text queries. AI image generators open up new opportunities for research and understanding of art and art discourse, which is interpretive and dualistic in nature. Anna Andrzhievskaya’s FV and Dawn from the catalogue of Heavenly Wasteland exhibition were tested using Shedevrum and Bing Image Creator. Expressive vocabulary helped to convey the original atmosphere and ideas. However, complex metaphorical images proved to be a barrier for correct interpretation. Epithets, similes, and hyperboles provided a clearer representation of the artist’s ideas, thus reducing the risk of misinterpreting by the neural networks. These devices improved the perception of artistic value and communication between the artist and her audience. The results can help art historians in verbalizing works of art, i.e., as a writing guide for art descriptions. In addition, they may improve the quality and accuracy of AI-generated images, i.e., in training neural networks to recognize expressive vocabulary and stylistic devices at the level of linguistic pragmatics.

The easy language makes it possible to observe the rights of people with limited literacy, especially in case of various cognitive or physical restrictions. The methodology of the easy language relies on anthropological linguistics, as well as text theory and translation studies. It is a system of rules for adapting difficult texts for the needs of people with disabilities or limited language comprehension. The study describes a linguistic experiment with the representatives of the target audience who were asked to identify incomprehensible words in texts of different types written in authentic official Russian and Easy Russian. The experiment involved 38 patients (≥ 18 y.o.) of Altai Regional Clinical Psychiatric Hospital with disability categories I and II who were proficient enough in spoken and written communication (November-December 2022). On average, one person read 20 different texts. The authors studied words and phrases designated by the participants as incomprehensible in original and adapted texts. The current methodology of Easy Russian proved effective since the participants did not mark any words as incomprehensible in the adapted texts.

Natural language processing methods can be used to predict advanced application trends in formal ontologies. Formal ontologies help to formalize the characteristics of objects in various domains. As a result, machine learning programs identify patterns and relationships between these characteristics. The article describes an experiment based on machine learning methods in combination with text search methods. It involves the CatBoost algorithm for predictive modeling and clustering of lexical items. The vector models of the corresponding items reflect a trend in a particular domain of knowledge; proximity between them was calculated based on the idea of semantic distance. The experiment revealed four advanced areas for formal ontologies, i.e., genotype – phenotype; personalization; clustering algorithms, and collaborative task management. Each area that represented the predictable trends of development in this particular domain was provided with keywords. The article also contains a review of most popular scientific articles on these trends.

Chinese hieroglyphic writing has developed ways of recording meanings that differ from those in alphabetic systems, which generates interest in the hieroglyph as an object of research. This study complements the semiotic theory, which is usually applied to alphabetic systems, while looking for a complementary way to describe the ambiguous semiotics of Chinese writing. The study relied on a cross-disciplinary approach, i.e., the theory of semiosis in synthesis with the cultural-historical concept and a tertiary artifact as a link between them. A tertiary artifact corresponds to the semiotic sign-symbol, which is an implicit valuable textual category that cannot be manifested in a specific sign. The theory of artifacts was used in conjunction with a semiotic approach to the analysis of Chinese writing, both at the level of individual signs and at the text level. Diachronically, Chinese hieroglyphic signs tended towards symbolic semantics as they evolved, especially in cases where object nomination was motivated. As a synchronic example, the authors used a compositionally complex text of Wang Wei’s poem Magnolia Valley (辛夷坞), which illustrates the symbol both implicitly and explicitly. The analysis proved that semiotic ideas applied to alphabetic languages can be applied to Chinese writing but with the following caveat: in Chinese text, the implicit semantics of the symbol, being associated with a visually vivid imagery, hints at the symbol hidden behind the lines. Unlike letters, the hieroglyph possesses an additional technical potential for constructing an explicit series of images, thus contributing to a more effective comprehension of the main idea and morals, the emergence of which is regulated by its symbolic mode.

Academic publications on Chinese semiotics are less numerous than those on Indo-European semiotics. This article shows the mantic practices in ancient China from the perspective of the semiotic weakening law. The evolution of hieroglyphic signs cannot be studied separately from that of mantic practices. The basic mental categories of Chinese mentality originated in mantic practices and were fixed in hieroglyphic writing. This study is an attempt to unravel the evolutionary peculiarities of Chinese mentality, i.e., how mantic practices evolved into philosophy which, in its turn, crystallized as the ancient canonical text of The Book of Changes. As the current scientific interest to linguo-cultural codes continues to grow, this research provides an insight into the nature of human mind and hieroglyphic signs, as well as promotes effective intercultural communication. The study relied on the principles developed by C. S. Peirce, C. W. Morris, S. G. Proskurin, V. P. Vasiliev, L. S. Vygotsky, Yu. K. Shchutskii, D. N. Keightley, etc. Hieroglyphs associated with fortune-telling practices were subjected to the methods of grapheme and etymological analyses, as well as the methods of description and comparison, to study the connection of mantic and hieroglyphic systems. The mantic system revealed a ternary structure and three stages of weakening, i.e., identity, similarity, and convention. The main links of the process included cracking (primary), interpretation (secondary), and fixation (tertiary). The hieroglyphic system reflected the transformations of mantic practices, which gradually turned into a philosophical tradition of reading trigrams and hexagrams. The correlation between the two systems made it possible to understand how primitive mantic practices had evolved into philosophy.

This article examines French and Russian terminological units that describe the current systems of gestural communication. The author studied scientific articles, dictionaries, non-fiction, and law texts to conduct a definitional and context analysis of lexical units that form a lexical-semantic continuum between the expression of the concept of oral language and the concept of sign language in the corresponding metalanguages. The study revealed linguistic and extralinguistic factors that determined ethical problems associated with the incorrect translation of certain terms from French into Russian. The fundamental distinction between the concepts of language and speech made it possible to systematize all the units identified as part of this terminological field in both Russian and French. The systems were presented as tables that illustrated the boundaries of the concepts. A comparative analysis of the two systems indicated the main morphological and semantic differences in the terms. The research resulted in a system of equivalence between French and Russian terms, i.e., a scientifically based nomenclature that can be used by linguists and translators when working on Russian and French texts in the field of communication of deaf and hard of hearing people.

This article contains a comparative analysis of the axiological component in phraseological units with the color name red in Russian and Persian linguistic cultures. Phraseological units with color names are numerous in both languages and represent a microsystem united by the semantics of color, the components of which enter into intralingual and interlingual relationships of full or partial equivalence, synonymy, homonymy, or antonymy. The research objective was to compare figurative meanings of the color component in phraseology of the two different languages on the basis of culture linguistics and axiological analysis. The study provided an insight into the national mentality of the two peoples, which emerged as such under the influence of historical events, climate, religion, traditions, and values. The research material included 53 Russian and 20 Persian phraseological units. Both worldviews demonstrated an axiological component in the idioms with color name red, as well as a binary axiological opposition. In Russian, it demonstrated a positive meaning (66%) whereas in Persian it had a mostly negative meaning (80%). In Russian, the color red had a positive meaning in such categories as beauty; respect, festivity; holiday, fun; especially valuable; oratory; the key thing, the beginning; achievement; response action; embarrassment. Categories with negative meaning included beauty; timidity, shyness; oratory; limit, danger; fire; aggression; response action; shame. In Persian phraseology, positive meaning was detected in such categories as appearance; embarrassment; preserving one’s dignity, appeal. The negative categories included change in complexion; troubles; limit, danger; anger, irritation; duplicity; obstruction; cruelty; bad consequences. In addition, 19% of Russian phraseological units were classified as neutral and belonged to the categories of trade, revolution, and communism. The method of lexical-axiological analysis makes it possible to use the results in teaching general linguistics, Russian, Persian, translation, and comparative typology, as well as in in lexicographic practice.

This article is part of a study of the Buddhist text in modern Russian literature. It focuses on Elena A. Schwartz, who developed some Buddhist ideas, motives, and images in her poetry and prose. Her artistic world is a viable ecumenical utopia that exists due to the mysticism of personages and environment. This chronotope gets narrower and narrower in a territorial and cultural sense, thus forcing the personages to adapt. Buddhism in Christian, Judaic,or Islamic environment is an alternative to conventional Buddhism: it is essentially similar to the Abrahamic religions as a way to fathom the Transcendent. Buddhism in Russia in general and in St. Petersburg in particular is a mystery and a divine gift, tolerant to the doctrinal and soteriological difference of religions in the face of compassion. Schwartz’s Buddhism is stylistically Russified and Christianized, which does not prevent it from the Buddhification of reality. Buddhist ideas, motifs, and images coexist with Christian ones in an organic spiritual unity. The Buddhist plot of spiritual transformation goes parallel to that of Abrahamic religions as Schwartz’s characters ascend from their meeting with Buddha to obtaining Buddhist enlightenment.

Konstantin G. Paustovsky’s novels remain understudied as a research material. Romantics (1923) is his first novel in this genre. The novel reflects the transformation of his ideas about romantic love and connects it with the motif of creativity as an ultimate form of human activity. The article describes the characters-in-love and the effect of love on their personality development. The study relied on the method of comparative analysis as part of historical and literary approach. In his early works, K. G. Paustovsky referred to the romantic tradition, which he transformed to create his own concept of life and creativity based on the principles of humanism and love of life. Maximov, the main character of Romantics, keeps writing a book called Life while being in love with two women against the tragic background of World War I. Maximov’s feelings for the two women gradually resolve his creative crisis. Hatija and Natasha represent two sides of romantic beauty, i.e., angelic and demonic. Love shows Maximov new sides of life and allows him to overcome the internal conflict. When one of the women is lost to him in the chaos of war, both female images merge into a single harmonious Eternal Femininity, which is a remake of the romantic tradition. By facing various dangers, Maximov learns the essence of life: love brings about its triumph over death.

In Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Mary (1926), the train is an integral image. It is a metaphor, a symbol, and a leitmotif that generates or attracts many other images. The methods of motif and hermeneutic-interpretative analyses revealed that the train is a phantom that extends onto the characters and the entire artistic reality. The phantom train manifests itself in the interior of the houses where Russian emigrants live, in the city where the fate brought them to, in their own appearances, names, words, and actions. The phantom personages are shadows in a postmortem existence while Berlin is wrapped in smoke, clouds, and vapor. In this duality, Russia is as ghostly as Berlin in the main character’s memories. Initially, Russia and Mary are light and weightless, but the gloomy phantom train gradually penetrates into these memories. The end of the novel is ambiguous. Probably, it correlates with Nikolai Gumilev’s poem The Lost Tram. Besides, Nabokov liked to clash mutually exclusive plot developments. Apparently, the main character both leaves the phantom reality and stays in it as he boards the train that takes him away from Berlin and his past love.

Interdisciplinary studies often refer to such general categories as world model. This article is an analytical review of the artistic world model as a problematic issue of modern literary criticism. The author studied the essential content of the term model in different areas of scientific knowledge, as well as the relationship between the concepts of worldview and world model, artistic worldview and scientific worldview, etc., as well as the role of the author’s personality in their artistic world model and principles of world modeling, the latter being a popular scientific subject. The article is an attempt to systematize the latest publications on these issues. The methodology included structural-descriptive and descriptive-functional approaches. The analysis shows that the concept of world model is a process of reproducing external reality by a subject who builds its model in line with their own value systems, cultural background, and historical environment. An artistic worldview (model) focuses on all things figurative and emotional while scientific worldview is accurate, verified, and factual. The artistic world model broadcasts the author’s view. It has a special chronotope and a deep emotional impact on its reader. The uniqueness of the artistic world model largely depends on the genre. The principles of world modeling rely on metaphor and associations.