The paper provides a brief analysis of the literature on the structure and functions of sexuality and the problems of its formation in undergraduate girls. The research featured 196 first and fifth year female students, age 17–22, that majored in pedagogical studies. The study involved a set of standardized test methods, e. g. R. Кеttell’s multifactorial personality method, Wiesbaden questionnaire, S. Bem’s Study of Personality Masculinity and Femininity, Ch. D. Spilberger and Yu. L. Khanin’s Evaluation of Reactive and Personal Anxiety, D. Russell and M. Ferguson’s Diagnostics of the Level of Subjective Feeling of Loneliness, methods of gender identity studies, M. Kuhn and T. McPartlend’s "Who am I?" test as modified by T. V. Rumyantseva, and the Scale of Basic Beliefs by R. Yanoff-Bulman. The statistical analysis of the results allowed the authors to build a structural and functional model of female sexuality, as well as to describe its components, functions, and informative characteristics. The factor analysis revealed that female sexuality includes five main components: family relations, cognitive, bodily, emotional and existential. Each of the components contributes to the overall structure and has a specific content and function. The authors developed criteria for diagnosing the levels of formation of female sexuality as low, medium and high. With age, the level of sexuality in all selected components increased, which might be associated with the presence of more experience in establishing intimate relationships and family orientation. Most respondents demonstrated diffuse gender identity accompanied by high androgyny as a variant of sex-role behavior. The study also revealed the effect of personal characteristics on the psychological content of the various components of sexuality. The obtained data determined the need for focused effort on the formation of femininity. 

The article features an empirical study of the development of neurocognitive functions in moderate and late preterm children at the age of 3, 5, 10, 14, and 25 months. To date, this population of infants is 75–80 % of the total number of premature infants, but specialists of different profiles do not give enough attention to this group of children, which limits the amount of information regarding their neurocognitive development, in spite of the fact that prematurity at any gestation period gives the right to refer the child to a risk group of different impairments. Premature birth has a certain impact on the development of the infant’s brain, affecting the important processes of differentiation of neurons, myelination, synaptogenesis, etc. Neurocognitive functions were measured by the Bayley Scales behavioral technique, third edition (Bayley-III). The technique makes it possible to assess the cognitive development, the development of receptive and expressive communication, as well as fine and gross motor skills. The research demonstrated that moderate and late prematurity has a selective effect on the development of neurocognitive functions, and the degree of impact depends on the stage of ontogenesis and the sphere of development.

The paper features the problem of the interpersonal relations of the civil servants with the different level of social normativity. Harmony / disharmony of the interpersonal relations caused by a social and psychological distance between the interacting subjects prove to be the indicators of personnel risk for the organization. A change of a distance manifests of personnel risk, whereas a disharmony of the interpersonal relations in the business sphere poses a threat of personnel safety. Various empirical researches showed that regulatory civil servants seek to build such an acceptable distance in interpersonal interaction that would provides trust, emotional proximity, and a readiness for joint activity. On the contrary, non-regulatory government employees build a larger distance according to their personal traits. They reveal a deeper trust in themselves than in the partner, a lesser emotional proximity and no compatibility orientation. For regulatory employees, personnel risk
is in a narrowing the distance, which may result in mixing the business and emotional relations, e.g. relations without concern for the status of the partner in the team. For non-regulatory employees, risk can manifest in an excessive distancing from colleagues, formalization of the relations, as well as criticism and depreciation of the partner. The empirical data obtained can be used for the development of personal and professional qualities of the civil servants, in particular for formation of flexible skills of a social and psychological distance in interpersonal interaction. It is important to use the principle of the differentiation assuming ability to differentiate forms of relationship and to build new interrelations between them. 

The research features modern domestic and foreign fundamental approaches to self-destructive behavior and suicidal risk. The author adduces the data on the structure of suicidal risk, its affective, cognitive, and behavioral characteristics. The paper also describes the concept of increasing potential risk factors and predicates presented by M. D. Rudd, as well as an analysis of the theory of suicidal barometer developed by K. M. Harris, J. J. Syu, O. D. Lello, Y. L. Chew, C. H. Willcox, and R. H. Ho. It also features situational and personal factors of suicidal risk, both potential and actual. The paper focuses on predictors of the genesis and development of predisposition to auto-destructive behavior in adolescents.
The research objective was to study the characteristics of risk factors of autodestructive behavior in adolescents. The sample group included 116 participants, 14–16-year-old students of 9–10 grades. The author described situational and personal risk factors of auto-destructive behavior in adolescents. They revealed a correlation between personal relations with inner circle and neighborhood society, as well as affective, cognitive, and behavioral personality factors of autodestructive risk. 

The article continues a series of studies devoted to the actual problem of increasing sports effectiveness and the growth of  professional longevity of highly qualified athletes – members of  Russian national sports teams. Not contradicting the methodological  foundations of research of sports activities, the authors propose a  solution to the problem of psychological and pedagogical support of  professional success in sports of higher achievements. The research  is based on the systemic anthropological psychology and the theory  of human self-realization. The subject of this study is the  peculiarities of the stability of the lifeworld in athletes with various  levels of professional success. The paper features a comparative  analysis, the results of which clearly illustrate the specific features of the manifestation of the lifeworld stability in athletes with various levels of professional success. It was empirically proved that  the high degree of life-world stability and the constructive nature of  its manifestation are the psychological conditions for the optimal  combination of processes of achieving high athletic results and  maintaining a high level of mental adaptation. It determines the  sustainability of the lifeworld as a systemic psychological  characteristic responsible for the effective professionalization in the  sport of higher achievements. This allows the authors to conclude  that the program of psychological and pedagogical support  introduced in this paper will probably improve sports effectiveness  and mental adaptation of athletes, contributing to the growth of their professional longevity.

The present research features the image of "the typical Russian" and "the typical American" as perceived by Russian adolescents  (students of the Far Eastern Federal University). The images were  reconstructed using methods of psychosemantics, e.g. verbal  associations. The data were processed using the methods of  mathematical statistics. The semantic analysis helped to define the  ideas and emotional attitude of the respondents to "the typical  Russian" and "the typical American", as well as the semantic  contrast of the content in some categories. The Fisher criterion  revealed significant differences in the content of certain categories of associations. The stereotype displayed a predominantly positive  orientation, while the orientation of the heterostereotype was  ambivalent. The image of "the typical Russian" reflected primarily  such positive qualities as kindness, openness, and patriotism. Both  positive (activity, tact) and negative qualities (hypocrisy and lies)  were manifested in the ideas about the "typical American". The  positive personal characteristics included activity, charisma, and  communicative skills. However, the personal qualities of the  "American" clearly expressed some negative traits, e.g. hypocrisy  and lies. The generalized  image of "the typical American" is  outwardly pleasant, active, and sociable but internally hypocritical,  deceitful and selfserving. The content of the heterostereotype  reflected a certain distrust of young people to "the typical American". The negative characteristics of the heterostereotype may reduce  tolerance of young people to the USA and its representatives. The  results of the study may be useful to representatives of public  authorities and educational institutions. The obtained data can be  used to shape multicultural educational environment in Russian  universities.

The article features preliminary "conceptual optics" necessary for understanding the problem of thinking from the perspective of post- non-classical psychology. The study focused on methodological gaps  in the formulation and solution of the problem of thinking within the  framework of positivist-oriented approaches. They proved to be  connected with building a one-dimensional-instrumental view of a  thinking person as a gnoseological subject. The view is often reduced to an operator of cognitive processes, artificially derived from the  framework of one’s own historicity and existential datum of life. It  reveals the existential-anthropological givenness of human thinking,  taken in the context of one’s own life world and one’s own life relationships, as well as in the context of the trans-perspective of becoming and complicating its "cogital identity". The author substantiates the view that thinking of a holistically  understood person acts as a form of life-realization, and all thinking events are evidence of one’s attempts to thematisation and  constitution of one’s "cogital identity" and resistance to "co- deindividualization". The study revealed a need to expand the  research focus of the psychology of thinking, so that its positive heuristics were not limited to the mental apparatus of the  averaged operator of cognitive processes, but include existential givenness and the capabilities of a living historical  personality that realizes meaningful existential relations with itself  and the world in thinking. 

The research examined eating disorders and the risk of their development in students according to the level of personal anxiety  from a gender perspective. An analysis showed a connection  between the level of personal anxiety and compulsive and external  types of eating behavior in female students. The sample group  consisted of 70 people, of whom 52,9 % had a high level of personal anxiety (the proportion of girls was 83,8 %). 95,7 % of students had either compulsive (64,2 %) or external (21,4 %) eating disorder. At  this age, an eating disorder does not affect body weight. However, if  the level of personal anxiety increases, it escalates the risk of  developing at least three types of eating disorders by 11,5 times. With an increase in the level of personal anxiety, the risk of  developing external overeating increases by 12,5 times and the risk  of developing a compulsive type of eating behavior increases by 1,5  times. The research revealed some gender features of eating  disorders development: girls with a high level of personal anxiety  proved to have a 5,68 times higher risk of developing various eating  disorders. However, a study in the ability to cope with stress in  students with different levels of personal anxiety with regard to  gender did not show any statistically significant differences in the  study groups. The research demonstrated that there is a need in  psycho-preventive measures that would shape rational nutrition  stereotypes in students. 

The research featured the effect of experienced and daily hassles on self-actualization and psychological wellbeing in adolescents. The  study involved 360 people: 126 men and 234 women aged 20–60  years. The experiment determined the level of experienced stress  and daily hassles, as well as its separate types. The women  demonstrated a significantly higher level. The greatest severity of  daily hassles was observed in the sphere of work, well-being, family,  and finance. A comparative analysis of the level of subjective and  psychological well-being by gender revealed a significantly higher  level of autonomy and competence in men. An analysis of the  features of self-actualization showed that the male group had higher  indicators of self-understanding, autonomy, ability to live in the  present, and professional self-realization, if compared to women. The women demonstrated higher indicators of orientation to universal human values, a more positive view of human nature, and  higher levels of creativity. An analysis of the relationship of  psychological well-being, parameters of self-actualization and stress  revealed their closer ties in women than in men. The level of  experienced stress and daily hassles in men and women was related  to competence, autosympathy, professional self-realization, life  satisfaction, satisfaction of professional activities, and financial  situation. In the male group, the level of daily hassles also depended on a positive view of human nature. The women stressed the  importance of self-acceptance and satisfaction with communication with parents.

The paper features sychological media competence of parents on the basis of ideas about psychological media competence as a meso- level phenomenon, differing complex composition. The psychological  media competence of parents is considered in the structure of their  psychological competence, including cognitive, practical, and  reflexive components. The cognitive component includes knowledge  that allows one to take part in the media communication and analyze  the influence of media texts on the psyche of children. The  reflexive component is the awareness of internal changes after  interacting with media. The practical component is represented by  the ability to realize competence in interaction with children. The  procedure for diagnosing these components was developed based on the research method of “Psychological media competence of parents  of primary school pupils”. The first part was represented by  ituations  describing behavior and actions of primary school pupils in  media sphere and identifying how parents react to them. The second part included watching an animated film, answering questions that  reveal how parents understood the effect of the cartoon on children’s emotional state and behavior, and writing a letter to the main  character of the cartoon on behalf of their children. The analysis of  the psychological media competence study involved a method of  expert assessments. The results indicate a certain use of  constructive ways of reaction to situations, which are related to  information search via internet and watching destructive video. The  parents proved to underestimate effect of various media on children  and demonstrated problems in assessing and meaningful discussion of the media texts with children.

The article features the phenomenon of career in modern social and economic conditions. The research studied career orientations of the  personality, e.g. its definitions and role in career planning. The  authors proved the relevance of studies in career orientation for  social and professional development of women. The empirical  research involved career orientations of women with inclination to a  certain type of career in the context of their social and demographic characteristics. The authors analyzed such social and  demographic characteristics as age, qualifications, work experience, marital and parental status, occupation, the sphere of  employment, and income level. The research revealed specific  features of women characterized by domination of a certain career  orientation type, i.e. horizontal, vertical, or conditions-oriented. 18– 21-year-old unmarried childless women appeared to be focused on  vertical career, competition, overcoming, difficult tasks, etc. 22–35- year-old mothers were more likely to reveal orientation to the  horizontal type of career planning. Divorcees and widows tended to be conditions-oriented. The obtained data can be used in career guidance.

The paper presents such basic units of cognitive linguistics as frame, script, and concept from the perspective of theories and concepts introduced by leading scientists. It introduces some results of the construction of the nominative field of the concept "threat". The research featured the concept "threat" in the political mass media discourse as a universal means of speech influence. The lexical units under analysis belonged both to the core and periphery of the nominative field of the concept. The authors defined the most frequent scripts of the concept "threat", both general and particular, e. g. direct threat, indirect threat, explicit threat, and implicit threat. Their structural characteristics were based on the examples from D. Trump’s statements. The most characteristic attributes of the concept "threat" proved to be verbs of destructive semantics, nuclear lexemes of the concept field, etc. This article reflects the features of the verbal representation of the concept "threat", as well as the purposes of the speech act of threat as a universal leverage in the modern political communication. 

It is essential for linguistic majors to acquire the foreign language presentation competence. This competence includes a complete set of knowledge, aptitudes and skills, as well as psychological characteristics one needs to make a public speech. The experiment described in the article was aimed at ascertaining whether this competence can be formed more efficiently through cooperative learning. In order to assess the extent to which the foreign language presentation competence has been developed, the authors considered the following criteria: foreign language proficiency, knowledge of the subject matter, the ability to structure the presentation and to make slides, and a carefully prepared report. When the report was assessed, the following criteria were taken into account: speech rate and volume, eye contact, pronunciation, vocal fillers, enthusiasm, whether or not mistakes were made and whether the delivery was polished. Such personality traits as self-confidence, intensity, determination, adequate self-evaluation, general knowledge, empathy and willingness to develop oneself are also the inherent components of the foreign language presentation competence. An experiment was conducted to find out whether presentations should be prepared in the process of cooperative learning or individually. In the experimental groups presentations were prepared cooperatively, and the students with a high level of foreign language proficiency helped the ones whose knowledge was rudimentary. In the monitoring groups the students worked individually. Four presentations were made and the students’ progress by the end of the experiment was assessed on the basis of  the criteria applied to a public report. In the experimental groups, the students made more progress than those in the monitoring groups. The experiment clearly demonstrates that linguistic majors develop the foreign language presentation competence through cooperative learning.

The research features the speech stereotype at the stage of its formation. The author observes the way stereotype of socially approved behavior are formed with the help of speech stereotypes united by the concept of "product waste". An analysis of "gaspillage alimentaire" social advertising revealed some speech stereotypes, stereotyping mechanisms, as well as the way they influence the recipient of the social advertising discourse. The author states the key role of the speech stereotype that address the recipient to the existing models of behavior and in the formation of new models that are in demand in the French society. The results of the research contribute to a better understanding of the speech behavior in different cultures and can be used in the courses of cultural linguistics, French language stylistics, and discourse analysis. 

This paper presents an analytical review of scientific works devoted to one of the topical studies in cognitive and cultural linguistics, namely, to the concept of "money", which is included in the corpus of basic concepts of European civilization. Concepts as complex mental formations attract special attention of scientists studying the problem of language conceptualization of the person’s environmental world. Language units of different levels are studied in their correlation with the cognitive structure of the concept knowledge. The framework consists of systematization of the majority of existing scientific results of verbal representation, structuring of the concept of "money" in the context of Russian, English, German, and French. A comparative analysis of the ways and means of language representation of the concept "money" in Russian, English, German, and French sets the combination of versatile and specific features that embody the nature of the concept of "money" in these national languages. The obtained scientific findings represent the opportunities of embodiment of general cultural concept of "money" in national linguocultures. The practical value is determined by the fact that the obtained structured scientific data in the specified conceptual field can be used by scientists when developing linguoculturological dictionaries of basic concepts of European culture, as well as in the development of training courses with the dictionaries in question as content database.

The article deals with the syntactic organization of statements with chains of adjectives related to different modes of perception, namely: tactile adjectives and taste adjectives. Such groups of tactile adjectives as haptical, temperature, and hygrometric adjectives were investigated in the aspect of polymodality. Polymodality is manifested in the fact that while eating we feel the taste of the dish, as well as its temperature, softness, hardness, humidity, and other haptical and hygrometric characteristics. The research featured the syntactic organization of statements with two-element adjective chains. The research objective was to identify patterns in the arrangement of tactile adjectives in a chain of adjectives with taste adjectives. The article features some statistics of the use of certain chains of adjectives consisting of a tactile adjective and a taste adjective. A comparative analysis of various contexts of tactile adjectives and taste adjectives allowed the author to deduce some rules of their arrangement, namely: in the vast majority of cases, tactile adjectives (temperature and haptic) are on the first place in the chain, which indicates that touch is the dominant modality compared with taste. The arrangement of hygrometric adjectives in a chain with taste adjectives depends on the situation in which the process of perception takes place. The variation of the arrangement of adjectives in a chain is due to the subjectivity of perception and cognitive emphasis. When deriving grammar rules, it is necessary to take into account not only the regularities listed in the article, but also deviations from them.

The research features families of cognate words in the Russian language as a dynamic phenomenon. Frame and proposition were adopted as the basic units of representation of word families. The study focused on derivatives with the borrowed formants -атор/-тор (-ator/-tor). Most of the propositions with -атор revealed a high degree of typification. This typification of propositions undergoes changes under the influence of the tendencies of the Russian linguistic system and as a result of assimilation. The mutation occurs both by changing the actants in the proposition, as well as by expanding the actant paradigm and the appearance of new members in the proposition. Assimilation results in polysemic potency derivatives. Occasional meanings of the analyzed derivatives form a new family with a typified frame structure. The nests are divided into propositions typical for similar families, with the same limited set of actants. The propositional-frame approach to the description of the families of cognate words makes it possible to express the knowledge of native speakers about the world, as well as to represent the epistemological basis of mental discourse.

The research features manipulative technologies aimed at forming the inimical image of Russia in British and American mass-media. The inimical conception, when intentionally built, is predetermined by the already existing stereotype of an enemy, whose most evident and manifest features are singled out and enclosed into the image thus constructed. The stereotype, in its turn, can be traced back to the most ancient archetype of a hostile member of a different tribe, perilous to the group he intends to destroy. The image of Russia created by the British and American mass-media is overloaded with negative connotations as contrasted with a highly positive self-image of the British and Americans. Russia is presented as an aggressor that interferes with other countries’ affairs, while its opponents, as they claim, fight against terrorism and meet other global challenges. Nothing is farther from the truth but the manipulative technologies  employed help to drive this idea into the readers’ heads. The British and American media-language turns to “hate speech” whenever they refer to Russia. Most effective, though over-exploited, is its constant repetition. All this serves as a substitute for actual facts, logic, and arguments. The question arises: what should EFL students do with the language material that often misinforms or insults their country? The answer is obvious: never degrade yourself by attacking or insulting the opponents. They might be entrapped in the war rhetoric or the stereotypes and be truly convinced of the Russians’ hostility. Consider the facts, but not emotions, and manipulation will miss you or your friendly attitude to Englishmen and Americans as a target.

The study explores the linguostylistic means in John Braine’s novel "Room at the Top" (1957), which enabled the author to show the character’s inner conflict between his craving for wealth and power and his morals, or the conflict of social stereotypes about happiness and authenticity treated in this article as the real self of Joe Lampton. The true self makes itself evident through the contradictions that torture him in the course of his efforts to overcome social barriers and renounce moral values. The research objective was to analyze the interconnection between the expressive means in the novel and the sense they imply. The linguostylistic, motivic, contextual, and definitional analysis revealed that the antithesis "materialism – moral values" is presented in the opposition of the images of two women. Both play a significant role in the main character’s destiny. The antithesis is conveyed with the help of expressive means, such as contextual antonyms, evaluative vocabulary, syntactic parallelism, irony, climax, metaphor, etc. Susan Brown’s image embodies Joe Lampton’s material values, while that of Alice Aisgill personifies his moral values and the gradual loss of his authenticity. 

Postmodern play is one of the important characteristics of modern fiction; it often acts as a text-forming element of the literary work. Literary play is manifested within different text levels and literary discourse strategies: the narrative, composition, imagery, diction, narrative temporality and modality, the technique of metanarrative. The present paper features the poetics of play within different text levels and literary discourse strategies in the novel by contemporary Scottish writer Ali Smith "There But For The". At the level of the novel’s narrative, the play manifests itself in the confusion of reality and fantasy, imagination and actual memory in the characters' internal speech. At the level of composition, the author plays with the readers, giving them an opportunity to find some "key" that will connect the four chapters of the novel and the prologue; the characters and connections between them are sometimes also a mystery. Within the literary strategy of temporality, the following play elements are presented: the contrast between serious reasoning about Time and humorous comments and thematically related pieces of poetry; nonlinear narration; description of events which take place in different time periods in a short context. Within the literary strategy of modality, we can trace the author’s play with the reader and the effect of defeated expectancy. The technique of metanarrative also contains elements of the play: the literary and stylistic means used in the novel are explained both in a serious and a joking manner. The diction of the novel is characterized by usage of stylistic devices of different language levels, their function being that of the play: oxymoron, zeugma, chiasm, holophrasis, different types of morphological repetition, and pun. The results of the study suggest that the introduction of elements of a play into the novel at its different levels makes a sharp contrast with the existential themes of the work. Such a contrast greatly enhances the impact of this novel on the reader and requires further study. 

Naming in advertising has become one of the most ambitious areas of linguistics since it reflects dynamics of the lexical system of the language. It features proper names of goods, services, or business enterprises. An unusual proper name is efficient, noticeable and attractive for customers, it fulfills the advertising function. That is why it is necessary to identify the language principles which are taken into account when choosing proper names of a particular kind of a business enterprise, goods, or services. The present research was based on proper names of enterprises that offer tourism services in Voronezh. The naming units were obtained by direct observation, from the Internet, local newspapers, and magazines. The total number of collected examples included about 200 units. The study proved that language means for this type of nominations correspond with the nominative triad "seller / producer – product / service – buyer". In addition, some local territorial peculiarities were observed in the proper names of travel agencies. 

The present research features immigration discourse published in the Daily Mail. The author believes immigration discourse to be a consequence of the so-called Arab Spring of 2011. The paper describes some peculiarities of the discourse related to the events of 2011, its semantic indicators, and some particular examples. According to the critical discourse analysis, discourse is a form of social interaction, which makes it possible to clarify how ideology sets the formatting rules of discourse and determines its content. The relevance of the study is due to the growing scientific interest to the phenomenon of political discourse and its various aspects. The research revealed non-politicized terminology that represents immigrants as helpless, desperate victims, who are described with the help of "humanitarian" concepts when it goes about immigration control measures. However, the humanization and victimization of immigrants act as a justification for the measures taken to combat "illegal" immigration and the "humanitarian rescue" of citizens in danger. 

The paper describes the semantics of the preposition "по", which is the most ambiguous and common preposition of the modern Russian language. Thus, it reveals a tendency to blurred semantics, which makes a deeper consideration of this problem quite relevant. The author analyzed scientific literature on this issue and built a classification its meanings. The semantic analysis and statistical calculations were conducted in the basis of scientific texts. The preposition proved to be used mostly in the meaning of adverbial modifier of manner "to act in accordance with something, on the basis of something". Within this meaning, a number of semantic shades were highlighted: to be defined according to some parameter; act on the basis of certain data, facts; act in accordance with a certain way of organizing the phenomenon; act on the basis of someone's will (decision), desire; act in accordance with certain official documents and procedures; to be defined according to a certain naming method; to be defined on the basis of some measurement method. The analysis can improve the semantic structure of the preposition "по" in modern Russian. 

The paper presents a gradual model of etymological analysis of the Chinese hieroglyph. The research was based on the game approach logic expressed in the combination of Russian and Chinese linguistic analysis of Chinese characters. The established rules include verification of the graphic paradigm according to the stages of Chinese writing development. In addition, the rules involve grammatological, structural, semantic, and ideosemantic analyses. Individual research strategy included selection of linguistic, historical, and cultural sources for verification of the graphic-semantic characteristics of the Chinese character. The author applied a combination and sequence of research approaches and introduced an authentic analysis terminology. The authentic terminology was supported by analogies from Russian linguistics, as well as by the experience of etymologization of the character in Chinese philological science. The paper features a model of etymological analysis of the Chinese character. It consists of several stages/types of etymological reconstructions: formal-graphic,
grammatical or structural, and semantic (including ideosemantic).
The created etymological model was tested on the example of  etymologization of the Chinese hieroglyph "cart" 車 che / ju. Its paradigm was verified according to its graphic variants, which belonged to the early stages of ancient Chinese writing, namely jinwen, jiaguwen, and zhuanti. The author determined the graphic-semantic core of the character. Its graphic sensemaking form was systematically analyzed on the basis of verification of its graphic and semantic characteristics. Finally, the author conducted a semantic and ideosemantic analysis of the character, which included historical and archeological data on Chinese material culture. As a result, the study helped to define the etymological meaning of the character. 

The article describes the results of an associative experiment conducted in 2017, which involved 235 respondents. The author identified stereotyped characteristics of animals in Dutch. On the one hand, the characteristics manifest themselves in free associations with the zoonym. On the other hand, they can be obtained from sustainable comparisons, e. g. "as stupid as a donkey". These comparisons are seen as a sort of phraseological constructions. The experiment had two parts. In the "free associations" part, the respondents had to give a spontaneous reaction on a zoonym as stimulus, while in the "phraseological" part they had to add a missing adjective in a sustainable comparison. The author also intended to reveal the connections between the stereotyped perception of animals reflected in free associations and phraseology. The phraseological part of the experiment resulted in a larger amount of answers than expected. A comparative analysis showed that the stereotyped perception coincided in phraseology and free associations. In addition, the stereotyped perception changes with time and can produce new phraseological units. 

The research features the historical and cultural heritage of the Teleuts, an indigenous people of Kuzbass, in particular their national costumes stored in the funds of the museum «Archeology, Ethnography, and Ecology of Siberia» (Kemerovo State University). The museum collections form a basis for scientific historical reconstruction of women’s Teleut costume. The paper describes authentic ethnographic items of the main collection and the archives: various collections, field notebooks, expedition diaries, and reports made by scientists of the university, as well as photographs, videos, slides, and sketches. It is the first time the documentary funds have been introduced into scientific use. The research involved the prosopographic database of the scientists who donated valuable collections on the material and spiritual culture of the Teleuts, as well as museum collections of the departments of ethnography and history. The authors also described historical and ethnographic heritage collected by the scientists who organized expeditions in 1960s – late 1990s and donated their collections to the museum. The authors evaluated the contribution the scientists made to the studies of the Teleut culture. In addition, the article introduces an acquisition technique that would guarantee the authenticity of the items related to the Teleut culture.

The article presents some results of an archaeological researches conducted at the northern city wall in the seaside part of Derbent outside the medieval shakhristan. The soundings (No. 26–29) revealed layers of various geneses and provided new data on the historical topography of the medieval town. The obtained data point at some cultural layers of Pre-Mongol period (X – early XIII century) outside the shakhristan (soundings No. 26–28). It was period of flourishing for the medieval Derbent when the city occupied the territory of architecturally allocated shakhristan and when the near and far agricultural areas was actively used. These materials also confirm the earlier obtained data that the active life of the city ceased in the second quarter of the XIII century due to Mongol invasions. At the same time, excavations revealed some layers related to the late Sasanian period and connected with the large-scale construction of a stone defensive wall in the middle of the VI century (soundings No. 26, 27) and an adobe defensive wall built in the middle of the V century (sounding No. 27), which completely closed the Derbent pass.

On the western border of the surveyed site, six Muslim stone sarcophagus-shaped sepulchral monuments of the XI–XII centuries were found in the modern ditch, as well as some stone plates from the destroyed cists. The sarcophagi are the most extreme east monuments within the medieval necropolis of Derbent, and they act as evident confirmation to Adam Olearius’ engraving (1637 AD) that depicted Derbent and its extensive northern cemetery with such monuments. 

The paper describes a bronze plaque, made in Perm animal style by method of one-side casting. It depicts a rampant winged bear with its paws on the shoulders of a standing man. Being an accidental finding, the plaque comes from the northern regions of the Altai Territory (the village of Vysokaya Griva, Pankrushikhinskiy District). The paper features its composition and plot, which has a complex semantic content. Following other researchers, the authors consider such products a metal reflection of the three-part world structure, characteristic for the peoples at a certain level of social development, and a myth about the origin of the people. A comparative analysis with both neighboring and quite remote areas made it possible to assume that there were different totem animals, ancestors of the major ethnic groups of different Finno-Ugrian peoples. Thus, a bird of prey was the most typical totem animal for the western territories representing a Finnish-speaking population that lived in the European part of Russia. The bird was both the  ancestor and the guardian spirit of the ethnic group. A bear was the totem for the eastern territories of the Finno-Ugrian peoples living in Siberia, in the Asian Russia, that represented the Ugrian-Samoyedic population. It is evidenced by the absence of bears on the plaques with encoded myths about the origin of the kindred in Western European regions, and on the contrary, a practically complete absence of birds on similar plaques in the Asian regions. The finding is published for the first time. 

Numerous animal remains are part of burial practice in Tagar culture, therefore researches conducted to determine anatomic, specific, and age structure of zooarchaeological assemblages in certain tombs and whole cemeteries, their peculiarities and comparative analysis. The paper features an analysis of the faunistic collections from the kurgan burial mound of Tagar culture Bolshepichugino I (VI century – C.E.). In total, 75 samples from kurgan 13 were described and 2192 – from kurgan 16 have. The zooarchaeological assemblages consist of remains of a horse, cattle, and sheep, fox, doe, Asian badger, mountain hare, and birds. The peculiarities of the associated food were determined (scapula, 3–4 ribs, femur, and tibia of cattle and sheep). The use of right parts of animal bodies is discussed in the context of burial practice in the Early Tagar period. Remains of young animals (younger than 1 year) were also found in the  materials. It is supposed that the burial mounds were made in winter time. Some domestic and wild bone assemblages located in different places of the kurgans are considered to belong to another period and culture or zoogenic processes. A special attention is paid to the doe and fox remains in the tombs since their carcasses might have been used in burial rituals. In total, the composition and specifics of zooarchaeological materials make it possible to speak about similarity of forest-steppe and steppe early Tagar assemblages in this aspect of burial practice. 

The camp Ekidin 24 is located in the southern part of the Turgai Depression (Northern Kazakhstan, Kostanay region). The monument was explored by the Turgai archeological expedition in the 1989 field season. The present research featured the ceramic complex of camp Ekidin 24. The research objective was to study technological aspects in the manufacture of ceramic vessels of the Ekidin potters. An important aspect of the work is the generalization of all currently known camp data. The ceramic collection of the Ekidin 24 camp consists of 48 fragments, including 6 fragments of the upper parts of vessels with a grooved neck, one fragment of a vessel bottom, and 38 fragments of vessel walls. All fragments of ceramics from the Ekidin 24 camp were subjected to a technical and technological analysis. The study employed petrographic analysis and binocular microscopy. The initial raw material of the Ekidin potters was iron clay (iron hydroxides, such as hematite and magnetite), or hydromica. A formula of molding mass was revealed: clay + organic (wool) + chamotte. The Ekidin 24 camp is the reference monument of the Mahanjar culture of the Turgai Depression. The age of Mahanjar finds is determined primarily on the analogies with early Neolithic monuments of the Central Asian interfluves as late 7,000 – 5,000 B.C. The obtained radiocarbon dates indicate 6,000 B.C. Mahanjar-like Ceramics are still  represented by single fragments outside the Turgai Depression and, as a rule, are not recognized by researchers as Mahanjar. We can confidently say that the Mahanjar culture is not an isolated phenomenon, and the identification of new Mahanjar sites in different regions of the steppe and forest-steppe Eurasia is only a matter of time.