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above; as an analytical language, English is easier to learn if compared with synthetical or
agglutinate languages; thus, English can be called ‗affordable‘ for learning and using.
Moreover, the World Englishes paradigm [11] makes any codified variety of English with its
legitimate deviations and innovations [12] and their users ‗feel at home‘, so to say, under
conditions of intercultural contacts.
Three elements remain constant: the discussions revolve around English more than
any other languages; multiple facets of peace are addressed; and the meaning of negotiation is
expanded [3, p. 3].
English can be a tool for understanding and peace-building [3, p. 2]. Peace through
English involves the promotion pacific and empowering uses of the language through respect
for the linguistic rights (which include the right to use English); the maintenance of an
ecology of languages (in spite of the use of English as a global language); cultural and
linguistic diversity (the legitimization of different varieties of English and the upholding of
different cultural manifestations through English); and language education (to promote farreaching bilingualism and language awareness) [3, p. 6].
References:
1. Paige, G.D. Nonkilling Global Political Science / G.D. Paige. – Honolulu: Center for
Global Nonkilling, 2009. – 187 p.
2. Issues in Nonkilling Linguistics: Practical Applications / ed. P. Friedrich. – Honolulu:
Center for Global Nonkilling, 2012. – 170 p.
3. Friedrich, P. Language, Negotiation and Peace / P. Friedrich. – London: Continuum, 2007.
– 130 p.
4. Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advanced Learner‘s Dictionary of Current English / A.S. Hornby. –
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
5. Максимова, Ю.С. Лингвистическое выражение компромисса в культурах Запада и
Востока через английский язык как язык-посредник (на материале художественных
текстов): диссертация на соискание учѐной степени кандидата филологических наук.
– Владивосток, 2011. – 187 с.
6. Proshina, Z. Language Glocalization, or International Orientalisms / Z. Proshina //
Качествовпреподаваниианглийскогоязыка. Материалы международной
конференции г. Благовещенск, 2002 г., июнь. – Владивосток: Изд-во Дальневост. унта, 2003. – pp. 22-25.
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7. Crystal, D. English as a Global Language / D. Crystal. – Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1997. – 212 p.
8. Graddol, D. English Next: Why Global English May Mean the End of ‗English as a
Foreign Language‘ / D. Graddol. – British Council:The English Company (UK) Ltd.,
2006. – 128 p.
9. Proshina, Z. The ABC and Controversies of World Englishes / Z. Proshina. – Хабаровск:
ООО «ГРАФИКА», 2007. – 121 p.
10. Yasukata, Y. World Englishes in 2000 and beyond / Y. Yasukata // World Englishes. –
Vol. 20, 2, 2001. – pp. 119-131.
11. Kachru, B. B., Kachru, Y., Nelson, C. L. The Handbook of World Englishes / B.B.
Kachru, Y. Kachru, C.L. Nelson. – Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. – 811 p.
12. Прошина, З.Г. Лингвоконтактология: статус, проблемы, перспективы / З.Г. Прошина
// Социальные и гуманитарные науки на Дальнем Востоке, 1(5), 2005. – C. 124-128.
УДК 811.111
IMPACT OF POLITICS ON ETHNONYM «UKRAINIAN»
Prozorskaya Ya. Yu.
Far Eastern Federal University,
Vladivostok, Russia,
e-mail: yprozorskaya@mail.ru
Summary:
The role of politics in social life is currently evident. It involves all spheres of peoples‘
activities, greatly influences societal development and its languages. Since the political
situation in Ukraine is one of the hottest issues at present, the study focuses on the analyses of
the associations related to the ethnonym ―Ukrainian‖ used by the residents of Primorsky krai
with the purpose to specify the significance of the political environment for people‘s minds.
The findings of the two surveys are presented in the paper.
Keywords: ethnonym, Ukrainian, survey, respondents, verbal associations,
perceptions, comparative perspective, political situation.
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Nowadays the political situation in Ukraine is in the focus of the world‘s media
attention and, in particular, of Russia‘s media. Against the background of talking about the
political events in Ukraine, Russian people have rather conflicting feelings towards the
citizens of this country. Some of them condemn a lot the actions of the Ukrainian authorities
while others blame the Western special services; others feel compassion, disappointment or
even hatred. Therefore, in general, there is not any person who does not attach importance to
the political situation in Ukraine.
In the light of these events, we suppose that it is interesting to study the associations
that the Russian residents of Primorsky krai are likely to have at the mention of the ethnonym
"Ukrainian". We hypothesize that political events have a strong tendency to transform
meanings associated with ethnonyms. Ethnonyms are defined here as the name applied to a
given ethnic group [1].
The Primorsky krai is an ethnically diverse region. It is a home not only to the
indigenous population – the Nanais, the Oroches, the Udegei and the Taz but also to the
numerous ethnic groups belonging to the different races and families of languages. According
to the National census of the latest years, there are more than 120 various nationalities here.
The Russians make up the majority of the krai population. The Ukrainians are the second
largest ethnic group living on the territory of Primorsky krai [2]. Therefore, the Russian
residents of our region may have a direct idea of the appearance, the peculiarities of life and
the distinctive features of the character of the representatives of this nationality.
However, the existing views on any nationality are supposed to be a subject to change
and one of the reason is the changing situation in interethnic and interstate relations [3]. So, in
the light of the Ukrainian situation we think that it is of great interest to study the impact the
current political events have on the perceptions and attitudes of the Primorsky krai residents
towards the Ukrainians.
The political events we are referring to in this paper are known as the Ukrainian
revolution or the Euromaidan Revolution. Itisa series of violent and dramatic events in Kiev,
which took placein February 2014. They were followed by the impeachment of the thenPresident of Ukraine,the formation of a new government, and a severe civil unrest.
In order to find out whether the change of attitudes towards the Ukrainians took place
we have conducted our research from a comparative perspective. We used the findings of the
survey carried out earlier, in September 2013 and during the events of May 2014. Eighty
Russian people of different sex, age and social status took part in this experiment during these
periods. In both surveys they were required to answer the same questions: 1) What
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associations have you got at the mention of the word ―Ukrainian‖? and 2) What specific
features of this nation‘s representatives would you like to identify? Since the questions did not
have any possible answers, the respondents gave several associations on the same question.
Therefore, their total number exceeds the number of participants.
In order to systematize the material, we divided the respondents‘ answers into several
subject groups. They are food, appearance and clothes, geographical features, specific
behavioural habits, personalities, language, occupation, spiritual life (religion), politics,
emotional perception, etc.
The most representative subject group is ―food‖ (52 and 103 responses) which
includes names of the traditional Ukrainian beverages and dishes. They are (Ukrainian
alcoholic beverage), lard, borsh (a red-beet soup) and galushki (dumplings made of dough
then boiled in water, milk or broth). However, in spite of a small variety of this group items
the associations lard and gorilka are turned out to be the most common answers during either
the first survey or the second one (20%/14% and 13%/6% correspondingly) that witnesses to
the presence of fixed stereotypes among the residents of our region.
As for appearance, as in case of food, the surveys have yielded quite similar results.
The majority of respondents mentioned forelock, moustache, plump and beautiful girls. It is
noteworthy, that the participants of the second survey associate the Ukrainians with their
appearance or clothes more frequently than in the first survey (26 and 7 responses
accordingly). This might be due to the abundance of information in mass media concerning
the national cultural peculiarities of Ukraine.
The group "Geographical features" which predominantly comprises the names of
the Ukrainian cities has only one coincidence - Kiev. The rest of the associations appeared
only during the second survey (Slavyansk, Odessa, the Crimea), clearly, are directly
connected with the political events occurred in these cities. Thus, we can argue that new
ethnonyms associations are being directly shaped by the current political events in Ukraine.
The category “Behavioural habits/character” (27 and 62 responses) represents the
most typical, in the view of the respondents, traits of the Ukrainians‘ character (positive –
hardworking, hospitable, cheerful, good-natured, enterprising, cooking well etc. and negative
- greedy, sly, talkative etc.). As the results of the two surveys show, there is the predominance
of such qualities as hardworking (11), hospitable (12), as well as greedy (11) and sly (9).
However, during the first survey, there were about the same number of positive and negative
traits, but as for the second one, there is a domination of the positive characteristics over the
negative ones (47 и 15). What is more, there is a new association in the second case, namely:
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"gullible, naive people who take for granted all that they are presented, unable to accept the
reality." This statement, in our opinion, is natural since the majority of Russian people hold to
a belief that the Ukrainians are in the dark about the real state of affairs in their country as
their authorities and the mass media as well, misrepresent the facts. Therefore, this subject
also contains the associations relating to the political environment.
With regard to the subject group "Personalities" (4 and 19 responses), there are also
some changes here. Apart from the former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko already
mentioned in the first survey the second questionnaire resulted in emergence of such
associations as Y.Tymoshenko, V.Yanukovych and V.Klitchko. We believe that it is quite
predictable, since in the light of current political events one can often hear the names of these
Ukrainian politicians. Besides, Russian residents of Primorsky krai named T. Shevchenko and
N. Gogol, in particular his literary character Taras Bulba. It is interesting to note that earlier
in this group there were only single instances, and now the association T.Shevchenko is even
among the top ten most popular respondents‘ perceptions of the Ukrainians.
As for the category "Language», nothing virtually changed. Respondents in both
cases indicate a funny talk or accent of the representatives of this nationality (3% and 1.4%,
respectively).
The group "Occupation" (10 and 55 responses) in both surveys is mainly represented
by such associations as sing songs (3.5% and 6%), dance (gopak) (6% and 2.6%), and defend
their homeland (0.9 % and 2%) In the second survey, the participants also mentioned such
characteristics as agriculture (8) "pig farming" (3) and "Cossacks" (5). As we can may see,
among the most common associations represented in both cases are such occupations as
singing and dancing, which currently includes agriculture. However, one cannot but mention
that during the second survey the number of the respondents who associated their perceptions
of the Ukrainians with the people defending their homeland has substantially increased (2 and
8 respectively). What is more, they do more than state this item, they appeal for defence and
fight against the national traitors ("must protect their homeland‖).
As to the spiritual life of the Ukrainians, nowadays, as the second survey results
show, the respondents do not have any associations relating to this group in comparison
with the findings of the first survey. (Earlier one of the participants gave the answer
"believe in God").
In the group related to politics there is an evident predominance of the associations
from the second survey (9 and 54 responses). Most participants associate the ethnonym
"Ukrainian" with military operations. They are "war", "civil war", "conflict", “revolution”,
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"voluntary military forces" (5%). Two respondents at the mention of this ethnonym even have
an image of the Ukrainian man, ―riding on a tank‖. The next common items are as follows
"Maidan" (2%), "NATO, the European Union" (1%), the "politics" (1%) and «joining of the
Crimea» (1%). In addition, some respondents (1%) associate the ethnonym "Ukrainian" with
the traditional colour of the Ukrainian flag – yellow and blue. We suppose that it is not
surprising, since in the light of the recent political events the pictures of this national symbol
can be easily seen in mass media. As for the first survey associations, here we come across
only two items "gas" and "Orange Revolution", which are also present in the results of the
second survey. In this case, it is noteworthy that the word "gas" is usually used in the wordcombination with the verb ―to steal‖.
As for the group "the emotional perception" (12 and 75 responses), there is a great
amount of responses that stand for the close relationship between the Ukrainians and Russian
people ("brother people", "fellow countrymen", "relatives") either in the first survey or in the
second one (7% and 4% correspondingly), but in general the things look depressing. Thus, in
the second survey of participants‘ opinion, the ethnonym "Ukrainian" is currently associated
with violence, bloodshed (1.4%), evil (1%), starvation and poverty (1%). A number of
respondents (2%) mention such features as "hatred for the Russians", "ingratitude, the ability
to forget the historical friendly relationships with Russia." Some (1%) even express
―disappointment in their Ukrainian friends‖.
As we may see, many of these associations are directly related to the respondents‘
perception of the political situation in Ukraine. However, as we suppose, the majority of the
negative associations are primarily connected with the negative assessment of the Ukrainian
authorities‘ actions rather than with the Ukrainian nation as a whole. Thus, here are such
characteristics as "bad, deceitful government", "deceived people", "innocent people", "people
living in uneasy times", "survive in the genocide", "economic insecurity", etc.
With regard to the remaining associations (6 and 29 responses), we put them into
Miscellaneous group. According to our findings, the respondents of the first and second surveys
point out a similar characteristic -"crest" (Rus. khokhol) (4% and 2.3%, correspondingly). (As for
the first case, it is the only one association). Then follows such replies as "neighboring people"
(6), "people living in Ukraine" (3) "surnames ending with "ko" (2), etc. In addition, here is a
number of ethnonymic nicknames - «fascists "(2),"Banderovites" (2), as well as a neutral one -
"the Slavs"(4). Summarizing the results, it is reasonable to conclude that there are some
associations in this subject group that emerged under the influence of the current political events
in Ukraine, but their number is very small (0,8%).
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57
So, based on the results of the second survey, it is possible to describe a stereotyped
image of a true Ukrainian person in the views of some Russian residents of our region. Thus,
according to our findings, in accordance with our findings, a typical representative of this
ethnic group, is usually a cheerful and hospitable, but at the same time sly and greedy rosy-
cheeked ―khohol‖ of fat constitution with moustache and forelock, dressed in red wide
trousers and embroidered shirt, able to sing and dance gopak, drinking vodka and eating
dumplings and lard and capable to cook tasty borsh, but now forced to survive in the war.
In general, the study has identified 34 and 73 associations, the most common of them in
both cases are "lard" (20% and 14%) and "gorilka" (13% and 6% respectively), which stand for
the presence of the fixed stereotyped thinking among the Russian residents of our region. Then,
depending on the period of the survey, the lists of the most popular characteristics are different.
As for the first questionnaire, the next five leading associations are as follows "brothers /
relatives" (7%), "dance (gopak)" (6%), "I don’t know" (6%), "khohol" (4%), "gas" (6%), "greedy"
(6%). In the second survey, the similar positions were distributed among the following items:
"war" (5%), "brothers/relatives” (5%), "sing well" (4%).
Drawing on our data, we can conclude that in addition to the traditional
components of the Ukrainian cuisine (lard, gorilka) the respondents also highlight in both
cases the typical occupations inherent to the representatives of this ethnic group (singing,
dancing), indicate the historically established relationships between Russian and
Ukrainian people. Moreover, it is noteworthy that during the first survey a large number
of the participants could not think out the association with the Ukrainians (8). Therefore,
it gives us grounds to suppose that earlier some of them did not have any established
perceptions of the representatives of this nationality.
In general, a comparative analysis of the findings of two surveys conducted before and
during the political events in Ukraine shows that the ethnonym "Ukrainian" in both cases
mainly contains the information on such characteristics as appearance, speech peculiarities,
food, occupation, etc. Therefore, it evokes in our mind fixed stereotyped ideas on this ethnic
group, which in our case, as a rule, are not negative. However, it is noteworthy that the
emotive component of the ethnonym "Ukrainian" has suffered significant changes over the
period (September 2013 – May 2014). The respondents have become more active in using
expressive vocabulary, which as a rule have opposite connotations. Therefore, we may see
such associations as "scum", "murderer" and "poor people", etc. Besides, almost every
subject group responses of the second survey have items directly related to the political
environment in Ukraine and we think that it is good evidence of the impact of the changing
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situation in international relations on people's ideas. Nevertheless, according to the percentage
of the associations connected with the political aspect (29%) and other characteristics (71%),
we tend to conclude that this impact is quite powerful.
References:
1. Evremova, T.F. Russian Modern Explanatory Dictionary [Electronic resource]. –
URL:http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/efremova/270817/%D0%AD%D1%82%D0%BD%D0
%BE%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BC (reference date: 24.11.2014).
2. 75th anniversary of the Primorsky krai foundation (1938) [Electronic resource]. – URL:
http://pgpb.ru/almanac/event/day/145/ (reference date: 24.11.2014).
3. Sociology: Encyclopedia / Comp. by А.А. Gritsanov, V.L. Abushenko, G.M. Evelkin,
G.N. Sokolova, О.V. Tereshchenko. — Minsk, 2003. — 1312 p.
УДК 811.111
ACTION VS. EMOTION: GENDER ASPECTS OF MENACIVE PATTERNS
Pshenichnikova A.B.
Far Eastern Federal University,
Vladivostok, Russia,
e-mail: moibimulya@mail.ru
Summary:
A menacive is an act of verbal aggression aimed at changing Hearer‘s course of action
through a prospect of intentional harm.
Sociopragmatic factor gender influences Speaker‘s menacive patterns. The paper
focuses on verbal means employed by male and female Speakers for formulating an explicit
threat and intensifying it; for making an implicit threat and lessening its effect on Hearer. We
analyze in what communicative situations a menacive is commonly found in each gender
group, what menacive patterns are favored by men and women, and to what extent gender
may define Speaker‘s choice of menacives.
Keywords: gender differentiation, speech patterns, menacive, domestic discourse.
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59
The paper deals with sociolinguistic aspects of verbalizing menacives, or threats.
Due to their hybrid nature menacives occupy a rather controversial position in the
system of speech acts. Traditionally a menacive implies a commitment to future actions,
and formally it is very close to commissive speech acts such as a promise, а vow, an oath,
etc. The main difference is the quality of a future action – a regular threat implies some
kind of damage to Hearer (physical, psychological, financial, social), and therefore Hearer
is not interested in a threat being carried out [5]. Unlike a threat, a promise usually
focuses on Speaker‘s intention to act in Hearer‘s favor, and it is not supposed to produce a
demoralizing effect.
The main purpose of a menacive is taking control over Hearer‘s actions, so by their
communicative intention menacives are very close to directive speech acts such as an order or
a command [1]. A successful threat is the one that does not have to be carried out, and in
many instances it is impossible for Speaker to ensure that a threat will ever be realized. A
menacive may be regarded as a functional analogue of a directive, though menacives are
never expressed by imperative forms [4].
Emotional coloring of a menacive makes it rather close to expressive speech acts such
as a reproach, a complaint, etc. Speaker‘s emotional attitude to Hearer‘s activity is usually
reflected in syntax and vocabulary of a threat. The study material shows that menacives are
very often verbalized in exclamatory sentences, and menacive vocabulary usually conveys a
distinct negative evaluation of a fact or an action.
On the whole menacives occupy intermediary position between commissives,
directives, and expressives. Speaker‘s displeasure at something leads to a promise to cause
harm to Hearer, inducing a change in Hearer‘s course of action. Thus, a threat may be defined
as Speaker‘s spoken or written intention to carry out an action that will cause harm to Hearer
in order to influence Hearer‘s volition. To be correctly recognized as a threat, an utterance
should be put in a definite communicative context; if taken out of the context, a typical
pattern such as I (Subject) will do X (Action) to you (Object) may be interpreted as a promise,
a warning, a threat, a prophecy.
However communicative context is not the only factor of importance that influences
Speaker‘s choice of verbal means of expressing a threat. Sociolinguistic studies show that
personal speech patterns may depend partly on such general pragmatic factors as
communicants‘ cultural background, social rank, position, gender, age, etc [2, 7, 8]. The
present paper focuses on gender differentiation of menacive patterns.
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The term gender denotes stereotypic qualities and conventional norms of behavior,
ascribed to men and women by culture and society on the basis of their biological differentiation
[3]. Men and women are believed to have different communicative priorities which are often
described by such oppositions as status vs. support, independence vs. intimacy, information vs.
feelings, conflict vs. compromise [6]. In traditional terms masculine style is called communicative
competition and feminine style – communicative cooperation [9].
Analysis of menacive patterns shows that linguistic means of verbalizing a menacive
are subject to mild gender-related variation. Male and female communicants have pretty
similar ideas of a general threat pattern. For both gender groups the main pattern is a direct
threat which is verbalized in either a declarative or an exclamatory sentence, with the finite
verb in the indicative mood and future simple tense form.
[male character] I’ll break your arm.
[female character] I’ll squash your nose! And pull your greasy hair!
In case of an exclamatory sentence, a threat acquires additional emotional coloring as
inducement gets tied in with irritation, resentment, fury, etc. The material shows that
exclamations are more often used by female characters while male ones prefer less emotional
declarative threats.
Representatives of both gender groups willingly employ invectives in their speech.
[male character] Bastard! I will kill you with my bare hands.
[female character] Slimy bastard! I’ll tear your face off.
Female characters are more inventive than male ones in the use of threatening
invectives, but they do not utilize them as often as their males counterparts do. In our material
the ratio is about one invective for women to one and a half invectives for men.
Both male and female communicants resort to a direct threat; threats of this type make
more than three quarters of all the threats under study (153 out of 200). Gender-related
differences are found in the lexical component of a threat. Men‘s threats typically employ
verbs denoting total extermination or severe physical damage, semantically related to to kill,
to beat, to attack. The verbs may be stylistic variations (to chew smb’s ass out) or they may
name a particular way of inflicting physical damage (to strangle, to fire, to cut to pieces).
Female threats usually offer a prospect of unspecified or minor physical damage, or even
more often a prospect of psychological or emotional discomfort and material losses (to hurt,
to punish, to dement, to impoverish). Female communicants are not prone to extreme
violence, possibly because they are physically less able. Male communicants have no such
reservation, and for most part they employ threats of harmful physical actions.
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