Vol. 13 No. 1-2 (17) (2017)

Dystopia is a narrative form of fiction in general and of science fiction in particular. Using elements of science fiction discourse like time travel, space flight, advanced technologies, virtual reality, genetic engineering, etc. – dystopian narrative depicts future fictive societies presenting in peculiar prose style a future in which humanity has fallen into destruction, ruin and decline, in which human life and nature are wildly abused, exploited and destroyed, in which a totalitarian, highly centralized, and, therefore, oppressive social organization sacrifices individual expression, freedom of choice and idiosyncrasy of the society and its members. It is such critical and creative reflections of science fiction dystopian narrative that are focused on in the present case study with the aim of bringing out certain properties in terms of narrative types and devices, figurative discourse and cognitive notions through which science fiction dystopia expresses and conveys its overarching message, i.e. the warning to stop before it is too late to the reader.

The syndetic or conjunctional analytical word-formation structures with noun component are very productive in the Armenian and English languages from the point of view of forming new words. The paper is devoted to the comparison and contrast of the structural, grammatical and semantic peculiarities of the syndetic (conjunctional) analytical word-formation structures in Armenian and English. In Armenian they are mainly formed with the help of the conjunction “ու”, rarely with the conjunction “և”. In English these units are generally formed with the help of the conjunction “and” and belong to the type of the so-called phrase compounds. Besides the conjunctional compounds, phrasal compounds also include the so called syntactic compounds which resemble segments of speech corresponding to the syntactic and word order rules of the English language, e.g. Jack-of-all-trades “a person who can do many different kinds of work”, lily-of the-valley “a European plant of the lily family”; this type does not have its typological equivalent in Armenian. The examples of syndetic analytical structures provided in this paper are mainly taken from English and Armenian dictionaries.

The paper attempts at presenting the author’s ironical attitude in the allegorical novel “Animal farm” written by G. Orwell. Here we posit the idea that the author’s ironical attitude can be embodied by personification, a figure of speech, which makes inanimate objects, animal characters or abstract ideas seem just like people by giving them human traits. The article also clarifies the role of context in defining the title-text correlation, which is best marked by the superiority of pigs ruling the farm instead of people. Hence, the former Manor Farm comes to be named Animal farm, postulating the abilities and strength of animals.

Figures of speech are imaginative tools in both literature and ordinary communication used for explaining speech beyond its usual usage. Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847) – the only novel written by this writer - differs from many other literary works due to its style, its particular use of language and figures of speech. The literary tool and figure of speech we have illustrated in the present paper is the simile. Emily Brontë uses simile as a means both to creatively and purposefully convey her thoughts and ideas to the reader and to impact him/her. The literary analysis shows that the simile is also an excellent device for the author to make an unusual thing seem more familiar or a familiar thing seem more unique. Through simile the reader may imagine vividly the fictive world of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.

Approximation is a semantic process when occasional modification of meaning, i.e. partial actualization of a linguistic unit is carried out. This process takes place when one of the elements of a situation, an object, an action or a quality mentioned is questionable as to its correspondence to the referent. As a result of this the latter is denoted approximately, not precisely by the speaker or writer.

The paper examines different types of approximators (approximators proper, minimizers, compromizers) in order to assess the semantic relations between certain adverbs that function as approximators. The analysis shows that the adverbs used as approximators are not identical and cannot be called absolute synonyms. Vocabulary acquisition is not an easy job for foreign language learners. It becomes even more challenging when it comes to the learning of synonyms. Though synonymous approximators share some of the meanings, they are not interchangeable in all contexts. Furthermore, the analysis comes to prove that the occurrence of approximators across various registers differs.

The present article is aimed at presenting an analysis of the pragmatic functions of small talk in the light of general principles of linguistics in order to explore phatic communication (a verbal communication between a speaker and a hearer to maintain social relationship) between the interlocutors in English and Armenian languages. The investigation of the cases under study shows that the functions and ways of expressing small talk have not only gender differences, but also cultural peculiarities. Phatic utterances may also serve as markers of interlocutors’ gender, education, age and social status. In general, the use and avoidance of phatic cues in conversations affect the contact and relations between the interlocutors.

The paper discusses reflexive pronoun deviations in modern English in the domain of social media. The mentioned deviations are the result of intensive contact of English with other languages. The advent of digital technologies make a platform for millions of speakers all over the world to communicate in any language they want. The latter has eventually triggered the convergence of many grammatical structures and lexical items of different languages. As a result, new deviations and misspellings emerge in different platforms of social media. Among these alterations, the actively used reflexive pronoun misspellings and variations have a unique role. These pronominal variations help us to evaluate the current state of reflexive pronouns and lead us to foresee the possible future change of English.

Languages can be viewed as metaphorical due to their linguistic and cultural background. The connection between the image and abstract meaning can be understood in cognitive terms using a particular concept of metaphor. The notion “metaphor” can be applied to any linguistic unit used in an indirect sense. In contrast to previous theories of metaphor, conceptual metaphor theory proposes that metaphor is not just a language unit but a fundamental part of human thought. The aim of this paper is to bring forward different aspects of theoretical studies on this important issue and show how new realities in politics automatically cause metaphorization of language.

The most widespread distinction made between emotions seems to be their being positive or negative; however, there is much more to their linguistic study. Joy is seen as one of the primary emotions and is thus indispensable as an example of a positive emotion, which can open the doors to the understanding of emotives in the English language and their universal and specific aspects. The paper aims at a better understanding of both universal and specific semantic and cognitive aspects of the given emotion which in linguistics is studied under the term of an emotive. To achieve this purpose the methods of corpus analysis and metaphor analysis have been applied. The study has revealed that positive denotation and almost similar levels of intensity are the universal semantic and cognitive features of the emotive joy.

In this paper, an attempt has been made to show the indispensable role of prosody in the language of drama. Prosody as a reliable means of identifying the meaning in belles-lettres style (drama) is important not only in terms of articulation but also perception and cognition as speech is a bilateral process. As compared with other substyles of the belles-lettres style, the dialogue in drama occupies a leading place. The author’s remarks contribute to the correct choice of prosody enabling us to reveal the author’s intent. Though represented in the form of dialogues, the language of drama is in no way the exact reproduction of the norms of colloquial language. The playwright will reproduce actual conversation only as far as the norms of the written language will allow. Thus, the language of drama is marked by stylization of colloquial speech preserving the modus of literary language.

The purpose of this study is the linguistic interpretation of President Donald Trump’s inaugural speech during the ceremony held in Washington D. C. on January 21, 2017. The two functions of speech which will be analyzed here are the grammatical and textual functions. The findings reveal two main themes: one is the criticism of the economic situation of America during the last years and the other is a promise and a vow for a change towards a better future where the economy will flourish and there will be prosperity. The study shows the president’s determination to make America strong again, safe again, and prosperous again.

The paper argues that linguistic forms per se do not have any positive or negative meaning and that one form is not better than the other. However, this is not fully perceived outside the narrow linguistic community. Very often it is demonstrated by the apparent stigmatization of non-native accents by native speakers of the language. This phenomenon seems true in reference to many communities and languages. Different sociolinguists have conducted research to prove the ungrounded nature of linguistic partiality. They try to account for the listeners’ attitudes towards non-native speech by incorporating the model of dual cognitive processing methods, namely implicit and explicit. They believe that attitudes are formed by the interaction of these two cognitive mechanisms. The negative attitude can be cured by application of more explicit cognitive techniques.

The importance of historicity in the construction of national identity is undeniable.

Proverbs and sayings, which are a link with the past, are used by speakers for a variety of purposes. Folklore, literary criticism, stylistics are the main fields interested in the study of proverbs, but scholars from a variety of fields have found ways to profitably incorporate the study of proverbs. The development and maintenance of proverbs and sayings, which is a time-consuming process, cannot go unaffected by inner and outer factors. The aim of this article is to show that proverbs and sayings, formed and established in the course of the development of the nation and its culture, can provide a reasonable basis for establishing a nation’s identity and wisdom (Usman et al 2013: 47-58). It is beyond doubt that in the era of globalization national identity issues necessarily find their multilateral consideration and objective evaluation by scholars of vast assortment of specialties across scientific disciplines.

This paper is aimed to look into the concept քար/stone, to reveal its meaning capacity, to illustrate its characteristics. The parallel study of the concept in four languages enables a cross-cultural perspective into the phenomenon which is essentially linguocultural. The systematization of the phraseology through cognitive models/frames designed on the basis of the idea realized by the concept and their analysis reveal the common and specific features of this concept across cultures.

The aim of the present article is to provide an overview of the main difficulties encountered by legal translators, and work out some practical solutions so that the translator could provide an adequate translation in compliance with the norms of the target legal system. Legal translations raise very complex theoretical and practical problems and, therefore, an interdisciplinary comparative approach to the two legal systems and languages should be manifested by specialized translators. This study demonstrates that despite the common assumption that legal translations are literal, they may be translated differently depending on the context and aim of its translation. When translating a legal document, one is thus faced with the challenge of providing a translation that makes a legal as well as linguistic sense. Consequently, a translator can provide an accurate translation only if he/she has an understanding of the SL and the TL legal systems.

This article is devoted to the study of those concepts of masculinity and femininity that are fixed and replicated in literature. These gender stereotypes are absorbed during early childhood, when the process of gender identification takes place. We view gender identity as the process through which children acquire the characteristics, attitudes, values and behaviors that society defines as appropriate to their gender and which lead them to adopt roles and responsibilities that are prescribed to men and women. A number of stories by H.Ch. Andersen and W. Disney have been analyzed in order to determine how gender roles and sex frequency appear in children’s literaturе. It should also be noted that no theoretical reasoning and generalizations are valid unless they are corroborated and tested empirically. That is why the use of quantitative and qualitative methods of sociology in the study of gender relations is more than obvious.

The present paper aims to reveal the standpoint of the Turkish scholar Taner Akçam in the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide. The linguistic approach to the study of his considerations of the question, as well as his firm belief concerning the responsibility of the present Turkish government for the shameful actions of their predecessors helps to bring out interesting facts and implied meanings.

The findings of our linguocognitive research on a sound historical perspective establish a number of undeniable facts which will elucidate the situation of Armenians in Western Armenia in the pre-genocidal period.

The linguistic material of Noel and Harold Buxtons’ accounts for the British Parliament, Travel and Politics in Armenia, published in 1914, has been studied with the application of a set of methods and approaches: the cognitive method of investigation combined with those of linguostylistic and linguocultural analyses on the extralinguistic basis and the method of purposive sampling. The book is an undeniable source of eyewitness facts which confirm the existing prerequisites for the 1915 Armenian genocide.