Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philology
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Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philology https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Patterns of choosins the means of translating words of category of state from Russian into French
The article reviews practice, features and patterns of choosing the means of translating words of the category of state from Russian into French, based on the classical translation of L. N. Tolstoy’s novel «Anna Karenina». The study establishes a typology of translation means for Russian words of the category of state into French. The key translation strategies have been identified including the usage of impersonal constructions with the pronoun il, the usage of verbs, adverbs, nouns, or adjectives, as well as application of grammatical sentence transformation. The revealed patterns governing the choice of a specific strategy show their dependence on the semantic group of the predicative word and its contextual milieu.
Vazhnik S. A. National syntactic idiomatics: Belarusian language etiquette
In pursuit of modernity: on the turn in the new Chinese poetry
The research conducts a panoramic review of the history of Chinese poetry of the 20th–21st century, identifying the fundamental patterns in the development of lyrical poetry in the vernacular Chinese language baihua. It concludes that Chinese poets on the path to modernisation primarily employed Western and (or) Soviet forms of artistic expression, and this course of westernisation in poetry was only halted at the beginning of the 21st century. Through the example of poems by Wang Ao, Xiao Shui, and Chen Xianfa, the study demonstrates the rediscovery by Chinese authors of their own traditional culture, as well as a return to authentic elements of Chinese civilisation at the formal, thematic, imagistic, and linguistic levels.
Old Belarusian encyclicals of the 16 th–17 th centuries: evolution of church religious epistolary communications
The article examines the formula and linguistic features of ten Old Belarusian encyclicals from the spaces of Slavia Orthodoxa and Slavia Uniata of the 16 th–17 th centuries. Obligatory and optional elements of the formula are identified, means of their verbalisation are described, taking into account diachronic changes, phenomena of discourse interaction within the text are demonstrated. Features inherited from Old Russian letters and unchanged throughout the selected period, as well as new features reflecting language contacts, are identified. It is revealed that the majority of letters were written in Old Belarusian with varying degrees of polonisation and with the infiltration of Church Slavonic elements. Three texts by representatives of Slavia Orthodoxa from the late 16 th century were written in a hybrid Church Slavonic – Old Belarusian language with a significant predominance of Church Slavonic means at different levels. Thus, epistolary writing serves as a sphere for preserving communications in Church Slavonic in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Savasciuk M. L. Polysemy of Anglicisms in the Bela­ru­sian language (with practice-oriented tasks)
Archimandrite Feodor (Bukharev) as a literary critic
The article examines the works of Russian writers N. V. Gogol, F. M. Dostoevsky, I. S. Turgenev, N. G. Chernyshevsky in the assessment of Archimandrite Feodor (Bukharev) on the material of his literary-critical articles. The features of literary criticism of Father Feodor as a spiritual writer (intentions, ideological and genre specificity, tools) as well as an analysis of the problems of works of art from the point of view of theological ideas significant for the Archimandrite in the context of the socio-historical and cultural realities of his time are revealed.
Semantics of names of the ancient Arabic pantheon representatives
Within the framework of the research, a linguocultural analysis of the names from the pre-Islamic Arabic pantheon has been conducted. The source material for the study includes texts of pre-Islamic poetry, as well as information from the work «The book of idols» by Hisham ibn al-Kalbi (8th century). The translation of fragments of pre-Islamic poems featuring theonyms, along with a commentary on them, is presented. The sources provide only the names of the deities without explanations or detailed descriptions of the characters. Based on the available sources, despite their limitations, it can be concluded that during the pre-Islamic period, Arabs had a relatively extensive but uncodified pantheon. The linguocultural approach helps clarify the semantics of the figures in the ancient Arabic pantheon.
Pragmatic and communicative specifics of intolerant Internet discourse, determined by the semantics of wealth (based on the German language)
This article presents a nomenclature of communicative strategies and speech tactics of intolerant discourse that are actualised within the computer-mediated communication. The factual material of the study are German-language online comments, published on the videohosting YouTube from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024, and containing verbalisation of hostility conditioned by the wealth semantics. The aim of the study is to establish the specifics of the pragmatic and communicative organisation of intolerant online discourse in German, conditioned by the semantics of material wealth. The study found the most common speech tactics of hate speech towards the named group in the German-language personal online-discourse. The results obtained are valuable in identifying the characteristics of hostility verbalisation toward a social group identified not by an innate, but by an acquired characteristic. Practical application of these findings is possible in the context of linguodidactics, linguistic expertise, and at all levels of the educational process, as well as for ensuring public information security and constructive, tolerant interactions online.
Put in a good word for the letter ё: collisions of the state Belarusian-Russian bilingualism
Speech model «constructions with modal lexemes need, must» as a way of indirect expression of motivation in literary text
It is demonstrated that the frequency of use the speech model of indirect expression of motivation «constructions with lexemes need, must» in literary text, as well as the choice of specific incentive meanings and methods of speech formulation are influenced by the following factors: the theme of the text, the writer’s poetics, the type of depicted linguistic personalities, their social affiliation, the historical era of writing the work, which determined the social system of values, the situation in the political, cultural and economic spheres of life. The specific representation of this speech model in Russian prose of the 20th and 21st centuries is revealed.
Computer-mediated discourse as a term and speech activity
The term «discourse» has a wide set of overlapping meanings. One way or another, discourse is relevant not only in linguistics, sociology and philosophy, but also in informatics, web science, computer science and other scientific «applications» of communication. The adjustment of related term system demands the creation of a holistic picture of such an intangible aspect of communication as speech activity, intangible in the interdisciplinary sense, too. Moreover, the discursive paradigm absorbs step by step new appropriate conceptualisation – the informational one. In current communication a distinctive semiotic level is provided with artificial languages, forming a seemingly self-acting computer discourse. There even could be a reason to identify and describe it as artificial polycode discourse. But, generally, artificial languages – ill-fitted for the contextual semantics of natural language – do not have a full-featured set of communicational tools, as evidenced, for example, in machine translation practice. With that, the basic semiotic level – binary coding – does not represent any meaningful semantics beside the oppositional one. A computer initially needs more and more established artificial languages as mediums of natural-language semantics for binary coding, particularly. Finally, additional semiotic interfaces begin to ignore the semantics of the natural languages in which they have initially assisted. Then, there is another problem: the lack of the complete codification of speech practice, in communication of any kind. This is a general linguistic problem, which is a strong motive for the development of the «informationality» of meta-descriptions. Informational language, if invented, needs to adopt huge amounts of natural-language semantics via the low interpretational capacities of computer. In the meantime, the study of speech practice, mediated by computers, requires special attention to the appropriate terminological and conceptual interpretation. From the point of view of linguistics, «computer-mediated discourse» is quite correct term for characteristics of communication that occurs on the Internet and on separate computing devices. So, computer-mediated discourse is a speech activity in the communication mediated by computers. It is more precise than artificial-language discourse and computer discourse, for example. At least, it preserves the interdisciplinary nature of the denoted significate.
«Motive of joy» in Old Belarusian and Middle Russian letters: explicit and implicit in the form of epistolary texts
Based on the description of the structure, semantics and functioning of set expressions verbalising the epistolary «motive of joy» in 46 Old Belarusian (1440 –1575) and 50 Middle Russian (1413 –1680s) sources, the article addresses the role of individual genre formulas in the textual organisation of letters and of the presence of implied elements in individual letter forms. Three types of the formulas, which explicate the «motive of joy» and which are fixed in both corpora of sources since the middle 15th century, have been revealed. The textual positions of the formulas are analysed. The phenomenon of semantic implicatures, i. e. the fragments of etiquette content to which the set expressions used in a particular letter refer, is substantiated. The rationale to attribute the «formula of joy» used in the text position after the greeting and (or) indication of the addressee (both communicants) to the semantic block «Comments on receiving the addressee’s letter» is proposed. In relation to the methods of verbalising the «motive of joy», a high degree of similarity of the compared epistolary traditions has been revealed.
Understanding the phenomenon «image» in the humanities
The issue of analysing the concept «image», which is ambiguously interpreted in linguoculturology, is considered. An analytical review of the most significant studies dedicated to this phenomenon is conducted. The ontology of its development is described. The search for the most relevant definitions of the term «image» is carried out. The substantive and structural components of this concept are analysed, and its main characteristics are identified and revealed (including from the perspective of its representation in Russian-language linguoculture). The purposeful nature of image modelling, which implies a selective approach to defining the qualities necessary to achieve specific communicative tasks and a reliance on the potential audience, is emphasised. It is established that the primary function of the phenomenon «image» is communicative function.
Vectors of research practice in the field of «konisskovedenie» at the present stage
The main directions of modern research practice concerning the life, activities and creativity in the East Slavic, primarily Belarusian, lands of Georgy Konissky, Archbishop of Mogilev and Belarus, one of the outstanding figures of the Enlightenment era, are analysed. It is noted that the interest of modern secular and ecclesiastical scientists is largely focused on the historical role of Saint Georgy in defending the rights of Orthodox Christians of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to freedom of worship in the second half of the 18th century, as well as in the possibility of the return of Belarusian Uniates to Orthodoxy. It is pointed out that, from a philological perspective, the textual heritage of Georgy Konissky remains little studied due to the inaccessibility of texts, which are bibliographical rarities. Some researchers examine the linguistic composition of the Archbishop’s works, which include, alongside common Russian vocabulary, elements of Ukrainian, Belarusian and Polish languages.
Svetlana Yakovlevna Goncharova-Grabovskaya
Intermedial aesthetics in Nigerian literature in English (based on the ekphrastic novels of B. Okri)
The article examines the intermedial aesthetics in the novels «In Arcadia» and «The age of magic» by the British-Nigerian writer B. Okri. The typology of intermedial phenomena by I. Rajewsky is examined, and the application of the theory of intermediality within the framework of postcolonial studies is justified. Special emphasis is placed onrevealing ways of interaction between text and elements of visual arts (such as painting and cinema) in the diegesis of the dilogy. The distinctive features of B. Okri’s ekphrastic narrative are identified. The peculiarities of inclusion of intermedial references in dilogy are established according to the object of reference: specific artifact (N. Poussin’s painting «Et in Arcadia Ego»), medial subsystem (the shokumentary genre) and elements of entire semiotic systems (painting, cinema, and news media). The study of intermedial connections in the works of B. Okri opens a new perspective on the problem of narrative hybridisation and contributes to bringing intermedial and postcolonial discourses together.
Genre modifications of historical and biographical fiction about W. Shakespeare in 21st century Anglophone literatures
The article deals with the specifics of historical and biographical fiction about W. Shakespeare in 21st century Anglophone literatures. The reasons for the classic’s mythologisation in the historical perspective and the universal features of his image reception in various national literatures (American, Australian, Canadian, English, Irish, Scottish) are distinguished on the example of chosen texts. The modifications of the novels about the bard and their genre-forming features are identified. The relevance of the topic and the theoretical significance of the results are due to the need to systematise the forms of documentary fiction and to determine the most frequent precedent texts in order to develop strategies for the adequate translation of novels about the playwright.
Metanarrative reflection on life plot structure in English and Russian biographical narrative
The object of the given study is metanarrative-level lexical markers that conceptualise key structural components of a life plot. The author seeks to identify both general and culture-specific characteristics of verbal representation of plot structure within biography, to determine the scope of lexical-semantic means, and to describe the nature of the metaphorisation of plot structure metamarkers. For the first time, a comparative analysis of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the most frequent English and Russian metanarrative plot structure markers is undertaken, as well as the mechanisms of verbal representation of events in different narrative traditions are revealed. The value of the findings lies in clarifying cross-linguistic patterns and culture-bound components of narrative composition, which can be applied in linguistic and philological text analysis, cross-cultural communication, and translation theory.
Contractual discourse as the system of speech interaction
The article deals with the analysis of the contractual discourse in which its parties interact by coordinating their communicative actions. It proves the integration of the systemic and interactive approaches to the study of contractual discourse on the common theoretical and methodological functional basis. The article focuses on the socio-cultural specifics of the communicative actions in the Russian and English contracts based on the denotative structure of their fragments that reflects the links among the content elements.
Linguistic and textological analysis of the biblical concept «teshuqa» (תְּשׁוּקָה) in the context of the patristic tradition: the conception of gender equality
Linguistic and textological analysis of the biblical concept «teshuqa» (hebr. תְּשׁוּקָה) is conducted within the context of the patristic tradition. The etymology, semantics and contextual usage of this Hebrew word in the Old Testament, particularly in verse 16 of chapter 3 and verse 7 of chapter 4 of the Genesis, verse 10 of chapter 7 of the Song of Songs, are examined. Its rendering in the Synodal Bible translation and in the modern Russian translations, as well as in the Bible translations into Greek (the Septuagint) and Latin (the Vulgate) is compared. The main mechanisms of semantic transformation of the concept «teshuqa» in these languages are identified. It is demonstrated how they have influenced theological interpretations. Patterns of meaning transmission in biblical texts and their impact on exegesis are determined. The novelty of the work lies in the application of a comprehensive approach combining historical and philological, textological, comparative and linguistic methods, allowing a deeper understanding of the process of meaning change in religious terms within an intercultural context. The obtained results may be used for research in biblical studies, exegesis, ancient text translation, comparative lexicology and historical linguistics.
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philology https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Semiotics of computer-mediated communication: from text to image
This article is devoted to the linguistic interpretation of the functionality and dynamics of modern communication. Semiotic features of computer-mediated speech practice, the role of artificial languages in communication and prospects for their improvement are considered. The trend of computer-mediated communication (supplementing the text with figurative means) is identified and described. In the linguistic context, this trend confirms the effectiveness and perspectives of modelling communication. It is pointed out that the popularity of images and creolised forms of text indicates both a certain degree of exhaustion of the potential of artificial language tools in their current form, as well as the search for new resources.
Legend in Belarusian and Chinese folklore: theoretical and methodological aspects of genre identification and classification
From the perspective of Belarusian and Chinese aesthetic paradigms, the article examines the specifics of the legend genre, its historical poetics and dynamics of change, relationship with myth, classification. A conclusion is made about different strategies of integration and interaction of folklore genres within the framework of these cultural and historical conditions. The Belarusian tradition is characterised by a sequential change of narratives (the model myth - legend - fairy tale) towards a decrease in sacredness and an increase in the fictional nature of the narrative. In Chinese culture, mythological and legendary narratives coexist and have equal axiological and conceptual-discursive status. It is suggested that the genres of legend emerge sequentially (from mythological to historical and socio-utopian). The mythological legend actualises the plot, character and figurative structure of the myth in new conditions.
Linguistic interference and bilingualism: exploring code-switching, language shift and the role of metaphors in cross-linguistic communication
The article analyses aspects of the language contact theory and the phenomenon of bilingualism. The influence of linguistic interference on bilinguals and cross-cultural communication is discussed. The patterns of code-switching, language shift and language convergence are studied, and psychological and social factors of bilingual interaction are examined. Interference is considered at the phonological, grammatical and lexical levels. The role of metaphors in cross-linguistic communication, in particular in political discourse, is determined. The results of the study can contribute to the implementation of communication in heterogeneous conditions.
Sensory characteristics and referential standards in the metaphorical description of human eyes (based on Russian, English and Spanish languages)
The article analysed 803 metaphorical descriptions of human eyes in Russian, English and Spanish languages. Their common and national specific features are established. Sensory characteristics of eyes (color, size, shape, etc.) as well as denotative domains (plants, animals, people, artifacts, etc.), which serve as sources of referential standards in the metaphorical descriptions of human eyes, are identified. The probable causes for frequency variations of the sensory characteristics of eyes are formulated, and factors, influencing the selection and frequency of denotative domains, are identified.
Contractual discourse: the main genres, characteristics and functions
The key aspects of the study in modern legal linguistic studies of contractual discourse, which is widely used in different spheres of activity for the creation and realisation of law, are considered. The main genres of contractual discourse (contract, offer, acceptance and charter), regulating contractual relations in private and public-law spheres, are defined. Stereotypicality, objectivity of information presentation, graphic visibility, dialogicality, subjectivity, integrity, coherence and prescriptive modality are attributed to the features that allow revealing the genre and stylistic specificity of contractual discourse as a special type of institutional communication. The criteria for analysing these features are substantiated, and the peculiarities of their expression in documents, representing the main genres of contractual discourse, are described.
Private and official discourses in the structure of East Slavic diplomatic communications of the late 15th - early 16th century
The article deals with the issue of interaction of private and official discourses reflection in the linguistic, stylistic and compositional properties of East Slavic epistolary texts of the late Middle Ages, created by representatives of the ruling elites. The connection between the content, structural and stylistic features of the texts that form the corpus of correspondence between the Grand Duchess of Lithuania Helena Ivanovna with her relatives in 1495–1507 and the created tenor of discourse of epistolary dialogue, appropriate in the context of diplomatic communication, in which the letters were composed, is revealed. The linguistic means of expressing formulary elements of Helena Ivanovna’s and her correspondents’ letters are compared. The proper and appellative nominations of the addresser and addressee in the letters, personal pronouns of the singular and plural, indicating the communicants, are analysed. The syncretic genre nature of the studied letters and the typicality of this phenomenon for medieval written communication are shown.
Grand Duchess of Lithuania Helena Ivanovna
The linguacultural field «place» in the viconymy of Belarus and France
From the point of view of the linguacultural approach, 1075 nominations of objects of large rural settlements of the Viciebsk and Polack districts of the Viciebsk region of Belarus, as well as the departments of Bas-Rhin and Marne of the Greater Eastern Region of France were studied. The results of a comparative analysis of Russian and French viconyms are presented. Similarities and differences in the structure of the linguacultural field «place» in the viconymy of Belarus and France are established. The main thematic classes and subclasses of intra-rural nominations of objects form this linguacultural field in each national subsystem are determined. Common thematic classes of viconyms are revealed, which, depending on the quantitative composition, can be ranked in descending order as follows: viconyms motivated by nominations of physical and geographical features of the area, architectural landmarks, toponymic landmarks, viconymic landmarks, as well as spatial features of the area. The main cultural texts transmitted by these nominative units are highlighted. This research contributes to the preservation and promotion of national linguacultural identity.