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THE FUNCTIONAL DYNAMISM OF THE MODERN OSSETIAN VOCABULARY // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2019. Issue 4 (26). P. 39-47

The article deals with lexical processes that indicate the activation of the Ossetian vocabulary. The purpose of the article is to describe the functional dynamism of the lexical system of the modern Ossetian literary language. In the aspect of comparison with the vocabulary of modern Russian literary language. The work showed that functional shifts in the Ossetian language are manifested in the interaction of two different vectors of modern language dynamics: on the one hand, globalization, on the other hand, regionalization. The material of these observations reveals the features of modern Ossetian and Russian lexical dynamics. Russian language policy in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, along with the active influence of the Russian language on the Ossetian language, causes the emergence of a parallel, Ossetian-Russian, line of language contacts. This fact is objectively dictated by the very nature of the latter: it is well known that any long-term ethnic contact cannot be unilateral.

Keywords: functional dynamism, Ossetian language, minority language, language liberalization, language democratization, language contact, globalization, regionalization

Lexical and semantic oppositions of russian and ossetian dictionary units // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2023. Issue 2 (40). P. 79-89

The subject of this article is the lexical-semantic oppositions of the Russian and Ossetian languages. These oppositions are considered from the point of view of sememe semasiology, i.e., the meaning (sememe) is described as a certain integrity that goes beyond the details of its structure; accordingly, semantemes are analyzed, i.e., the composition of sememes of a lexeme functioning in Russian and Ossetian. The focus is on the value types. The article aims to study the most frequent oppositions of lexical semantics of words in Russian and Ossetian, which represent an active zone of interlingual interference that allows us to assert, on the one hand, the preservation of important national images of Ossetian culture and, on the other hand, the mental influence of Ossetians on the Russian culture of a given region. Explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language and translated Ossetian-Russian lexicographic reference works served as sources for the empirical data; data obtained through interviews with the inhabitants of Vladikavkaz were also used. The typology of lexical-semantic relations is represented by three main types of interlingual relations: equivalence, inclusion, and intersection. Special attention was paid to polysemic lexemes since they most convincingly show similar and differentiating sememes of the compared semantic structures. The priority of these sememes in the semantic structures of Ossetian lexemes in comparison with the corresponding Russian words, testifying to the preservation of important national images inherent in the Ossetian mentality, is affirmed. Thus, the denotative-conceptual apparatus and connotations of the Ossetian lexemes allow us to talk about the features of the worldview of the Ossetian people, which is actively manifested in the lexical-semantic comparison. The presented semantic oppositions reflect the social transformations due to the current tendency in modern society to form a Russian identity that implies separate, relatively autonomous constituents, for example, the identity of a national character. Accordingly, the study of lexicalsemantic oppositions between Russian and Ossetian vocabulary units seems to be relevant not only in linguistic but also in ideological terms, as they reflect the basic values of the population of a particular Russian region.

Keywords: оssetian language, semantic opposition, contrastive semantic analysis, sememe, semantemes, semantic equivalence, semantic inclusion, semantic overlap, national identity

Vectors of Vocabulary Dynamics in the Russian and Ossetian Languages // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2024. Issue 3 (45). P. 54-62

The topic of this article is lexical transformations as peculiar markers of the dynamics of modern language systems. However, in the context of the erasure of national differences, scholarly attention is focused on the process of regionalization, the relevance of which is ensured by its important role in intercultural communication: as a mechanism for the formation of national identity, regionalization is a kind of reaction to the negative challenges of globalization. The article aims to consider various manifestations of the dictionary updating process and compare modern Russian and Ossetian vocabulary in this respect. Russian explanatory dictionaries and translated Ossetian-Russian dictionaries were used as research material; information from a linguistic survey of a particular population group is undoubtedly relevant. The observations on the following vectors of the mentioned dynamics are presented: Neologization and internationalization of vocabulary; democratization and liberalization of vocabulary; the return of obsolete lexemes into active word use; and characteristic shifts in the structure of conceptual content motivated by the updating of denotations. The peculiarities of vocabulary changes in the Russian and Ossetian lexical systems are presented based on relevant observations. It is argued that within the processes of neologization and internationalization, the nature of the dynamics in these languages is generally identical, although the innovations in Ossetian vocabulary are more often two-dimensional (formal-semantic) in nature and “their occurrence is due to the resources of both Russian and, to a lesser extent, the Ossetian language itself...” (1, p. 730). Functional shifts manifest themselves in accordance with two multidirectional vectors: on the one hand, the influence of globalization and, on the other, the process of regionalization, which allows for a kind of preservation of ethnic identity. While the Russian linguistic taste is very hostile to the intensive liberalization and even criminalization of the modern lexical stock, the modern Ossetian language, on the contrary, shows the traditional norms of linguistic activity: the historically formed way of life, which is largely relevant for the modern speakers of the Ossetian language, largely motivates the patterns of behavior, including the patterns of linguistic taste.

Keywords: dynamics of language, language process, neolexemes, neologization, democratization of language, liberalization of language, actualization of lexemes