The article describes the paradoxical case of Russian spelling - the spelling of the prefixes ending with -z, based on the phonetic principle which, without any reason, sets them apart from other prefixes ending with a consonant (под-, над-, от-, об-, в-, с-), according to the main phonological principle of Russian spelling. The analysis of numerous sentences concerning the spelling of these prefixes, which was discussed by spelling committees before and after the 1917 spelling reform, is carried out from the point of view of practicability and scientific validity. Rare archival materials were used in the article. It is concluded that it is necessary to bring the prefixes ending with consonants to the common denominator, since the spelling of the prefixes ending with -z violates the Russian system of writing.

The article provides a comparative analysis of Czech and Russian literary and dialectal phraseological units that characterize a wealthy person and prosperous life. Contemporary studies mostly deal with literal and colloquial idioms, whereas dialectal phraseology is rarely used for the comparative studies. It may stem from the fact that there are no large dictionaries of Russian dialectal phraseology. For this article, we used the materials for the Phraseological Dictionary of Russian Folk Dialects, which is being prepared under the supervision of prof. V. M. Mokienko. The Russian part of the research is represented by approximately 250 idioms, the Czech part totals about 150 units. Czech and Russian phraseological units were grouped together according to their common internal image,the themes of components, similar syntactic models, or similar logical motivations. As an example in the group that combines Czech and Russian phraseological units with a similar figurative basis, we show the model 'animal or bird refuses to eat any kind of food' known in different languages. There are different variants of the model known to Czech and Russian dialects, which represent different animals and birds, and different types of food. The analysis of the idioms grouped together on the basis of the themes of their components have led to the conclusion that in Czech and Russian idioms, the image of wealth is often interpreted through the images of money, storage, satiety, food (mostly fat-heavy and also sweet - in Russian idioms), fantastic abundance, etc. For the Russian dialect phraseology, we describe one characteristic syntactic model, which marks a rich person: one cannot be reached / hurt with any tool. This model was not found in Czech idioms. A comparative analysis showed that in Russian dialect phraseology, which characterizes a comfortable life, one often observes tautological constructions with the lexeme ‘live’. In the Czech part of the materials, there was no tautology. Thanks to the dialectal phraseology the materials for the comparative study of the Czech and Russian idioms have qualitatively and quantitatively grown. Because of these dialectal units, parallels in the semantics and syntactic structure of many phraseological phrases in the studied languages have been made obvious. We have also managed to identify several Czech-Russian phraseological internationalisms, further historical and etymological study of which seems to bring us closer to the issue of the typological or genetic similarity of these idioms in two Slavic languages. Usage of dialect phraseology also lets us reveal several syntactic features typical only for Russian phraseology.

The paper discusses argumentation in popular science articles written by scholars. The authors focus on argumentative framework, which is presented by opposition of an expert’s judgment (argument from expert opinion) and a common, “naive” view (one from popular opinion). The framework consists of a thesis being opposed (by a subject of common sense); its authorization marker; an opposing structural constant / propositional connective; an expert’s thesis; its authorization marker; general conclusion. In summary, this paper argues that the elements of the argumentative framework can be explicit, implicit, or be presented grammatically. Text analysis of popular science articles leads to the following conclusions. (1) The opposed thesis and opposing link are typically explicit. (2) The subject of common sense can be represented by lexical and syntactic expressions of indefinite-personality, impersonality together with unreal mood and epistemic modality of uncertain knowledge (One would think…; smth may seem…; many noticed that…) etc. (3) An expert’s thesis, as a rule, is presented as a negation of the opposed statement. (4) An authorization marker of the expert’s opinion is consistently implicit. The reason is that an expert writes the entire text (except for parts with authorization markers), and in this case the additional expression of this fact is optional. (5) Normally, the general conclusion is the same as the expert’s thesis, therefore it is rarely if ever explicit.

The article deals with the representation of the concept of money in the feature film Elena by Andrey Zvyagintsev. Money is first of all a plot-forming element because this is the reason behind the conflict between the main characters, which is shown in the film. At the visual level, the concept is represented explicitly by constant demonstration of money, and implicitly, with the help of objects reflecting the level of people’s welfare. There is a striking contrast between the ‘world of the rich’, whose main representative is Vladimir, and the ‘world of the poor’ where Elena’s son’s family live. The protagonist unites these two worlds. We also found out several attributes of this concept at the verbal level, in the discourse of the characters. Some of these attributes are connected with the functioning of money, its use in the daily life, and legal financial aspects. Vladimir’s discourse contains verbal markers reflecting his idea of money as a symbol of work, responsibility for one’s own life and their family’s welfare, a symbol of maturity and independence. The analysis of the discourse of Elena and her relatives revealed completely different realizations of the concept, demonstrating that in their worldview money represents help and support which people are obliged to give to the ones who are in difficult situations. Less frequent concept attributes are meaning of life and freedom.

The article discusses the ways of borrowing foreign words in modern Russian and Chinese language, and the processes of their adoption in written speech of participants of Internet forums. This important linguistic problem was endowed with particular relevance in the conditions of the internetization of society, since it is on the Internet that new forms of mass communication arise and develop, communicate numerous social and age groups. The study identifies and compares differences in the ways of borrowing of foreign language vocabulary in Russian and Chinese. A comparative analysis of the studied lexical units showed that, in both Russian and Chinese modern speech, loanwords can develop new semantics by meaning extension, metaphorizing and metonimizing. It is noted that the formation of new meanings in the semantic structure of loanwords can be influenced by the contexts in which they are used.

Russian complex with reverse subordinative relations between clauses are characterized by asymmetric relations between their form and content: the main clause is formed as a subordinate one because it includes the relation marker, namely the subordinate conjunction or conjunction-like word; the formally subordinate clause is in reality the main one according to its meaning. In the Russian language, this serves as syntactic means of expressiveness (sudden and unexpected change in circumstances, etc.), implicit modus meanings, or actualization of various relations. To preserve these meanings, various expanded means of expression of all meanings are used to translate such sentences into Korean: implicit modus meanings are made explicit with the help of independent predicative units, relations of immediate consecution are expressed via special lexical units, and some parts of Russian complex sentences may sometimes be represented as separate sentences in Korean in order to actualize the rhematic parts.

In the following article, we analyze the polyfunctional form with =ZA in the Altai language. Traditionally, this form is viewed as a marker of conditional mood. Our materials show that its semantics and functions are very varied. It can be used not only in infinite functions within polypredicative constructions, but also as an independent finite form with the meaning of a non-real, contrafactive volition. When it is used as a dependent predicate, this form mainly denotes modality of an action’s conditions according to the speaker’s point of view. When one uses the if conjunction, the expected action-condition may not take place, and when the when conjunction is used, such possibility is not considered, but rather, temporal relations are expressed (consecution, simultaneity, general temporal correlation). Specific temporal meanings depend on specific tense forms of finite predicates: if the predicate of a main clause is in present tense, the construction denotes general temporal correlation; if a future tense form is used, it denotes consecution or simultaneity in the future; the past tense denotes consecution in the past. With a 2^nd person singular and plural affix =ZAŋ, =ZAgAr expresses the meaning of soft incentive. The =ZA form as a marker of concessive mood denotes completion of an action in spite of conflicting conditions, which demonstrates the shift of this form towards other mood forms.

Personal-possessive 1^st and 2^nd person singular noun affixes in the Surgut dialect of the Khanty language, as well as₁st person plural noun affixes (irregular in various dialects) with singular objects are represented by several allomorphs: 1SG.SG - =əм / =эм / =ам; 2SG.SG - =əн / =э (=эн) / =а; 1PL.SG - =Vв. When the personal-possessive affixes are attached, vowel alternation occurs in several roots. The choice of specific allomorphs and the presence or absence of alternation depends on the root vowels. In roots with short vowels, there is no alternation, and affixes with lower vowels are used: =ам (1SG.SG) and =а (1SG.SG). When the personal-possessive affixes are attached to roots with long vowels, lower vowels are replaced by corresponding upper vowels. After roots with long upper vowels, =эм (1SG.SG) and =э (2SG.SG) affix variants are used, and no alternation occurs, because vowels can no longer be ‘moved’ upwards. After stems with long non-upper vowels, the =əм (1SG.SG) and =əн (2SG.SG) affixes are used, and alternation takes place in the root. This is not true for some specific cases: in roots with long middle vowels, these processes may occur according to the upper vowel model, or the lower vowel model; for example, the lexeme вӧӈ ‘son-in-law’, which contains a short vowel, can be followed by affixes with the vowel э, typical for roots with long upper vowels. Our research is based on field materials collected in the Surgut District, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, or Yugra, in 2017-2019. The audio records were segmented and annotated via Praat software. Acoustic analysis and further statistical analysis of our data was performed on the basis of Emu-SDMS corpus system and R language.

Actional sentences describe certain ways in which the subjects affect the objects while the object's position in space does not change. The plane of content is the actional proposition, which contains the three necessary components, namely the subject, the object, and the predicate; the plane of expression is the model of the elementary simple sentence where the object position is prototypically expressed by a name in accusative. In the Khanty and Nenets languages, the actional elementary simple sentences tend to express the same types of relations but differ in their potential for paradigmatic variation. In Tundra Nenets, the communicative variants are related to variation in the choice of accusative, nominative, dative, or instrumental cases in order to express the thematic or rhematic objects and instruments/addressees. In the Kazym dialect of the Khanty language, the accusative form is only used in the system of pronominal declination; in the object position, nouns in nominative case are used. Therefore, to express the thematicrhematic articulation, verb categories of conjugation (opposition of subject and object conjugation types) are used, as well as genus, because the case system is contracted. In the Nenets language, the communicative paradigm is related to the variation in name categories, whereas in Khanty, it is related to variation in verb categories.

Experimental phonetics is a fundamental source of typological reconstructions. It provides plausible data on the phonetic processes progressing in a language, dialect, or subdialect. In this paper, we compare the results of MRI-investigation of the sound a (it being the most frequently used in the Turkic languages) in related though quite distant languages: Baraba-Tatar, Altai (Ust-Khan subdialect) and Bashkir (Eastern dialect). Thus, the purpose of our study is to distinguish the articulatory traits of the a-type sound in the Barabian, Altai and Bashkir languages under different positional and combinatory conditions as a result of somatic experimental-phonetic research. Magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI) of the vocal tunings was done from the native speakers of the three languages: Baraba-Tatar, Altai, and Bashkir. The static MRI images comprising a-type articulations were selected from the obtained database. The somatic analysis of the linguistic material was conducted in accordance with the technique practiced in the V. M. Nadelyayev’s Laboratory of Experimental-Phonetic Researches (IP SB RAS). Sound tomograms have been analyzed and interpreted, tomoschemes are presented for the visualization purpose. In total, 17 tomograms have been described. The authors have processed the linguistic and experimental material on three Turkic idioms and made a number of important conclusions. A -type sound is realized in the back row words in the languages under consideration, which coincides with the supposition about Turkic vowel harmony suggested earlier. In all languages under investigation the general tuning of the sound a is similar: it is central-back. But what makes it unique for every language is its additional characteristics. For example, in Barabian the phoneme /ʌ̇ ˘/ can be realized in pharyngealized, nasalized and labialized variants, while the Ust-Khan phoneme /ʌ̇ / is the most unified one (nonnasalized, rarely labialized and pharyngealized). The Eastern Bashkirian phoneme /ɤ̇/ resembles the Baraba-Tatar phoneme in many aspects. The statement (based on the perceptive analysis) about the use of more open and in some senses more backward, laryngeal and even pharyngealized sound a in some sub-dialects of the Eastern dialect of Bashkir did not turn out to be correct. According to the experimental data, all eastern Bashkir tunings appear to be central-back strongly shifted forward, i.e. the tongue does not move backward too much. Regarding the mouth openness, all variants of the Eastern Bashkirian sound a are half narrow (the third level of openness), and in some cases they can even be said to be narrow (the second level). Despite the territorial closeness of Altai (Ust-Khan sub-dialect) and Baraba-Tatar, the comparative analysis of the articulatory peculiarities of the vocal tunings under discussion revealed close correlation between Barabian and Eastern Bashkirian realizations of sound a. It might be accounted for by similar ways of their development (both of historical and immanent character) as well as by the literary Tatar language and its dialects influence on Baraba-Tatar (an intensive wave of immigrants from the Volga-Ural region into Baraba Steppe where Baraba-Tartars had been historically living was recorded in the beginning of the 20^th century). To sum up, the further investigation of all vocal system units is necessary to make final conclusions about typological likelihood or diversity of the languages under consideration.

In this article, we take a new look at the initiator of the campaign to prohibit the so-called “Lithuanian” books in the Moscow Tsardom in the first third of the 17^th century on the basis of known sources. In addition to the extant documents and indisputable biographical facts, manuscript materials from the azbukovniks of Muscovite corrector David Zamaray are also involved to propose the hypothesis about the initiative in the prosecution of books from the neighboring state that came from Lithuanian emigrant Jozef Kurcewicz, who became archbishop of Suzdal and Tarusa in the Moscow Tsardom. The examination of vocabulary entries of these azbukovniks allows us to establish that some of them were borrowed from the “Lithuanian printing” books, coming to Moscow from the constant correspondent of Jozef Kurcewicz, Metropolitan of Kiev Job Boretsky (such as Homilies of John Chrysostom on the Acts of the Apostles (Kiev, 1624), John Chrysostom’s Homilies on 14 Epistles of Apostle Paul (Kiev, 1623)). We also show that the Kievan theologian Athanasius Kitaichich, who became the first among detractors of Didactic Gospel of Kyrylo Stavrovetsky-Tranquillion, was under the patronage of Jozef Kurcewicz and could reflect his point of view on this book.

The paper analyzes the generation gap in the Russian literature of the second part of 1850s. Our research is based on works published in magazines: short stories, novelettes, and novels by L. N. Tolstoy, E. P. Novikov, P. I. Melnikov-Pecherskii, S. T. Slavutinskii, S. A. Ladyzhenskii, N. M. Pavlov, etc. The generation gap in Russian literature of the second part of 1850s hasn’t yet been made an object of special research. It is traditionally touched upon in relation to the novel Fathers and Sons (1862) by I. S. Turgenev and fiction ‘generated’ by this novel. However, variants of 1850s and of 1860s differ from each other in significant ways: this variants linked by various ideas, heroes, plots and other. The paper features two variants of the generation gap formed in the Russian literature of the second part of 1850s: great-grandfather / grandfather versus children, fathers versus children. The paper contains a detailed analysis of characterology and plot functions of protagonists that collide with each other, as well as structural-semantic plot organization. First generation gap formed in the middle of 1850s. Short stories, novelettes, and novels have similar plot-composition structures: a story from the distant Russian past forms the plot core; as a rule, events take place in the 18^th century (the so-called grandfather’s time); most often, the story is told by a servant of an old lord or is written down after his words; the audience of the story is meant to be from the middle of the 19^th century; in some cases, he is also the narrator, a young man who compares generation values of the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The paper asserts that, in spite of the fact that events take place in the past, the generation are identified through the turn towards social processes of the second half of the 1850s, particularly the emancipation reform. Literature and criticism emphasize the arrival of the new educated follower of democratic reforms instead of the hot-tempered landowner of the old type. The type of the educated landowner gained prominence in 1850-1860s during the active discussion of the emancipation reform. The main narrative function of such protagonists is to prove the effectiveness of democratic theories in practice. At the core of the plot there is the conflict with the generation of fathers, the opponents of reform. We propose that the generation of children, as well as the generation of fathers, is needy: in spite of their education, the young men are shown to be petty and unable to act upon their words or understand the peasant way of life. The protagonists explain their lack of success by other reasons: the new generation was too hasty in their actions. In conclusion, we maintain that Russian literature reflects an important social process of second part of 1850s, namely the anticipation of a ‘new’ man able to act upon popular democratic theories. This type formed ex adverso: writers and critics show a kind of behavior that differs from that of great-grandfathers, grandfathers, or fathers. However, the problem of rearrangement of the social system is beyond the abilities of the ‘fifties’ protagonist’. Much as he differs from his ancestors, he remains their descendant. A demonstrative devotion to democratic theories does not negate his aristocratic privileges. As a result, the plot turns stemming from popular ideas do not work as expected in the end.

The article examines the representation of chaos motif, which is the most general one among archetypal motifs, in A. P. Chekhov’s The Murder (1895). Chaos motif arranges the plot structure, being represented in its variants, such as misbelief and nature and space disorder. In The Murder , the central event is determined by mental disorders of characters. Each of them stands on their unique religious outlook. Matvei Terekhov teaches his cousin Yakov to accept the fundamental rules of Church, but he is not always true to his beliefs, too. The true reason of murder is hate towards each other, including Yakov’s sister Aglaya - it is a hate crime, which represents total moral destruction. Matvei’s death awakens new feelings in Yakov’s perception. Now he understands what suffering is. As he looks at prisoners, he gains his faith. All he wants to ask is why it was so hard to reveal the truth. Besides chaotic existence problems, three other types of archetypical motifs are realized. These are the following: natural chaos, spatial chaos, and unsafe home. Nature stands between winter and spring, and it is time for spring to arrive. This causes disorder all around, and makes Matvei feel anxious and frustrated. Space semantics also explicate chaos, especially in the final scene, in which Yakov tries to extrapolate his actual Sakhalin experience on his previous life. The narrative is based on spatial concepts here. And, finally, the symbol of home loses its meaning of safety in the semantic structure of the story. It turns out to be somebody’s else but not the family’s. And it causes panic fears among its habitants. Fear is one of basic reflexes on chaos extension. We conclude that the archetypal motif of chaos connects the plot levels, such as the murder event, lack of faith in the main characters, nature, space, and disorder at home. Thus, it is proven to be the motif core of the story.

The article deals with the analysis of the refraction of the metaplot about the Grand Inquisitor in the traditionalist prose of the turn of the 20^th - 21^st centuries. The complex of motives presented in the legend of the Grand Inquisitor corresponds to the crisis of the value system characteristic of the traditionalism of this period (new traditionalism). The crisis is accompanied by the loss of reference points as such, a situation of extreme uncertainty: the worldview dualism inherent in ‘classical’ traditionalist prose is replaced by multivariance. The role of the Grand Inquisitor, creating a false but acceptable system of values, plays a patriarchal way. In the works of B. Ekimov, M. Tarkovsky, R. Senchin the following the patriarchal way of life, traditional peasant work on the land does not allow one to support the family, to ensure the continuation of the family. The only alternative found by F. Dostoyevsky is forgiving love, which opens the way to otherness, which was previously open to any patriarchal hero. In crisis periods, it is given only to those who are capable of conscious choice, to sacrifice / self-sacrifice for the sake of another, which allows to overcome chaos and non-existence.

Mikhail Stogovsky is the pseudonym of the now-forgotten Siberian author Mikhail Nikolaevich Ananyev. In 1918- 1919 he regularly published his satirical texts in the newspaper Russian Speech . The newspaper was published in the Siberian city, which was then called Novo-Nikolaevsk. M. Stogovsky describes the absurdity of modern reality, so he often uses quotations from newspapers as epigraphs that define a comic position. During two years of work in the Novikolaevsk’s newspaper, there is a dynamic in his texts: from light humorous texts to sharp satire about the new political regime. M. Stogovsky preferred allegorical genres (fables, fairy tales), many of which are devoted to the topic of political struggle at the end of 1918 and at the beginning of 1919. By the end of 1919, the Bolsheviks and their political regime became the main object of ridicule, because Siberia was still under the control of the White Army during the publication of the newspaper Russian Speech . Bolshevism was perceived as an enemy movement, the authors faced the task of creating not just an entertaining text, but creating negative images of the leaders of Bolshevism, therefore caricature images of Lenin and Trotsky often appear in feuilletons. However, M. Stogovsky created a satire on all levels of society, including the local government and ordinary citizens. He skillfully mastered such comic techniques as irony and sarcasm, creating multi-valued, multi-level jokes and ridicule. This talent allowed M. Stogovsky to stand out among a large number of his contemporary feuilleton authors.

In the following article, we identify the Christian motifs in the novel Plakha ( The Scaffold ) by Ch. T. Aitmatov, describe them and offer our interpretations. The novelty of our analysis stems from the fact that Ch. T. Aitmatov’s body of work is still underresearched, particularly the religious components of this novel. Within our study, we employ the historical-literary, comparative, and motif analysis. We summarize the worldview of Avdii Kallistratov as a system and show that his image and life journey as someone who experiences choice, solitude, fate, recognition of his predestination and mission resemble the image and earthly life of Jesus Christ. His Old Testament name, his origins, the course of his life, and the crucifixion as the ultimate outcome are all important. According to the author, the mankind has reached the critical mark; the end of the world, the Apocalypse is advancing. We conclude that The Scaffold is a literary warning about the coming end of times, which is being drawn closer by the evils of modern humans. Only the tragic and heroic feats of people like Avdii can possibly slow this process down. At the same time the Christian doctrine is not the only correct one: the second half of the novel is based on pantheistic views, demonstrating the syncretism of the author’s worldview.

In the following article, we explore the ways to create a comic effect in the in the stories of the modern Yakut children’s writer A. Borisova Zapiski dlya moikh potomkov (Notes for My Descendants). The comedic tropes are analyzed on three levels: the characters, the situations, and the language. Children's literature has always been particularly humorous and entertaining, which is vividly seen in the works of the best domestic children's writers (N. Nosov, V. Dragunsky, V. Golyavkin etc.). Because of this, in literary criticism and linguistics there is an extensive classification of various techniques for creating a comedic effect. E. Garanina, N. M. Rotanova, I. V. Tsikusheva and others are engaged in the study of these techniques using children's literature as their research material. Nevertheless, the major works are still devoted to the issues of linguistic comedic effects which determines the relevance of this study. The comic effect of the story by A. Borisova is achieved in several ways, including those of non-literary nature, for example, theatrical circus in the form of classic buffoonery. The comedy is delivered by the main character of the story - the restless girl Valentinka whose defining trait is her ability to get into various funny situations. Valentine’s character is outlined from different sides; the negative sides of the girl are, too, shown to the reader. Because of this, the author emphasizes that the protagonist is a realistic character with all the positive and negative traits typical for real people. Thus the author achieves one of the goals of children’s literature: to convey the important moral and moral values to the child reader using the example of a young protagonist. The comedic elements of fictional situations are based on unexpected or comic contrast caused by a misunderstandings. Language-based comedy is represented quite widely and is based on various types of wordplay, for example, using polysemy, phraseological units or language paradoxes, incorrect word reproduction and imitation of word formation typical for children’s speech. Summing up, we can say that the stories of the Yakut author A. Borisova Zapiski dlya moikh potomkov (Notes for My Descendants) demonstrate various ways of creating a comic effect on a variety of text levels.