Evolution of the Associative-Verbal Network of the Concept “Old Age” in the Language Consciousness of the Native Russian-Language Speakers of the 20s of the XXI Century

The development of information technologies, change of political system and other socio-political changes in the life of any state, leave an imprint on the linguistic consciousness of a typical native speaker. Notwithstanding, the national conceptual sphere or “naïve” linguistic picture of the world has undergone significant changes, for all the changes in the world around us are fragmentally recorded in the collective linguistic consciousness of Russian language native speakers. The concepts of “old age” that were relevant to the residents of our state three decades ago, have undergone significant changes. Negative attitude to the old age, pessimism, and a sense of the inevitable end of life, have been replaced by the hope of a “prosperous, happy, financially stable old age”. The younger generation does not hesitate to draw a parallel between such concepts as “old age” and “retirement” — this fact was recorded for the first time as previously, the scientific studies based on data from associative experiments, hadn’t noted similar approach. The above conclusions were obtained as a result of a chain associative experiment with the word-stimulus “old age”, which involves obtaining 3 reactions of students to this stimulus (on the basis of the Faculty of Philology of the RUDN). 99 students (aged 17—25), native speakers of the Russian language, were selected to participate in the experiment (these parameters are reflected in the questionnaire of the subjects). Due to the unfavorable epidemiological situation and the conditions of distance learning, the experiment was conducted in an online format using the MS Forms application. The obtained resulting associative-verbal network of the concept “old age” was compared with the characteristics of the above-mentioned concept, recorded in the Associative Dictionary of the Russian Language edited by Yuri Nikolaevich Karaulov. © 2021, RUDN UNiversity. All rights reserved

Reflection of the notion "prestige" through code-switching in Kevin Kwan’s novel "Sex and Vanity" as a cultural symbol of the elite society

This article deals with the phenomenon of code-switching from English into French as a reflection of the prestige concept using the examples of a book about elite high society in Asia and America. The research is based on the novel by Kevin Kwan, for most of the characters are the representatives of a highly educated circle, and they are all fluent in French, which is one of the main second languages taught in private schools around the world. This language is usually used in the novel for stylistic and empathic reasons, since code-switching is a tool used by bilinguals to express prestige and social status. Bilingual speakers are believed to remember both language systems and activate them simultaneously when they need to communicate their message more clearly. Based on examples from the book, the authors attempt to link the theoretical context of language prestige theory to its actual literary use and explore the ways that linguists use, in order to give an accurate definition for each phenomenon. The authors conclude that foreign language inclusions may be "prestigious "and "socially motivated" in order to convey the specific emphatic connotation of the speaker’s intentions. The author of "Sex and Vanity" implies French inclusion to express the prestige of the surroundings and cultural affiliation of the elite groups. French is usually used in the conversations between two or more characters from the high-ranked society, who will definitely understand the message. For citation Tutova E.V., Potapova A.V., Grekhanova I.P., Vorontsova I.S., Safaralieva L.A. (2020) Reflection of the notion "prestige" through code-switching in Kevin Kwan’s novel "Sex and vanity" as a cultural symbol of the elite society. Kul'tura i tsivilizatsiya [Culture and Сivilization], 10 (5А), pp. 51-57. DOI: 10.34670/AR.2020.98.27.005 Keywords Elite, code switching, prestige, social status, bilingualism, concept, language.В статье рассматривается феномен переключения кода с английского языка на французский как отражение концепции престижа на примерах из книги об элитном высшем обществе Азии и Америки. Исследование основано на романе Кевина Квана, в котором большинство персонажей являются представителями высокообразованной публики и свободно говорят на французском языке, являющемся одним из основных вторых языков, изучаемых в частных школах по всему миру. Этот язык обычно используется в романе из стилистических соображений, поскольку переключение кода - инструмент, используемый билингвами для выражения престижа и социального статуса. Считается, что билингвы запоминают обе языковые системы и активируют их одновременно, когда им нужно более четко передать свое сообщение. Основываясь на примерах из книги, авторы предпринимают попытку связать теоретический контекст теории престижа языка с его реальным литературным использованием и рассматривают способы, которые используют лингвисты, чтобы дать точное определение каждому явлению. Авторы приходят к выводу, что включение иностранного языка может быть «престижным» и «социально мотивированным», когда нужно передать конкретный эмоциональный оттенок слов говорящего. Автор произведения «Секс и тщеславие» использует французский язык для подчеркивания престижа окружающих и культурной принадлежности элитных групп. Французский язык обычно используется в разговорах между двумя или более персонажами из высокопоставленного общества, которые обязательно поймут сообщение