The opposition of the “Own” and “Another” in the language of modern communication

Priorova Irina

Lebedeva Irena

Astrakhan State University

The reduction of personal contacts proportion and the growth of depersonalized forms of communication is connected with the expansion of the Internet. In recent decades, this has affected the displacement of the research interests center from an analysis of the author’s personalized identity to the analysis of media material. In this regard, there are qualitative changes in the communication field of certain age group representative with mass audience.  The role of the Internet discourse concerning the new kognitiv-communicative medium increases. If we consider this effect in the areas of polyethnicity it is increasingly evident in communication of Russian migrants abroad. We will briefly review the features characteristic to communication of the Russians in modern Germany.
Today there are many Russian newspapers, radio programmes and Russian television in Germany. In Berlin there are six Russian kindergartens, attended also by German children wishing to join the Russian culture. There is also a "Russian House" - a center of Russian culture. All of these facts stress the importance of Russian communication in the environment of alien language and culture. But against the replication of Russian culture in contemporary Germany there are limitations in the functioning of the Russian language in the media communication and in everyday speech. The representatives of the fourth the final wave of emigration from Russia went largely without knowing the language of their host country, so the main task for them in the first phase of adaptation was to study the foreign language. The analysis of the Internet discourse reveals the facts of linguistic contamination, which is often used by Russian emigrants. The need for rapid acquisition of language skills leads to talk on a mixture of Russian and the language of the new country of residence. The presence of foreign words in the Russian language was characteristic of the speech of the first wave of immigrants, but the fourth wave is characterized by a few other signs of linguistic assimilation, which are stimulated by media resources.
The words with the abstract semantics, such as responsabilité (responsibility), personality were usually used by the first wave of immigrants in case when the Russian equivalent of deliberately was excluded. The use of foreign-language inclusions by the first-wave immigrants occur not because they want to use "foreign" word in their speech, but because they lost competence, they forgot Russian equivalent. The newcomers, the fourth- wave immigrants, not having forgotten the Russian words, use foreign words as a reflex because of their “linguistic laziness”. Saving verbal resources, they use foreign words to show their belonging to a new life.

There are differences in the use of different lexical-semantic groups in the language of immigrants. The most productive group consists of nouns, necessary to describe the realities of the new language environment. They are followed by all kinds of speech and etiquette replica reaction. Adjectives and verbs are less prone to agrammatism [6] and more are used in the form in which they exist in the language of the source, as invariable and as changeable words. Unlike the adjectives, verbs are always conjugated forms. Invariant verbs do not exist in a foreign language. Verbs are usually transformed only by the immigrants of the fourth wave and it is a characteristic feature of the latest phase of the life of the Russian language abroad.
      In a foreign country the representative of a foreign mentality faces many formal systems, rules and regulations that are prolonged in mass media and media resource. As a rule, they are not translated. Special attention should be paid at the entitlement of some customs and etiquette standards relating to the public sphere and everyday life. The nominations for this kind are of a high frequency and have great communicative significance for foreigners in many countries. Among these concepts is «заранее условленная деловая встреча» a pre-determined business meeting, which is denoted in English as “an appointment” and in German as “Termín”. In Russian there is no one-word equivalent to this concept. The word «свидание» a date (the same as “rendezvous”) refers to the purely private sphere, the word «встреча» - а meeting is of a common value, “a business meeting” seems too long and does not point to an important component of 'agreement'. It turns out that the name of the possible types of meetings: “appointment” (аппоинтмент) and “Termin”(термин) can be extended for meeting at the doctor, hairdresser, supervisor, landlady and neighbor.
Initially unfamiliar "foreign" words and semantic elements are used in everyday speech of a Russian native-speaker. Washing out the linguistic boundaries between "foreign" and "own" happens stepwise : at first, changing the status of a "foreign" to the "other", and then "the other" to "the own". Thus, the process of assimilation of "foreign" words in the lexicon of the Russian native-speaker abroad depends on its contacts that promote gradual transformation of Russian speech in non-Russian metropolis.
The speech of Russian people living outside Russia, has specific features. The Internet discourse reinforces the main differences between the Russian language abroad and reflects the communicative specificity of the country of residence. In the online discourse of our countrymen, foreign words are used as a rule:
- To refer to realities that do not exist in Russian language;
- To demonstrate knowledge of the language of the country of residence;
- For implication of the "linguistic laziness" which encourages the use of foreign words in the original for a one-word expression, escaping from the use of hyperverbal Russian equivalent: for example the German word «Monatskarte» in its translation into Russian will sound like «проездной билет на месяц»a monthly pass."
      A distinctive feature of the Russian language functioning abroad is that Russian speakers actively involve foreign words in the sphere of Russian grammar: the most of the nouns are declined and the verbs are conjugated. The word-formation mechanism also remains strong. Stem of borrowed word of different parts of speech are joined with the Russian word-formation affixes and become words-hybrids [1, 157-169]. For example: English. Slice - slaysik (слайсик); German: sich melden - zameldovatsya (замельдоваться); putzen - puttsat (путцать), French: bébé – Bebeshka (бебешка), charmant – sharmantnost (шарматность). Words hybrids are inclineв like ordinary words of the Russian language.
    The reasons of the borrowing of foreign words in Russian are explained by L.P.Krysin long ago [4, 142-161]:
a) foreign words refer to something specific in the new life that does not exist or is not characteristic of life in Russia.  There are no Russian-word nominations for the naming of the objects or phenomena. For example, English: appointment, welfare, food stamp; German: Arbeitsamt, Sozialamt, Termin, Tiefgarage , Eintopf .
b) Similar objects and phenomena are found in Russia and they have their names, but they are so dramatically different in their pragmatics from foreign, that the Russian word does not convey their specificity. Compare: Russian - подвал, English – basement, German - Keller.
c) High communicative relevance of the concepts that are designated with non-native words, and consequently a high frequency of their use in naming the important realities of life in the specific country. Here are some of the names of the various parallel languages that are used, usually without any translation: English - Sale, German – Angebot, Sonderangebot, French - solde, Finnish -  Tarjous .

 In natural conditions abroad numerous inscriptions, signs, plates, hanging around the city, such as: Sale! Angebot! Tarjous! are provoking the Russian-speaker to use these words rather than their Russian equivalents. Thus, the need for accurate category, specific pragmatics, the high relevance of the concept of communicative stimulate make Russian-speakers use the borrowings from the language of the country of residence in different types of communication [2, 37-42]. Often these reasons are merged into one. For example, German “ Keller” and American “bacement” are very different in their structure and purpose of using from Russian “podval”. In direct communication among the very commonly used words in german belongs the word “ doch” which expresses a variety of types of reactions to the companion’s speech (after, of course!, well, really!). Frequently used in so called Russian-German are the words: Putzfrau ('cleaner'), Bahnhof ('Station'), Onkel ('uncle'), Tante ('aunt'), film (photofilm), Abitur ('matriculation examination'),Geld ('money'), Krankenhaus ('Hospital'), warum? ('Why?'), Was?('What?'). These words are also actively involved in formal and informal online discourse.
        The use of "foreign" in the media discourse of migrants reveals the same principles of operation which are characteristic of natural communication in three ways [3]:
1) The first function is the most common: nominative, it is used to name the realities that are absent in Russia and indicates the degree of development of a new immigrants of social, economic, cultural, residential and other aspects of life in a foreign country. This function is used for the entitlement of the vital social institutions, agencies and events. For example in English:  food stamp, welfare , green card.
2) The second function is communicative and it is used for self-actualization and self-affirmation of immigrants while creating a certain type of verbal behavior, which is more typical of recent immigrants of the fourth wave who did not know the language of the new country properly. The results of observations, carried out by E.A.Zemskaya, in different countries including Germany reflect distinct patterns: those who know the language rather well and use two or three other languages fluently, can easily switch from one language to another and they do not need to demonstrate their knowledge of a foreign language.
3) The third function is expressive-stylistic, playful, and is used to express the attitude to what is going on, sometimes to the fact that relates to a new country and way of life. The resulting irony, persiflage, or pun is most often found in the speech of the immigrants of the third and fourth waves, as a foreign language for them is a novelty in the background of not forgotten knowledge of Russian language and newly learnt foreign language. For these native-speaker is peculiar a linguistic reflection, combination in puns Russian and non-Russian words .

Modern media resources reveal significant differences in the presence of foreign-language signs in the contemporary realities of immigrants of the first and fourth waves. The need to use the words abstract semantics for the first wave of immigrants is necessary because they had already forgotten the Russian equivalent. The newcomers have not yet had time to forget the Russian words, foreign words are used because of the "linguistic laziness", saving the resources of speech, as well as to show an active being included in the new life [3].
Thus, the assimilation process of "foreign" in the vocabulary of the Russian-speaker abroad is strongly stimulated by the growth of hybrid formations in the natural communication of the new country of residence, which is projected on the media and media resources. Gradual transformation of the Russian language happens through oral and written forms of communication, which was originally foreign structural and semantic elements are used in everyday speech of the Russian-speaker. Modern media and media resources actively contribute to the fact that the changing of the status of a "foreign" to the "other", and then - the "other" to the "own" takes place rapidly. The formation of a special type of speech of a Russian-speaker abroad is due to the fact that in the online discourse, as in natural conversation, the margin between the "foreign" and the "own" is diffused in accordance with the communicative competence of the speaker and his desire for rapid assimilation into a foreign language environment.

References:

1. Zemskaya E.A. The spetsificy of semantics and combination theory of manufacture of words-hybrids//Slavische Wortbildung: Semantik und Kombinatorik / Hrsg. S. Mengel. Münster-Hamburg-London, 2002a. S. 157-169.

2. Zemskaya E.A. A weed or a rose? (To a question of safety of Russian emigrants language of the fourth wave)// The Russian Academy of Sciences. Literature and language. 2002, vol. 61, № 4, p. 37-42

3. Zemskaya E.A. General language processes and speech portraits of the individual / / Russian Language Abroad: common processes and speech portraits. M-Vienna, 2001.

4. Krysin L.P. Foreign words in the context of contemporary social life / / Russian language at the end of the XX. century (1985-1995). M., 1996, p. 142-161

5. Nazarov M. The mission of Russian emigration. - Stavropol, 1992. – 30p.

6. Priorova I.V.  The interaction of paradigmatic and syntagmatic in Russian: a monograph. - Astrakhan: Publishing house "Astrakhan University", 2010 – 274p.

7. Raev M. Russia abroad. The cultural history of Russian emigration. 1919-1939,-M.: Progress Academy, 1994. - 66p.