The article analyzes and systematizes an attempt of identifying verbal markers of psychological and cognitive processes in linguistics by the material of domestic and foreign authors’ research. The paper focuses on the methods of verbal markers detection, including the methods of the automatic processing of the natural language. Various terminological variations of the investigated phenomenon are given and the choice of the name “verbal marker” is substantiated. In conclusion, a comprehensive definition of the notion “verbal marker” is formulated.

No abstract

This article deals with the problem of discourse designing of the negative image of Russia in Spanish mass media using metaphorical models with the target domain “Russia”. Within the framework of this study, a metaphorical model is defined as a mental scheme of connections between different conceptual domains, which is formed and fixed in the minds of native speakers. The material includes Spanish articles from reputable sources (El País and BBC News in Spanish) mentioning Russia (over 500,000 characters in total). With the use of discourse, corpus and lexical-semantic analysis as well as conceptual analysis of metaphorical models, the author found that the negative image of Russia is constructed in Spanish political media discourse through the following metaphorical models: “Russia is the country of Putin”, “Russia is the heir to the USSR” and “Russia is a pseudo-saviour of the world”. The following frames can be distinguished within the structure of the model “Russia is the country of Putin”: 1) Russia belongs to Putin; 2) Putin is a lifelong president; 3) Putinism is an ideology of Russian citizens. The metaphorical model “Russia is the heir to the USSR” includes the following stereotypical scenarios: 1) authoritarian, undemocratic methods of governance; 2) “Soviet” way of living; 3) backward economy. The frame that exists within the model “Russia is a pseudo-saviour of the world” actualizes the scenario of providing humanitarian aid for show. Among the lexical and grammatical representatives of these metaphorical models are the following: prepositional construction with de and the proper name Putin; adjectives with the semes “infinitely long, eternal” and “entire”; adjectives containing semes of distance/separateness; lexeme soviético, etc. The nominative field of the considered image contains both direct nominations, represented by the toponyms Rusia, Moscú and Kremlin, and metaphors that are mainly related to the size of the state. The stereotypical features of the source domain make it possible to create a negative image of Russia as an authoritarian, undemocratic state with an almost monarchical system, outdated Soviet governance methods, saviour-ofthe-world ambitions, and ostentatious behaviour in the international arena.

This article studies the means of representation of burning social issues on social media. It focuses on the means of actualizing the Us/Them and Self/identity binary oppositions in Spanish-language Instagram blogging of body positive activists, which are investigated using the discursive, lexico-semantic, and multimodal analyses. Social polarization, manifested in the division of society into supporters and opponents of this ideology, is achieved through the actualization of the Us/Them binary opposition and is enhanced by the verbalization of the Self/identity opposition, which, in turn, manifests itself in including the recipient in the group of Us based on the principle of identity (sameness) and in opposing the recipient to Them through the expression of the Self (individuality) of body positive persons. At the text level, these binary oppositions are represented by the following linguistic means: possessive pronouns, pronouns as direct and indirect objects, verb forms, negative names for Them, as well as vocabulary with the semes “exclude/discriminate” and “imposing an opinion”. In addition, non-verbal visual elements of a creolized polylingual textual post semantically related to the oppositions were identified; these elements reinforce the key strategy – polarization – verbalized through showing Them in a bad light and Us in a good light. Communicating body positive ideas, Spanish-language Instagram bloggers frequently use words describing the human body (somatic naming units) and the attitude of Us and Them to the body. Verbalization of corporeality and perception of the body is of fundamental

No abstract