Abstract:

Numerous semantic studies have shown that most words that at first glance seem to be equivalents and are given as such in dictionaries, at a deeper level are far from being full equivalents (Gladkova 2010, Goddard and Wierzbicka 2014, Wierzbicka, 1992, 2014; Zaliznyak, Levontina, Shmelev 2012). Cultural semantic components of words hinder understanding and create difficulties in communication and translation, therefore they need a thorough considering. We suggest that the words that carry information about the 'deep culture’ (Guirdham 1999: 50), i.e. cultural values and attitudes, worldview, socio-cultural relations are of particular importance. The semantic and functional analysis of such words gives new knowledge about the target language and culture, and therefore they deserve special attention in SL teaching.

In our study we analyse the words dealing with interpersonal relations (friendship, communication, reciprocity) in English and Russian focusing on their similarities and differences. The data were taken from English and Russian bilingual dictionaries, definition dictionaries, British National Corpus (BNC), and Russian National Corpus (RNC). The study implemented contrastive semantic, distributive, definitive, context, and cultural analyses. The results show that semantics of these words contains cultural components that reflect types of culture and relations between people.

The study confirms that it is increasingly important to consider the psychological, axiological and social aspects of language in an intercultural perspective both for theoretical and pedagogical purposes. It enables the students to arrive at the conclusion that language and culture are fundamentally interrelated and increase the level of their intercultural communicative competence.

References:
[1] Gladkova, Anna (2010). Russkaya kul'turnaya semantika: emotsii, tsennosti, zhiznennye ustanovki. [Russian cultural semantics: emotions, values, attitudes. Moskva: Yazyki slavyanskikh kul'tur (in Russian).]
[2] Goddard, Cliff and Anna Wierzbicka (2014). Words and meanings: lexical semantics across domains, languages, and cultures. Oxford: OUP, 2014.
[3] Guirdham, Maureen (1999). Communicating across cultures. Palgrave.
[4] Wierzbicka Anna (2014). Imprisoned in English. The Hazards of English as a Default Language. USA: OUP, 2014
[5] Wierzbicka, Anna (1992). Semantics, Culture, and Cognition: Universal Human Concepts in
Culture-Specific Configurations. OUP.
[6] Zaliznyak, Anna A., Levontina Irina B., Shmelev Aleksei D.(2012). Konstanty i peremennye russkoi yazykovoi kartiny mira. Moskva: Yazyki slavyanskikh kul'tur [Constants and variables of the Russian language worldview (in Russian).]

Keywords:

Cultural semantics, semantic equivalents, values, attitudes, intercultural communicative competence.