Chapter I. The main approaches to the study of speech behavior.

Contents

Introduction …………………………………………......…………………...……..3

Chapter I. Review of approaches to the study of speech behavior………………...5

1.1 Speech behavior in the structure of speech communication. The interdependence of the theory of speech behavior on the theory of speech acts………………………6
1.2 Non-verbal communicative behavior…………………………………………..17

1.3 Speech etiquette in the structure of communicative behavior. Principles of politeness...................................................................................................................22

1.4 Sociolinguistic parameters of communication…………………………………26

Chapter II. The problems of revealing the cultural meanings of language and speech units………….……………………………………………………………...32

2.1 The interaction of cultural and linguistic aspects................................................33

2.2 The specificity of cultural linguistics investigation field and methods...............40

2.3 National specificity of Russian and English communication..............................47

Chapter III. Analysis of pragmatic properties and lexico-grammatical means of expressing surprise in the English and Russian languages………...……………….54

3.1 The structure of analysis……………………...……..…...……………...……...54

3.2 Classifications of speech acts expressing surprise.……………...……………..55

3.2.1 Speech acts expressing surprise in the Russian language…………………….58

3.2.2 Speech acts expressing surprise in the English language…………………….63

3.3 Stylistic means of expressing surprise………………………………………….69

3.3.1 Stylistic means of expressing surprise in the Russian language……………...69
3.3.2 Stylistic means of expressing surprise in the English language…………...…71

3.4. Non-verbal means of expressing surprise……………………………………...74

3.4.1 Non-verbal means of expressing surprise in the Russian language…………..74

3.4.2 Non-verbal means of expressing surprise in the English language…………..76

3.5 Nationally specific stereotypes of verbal and non-verbal behavior in expressing

surprise…...………………………………………………………...…….…………79

Conclusions ………………………...……..……………………..………………...84

List of references ………………………………..………...……………………….88

Introduction.

The present paper is devoted to the analysis of culturally specific differences of means of expressing surprise in the Russian and English languages, as well as to the study of cultural linguistic grounds of the revealed discrepancies in the use of the means of expressing it by native speakers and reaction to it.

The object of study is culturally specific means of expressing surprise in English and Russian communication.

The topicality of the paper stems from the fact that there’s a growing interest of cultural linguistics towards the interaction of cultural and linguistic aspects in speech etiquette units of expressing surprise in the Russian and English languages. The topicality is also determined by the connection of the object of study with a cognitive communicative paradigm of modern linguistic research, based mainly on human factor.

The topicality of the paper has predetermined the aim and objectives:

The aim of the research is to compare cultural peculiarities of lexico-grammatical nature and functional properties of means of expressing surprise in English and Russian communication.

The aim is achieved the fulfillment of the following tasks:

- To consider such notions as the speech act, the communicative behavior, the speech etiquette;

- To consider the problems of revealing the cultural meanings of language and speech units;

- To consider the specificity of cultural linguistics investigation field and methods;

- To single out culturally specific speech acts expressing surprise in the English and Russian languages;

- To analyze pragmatic properties of the means of expressing surprise;

- To analyze and compare typical lexico-grammatical means of expressing surprise in the English and Russian languages;

- To summarize the analysis from the point of view of revealing corresponding cultural features of English and Russian communicative behavior.

The material for the analysis includes 450 examples of speech acts in the Russian and English languages, expressing surprise, selected from 20 contemporary detective stories by D. Dontsova, A. Marinina, T. Garmash-Roffe, T. Ustinova, J. Archer, J. Niven, P. Mayle, R. Hill, R. Rendell (the total number of pages is around 6000).

The methods of analysis used in the present paper: contextual analysis, definitional analysis, quantitative analysis, structural and functional analysis.

The composition of the paper is as follows: introduction, two theoretical chapters, one empirical chapter, conclusion, and list of references.

The first chapter (“The main approaches to the study of speech behavior”) includes three paragraphs. It deals with speech behavior, namely: speech behavior in the structure of speech communication. The interdependence of the theory of speech behavior on the theory of speech acts, non-verbal behavior, speech etiquette and principles of politeness.

The second chapter (“The problems of revealing the cultural meanings of language and speech units”) includes three paragraphs, it deals with interaction of cultural and linguistic aspects, considers specificity of cultural linguistics investigation field and methods, as well as specific features of the English and Russian cultures.

The third chapter (“Analysis of pragmatic properties and lexico-grammatical means of expressing surprise in the English and Russian languages”) is empirical, it includes five paragraphs. This chapter deals with the classification of speech acts expressing surprise, stylistic and non-verbal means of expressing surprise. The nationally specific differences are presented in the fifth paragraph.

In the conclusions I summarize the results of the theoretical reviews and practical analysis.

 

 

The structure of analysis.

This chapter is devoted to cultural and linguistic analysis of means of expressing surprise in the English and Russian languages. The material for the analysis includes 450 examples of speech acts in the Russian and English languages, expressing surprise, selected from 20 contemporary detective stories by D. Dontsova, A. Marinina, T. Garmash-Roffe, T. Ustinova, J. Archer, J. Niven, P. Mayle, R. Hill, R. Rendell (the total number of pages is around 6000).

The analysis consists of four stages. At the first stage of the analysis we single out speech acts of surprise with the minimum context selected from detective fiction. We chose a dialogue unity as the unit of analysis. Dialogue unity is a composition of two or more speech acts on the thematic or psychological basis. We chose it as an elementary unit of analysis because dialogue demonstrates the principles of arranging communicative behavior, and behavior pattern is shaped. We single out the communicative intention of the speech act of surprise. Then we classify the selected speech acts according to their illocutionary purposes, applying contextual analysis according to Bogdanov’s classification. If the illocutionary purpose of the speech act is a stereotypical reaction imposed by etiquette rules, then we refer it to institutional speech acts. The speech acts with illocutionary purposes of urging the speaker to take some action are referred to directive speech acts or requestives in Bognanov’s sheme. If the illocutionary purpose of the speech acts is to express the speaker’s feelings and attitudes about some state of affairs specified by the propositional content, then we refer it to non-directive speech acts of expressives. Then, within each classification, we single out typical linguistic means, applying structural and functional analysis. Applying quantitative analysis, we count speech acts in each language, which helps us to understand which speech acts are most frequently used and, therefore, single out nationally specific peculiarities of communicative behavior.

At the second stage of the analysis, we consider stylistic means of expressing surprise. Applying structural analysis, we single out the most frequently used structural stylistic devices. Then, on the basis of definitional analysis, we single out a number of phraseological units expressing surprise. Taking into account extralinguistic parameter of communicative situation, we classify selected phraseological units into groups. Applying, quantitative analysis, we count the number of usages of stylistic means in each language, so as to establish the most frequently used ones. This helps us to understand cultural peculiarities of expressing surprise in each language.

The analysis of the selected material was carried out with the application of complex methods that combine the analyses of verbal and non-verbal means of expressing speech act of surprise. Thus, at the third stage of analysis, we consider non-verbal means of expressing surprise. Non-verbal means amount to the kinemes that convey certain semantic content. It should be noted, that the units for non-verbal analysis were selected from author’s comments and pragmatic context. This stage of analysis consists in classifying kinemes of surprise into groups. In the process of analysis, we also take into consideration phraseological units describing surprise. Thus, applying quantitative analysis, we count the number of usages of non-verbal means, so as to establish the most frequently used ones. This also helps us to find out which culture uses non-verbal means more.

And finally, the fourth stage of analysis consists in summing up linguistic and cultural common features and differences in means of expressing surprise in the Russian and English examples of speech behavior.

 

Conclusions.

Having analyzed the linguistic and cultural peculiarities of means of expressing surprise in the English and Russian languages, we can draw some conclusions.

The aim of the paper, to compare cultural linguistic peculiarities of the means of surprise in the two languages, was reached by the fulfillment of the tasks which were set in the Introduction.

The present paper consists of introduction, two theoretical chapters and one empirical chapter, the conclusion and the list of references.

In the first chapter we considered speech behavior of a person and the way the social factors influence over our speech and the way it reflects in the language. We considered the problems connected with the social condition of the language, with the function of the language in the social environment, with the influence of social factors over the language development. We also considered the theory of speech acts. Speech act is not only a linguistic expression, but also an action. These actions are performed in view of norms and rules of behavior accepted in the society in concrete speech situations. That is why the principle of politeness and speech etiquette is also considered in this chapter. We also considered non-verbal communicative behavior as it is an integral component of communicative behavior.

The second chapter deals with interaction of cultural and linguistic aspects, considers specificity of cultural linguistics investigation field and methods, as well as specific features of the English and Russian cultures.

The third chapter is devoted to the comparative analysis of linguistic and cultural means of expressing surprise in the English and Russian languages. The analysis showed that surprise can be expressed by performative verbs. In the Russian language, the most frequently used performatives are удивляться, поражаться. In the English language, the most frequent are wonder and surprise. Having employed componential analysis of definitions of these verbs, we have isolated expressive semes, which allowed us to define the degree of their emotive intensity. Proceeding from the fact, that the Russian language employs performatives of both high and low emotive intensity and the English language most frequently uses performatives of low emotive intensity, we can assume that the English tend to choose less expressive means. The analysis also showed that surprise should be viewed as a speech act, the illocutionary purposes of which include the following intentions: to express a positive or negative attitude to the new information, to express the speaker’s distrust to the new information, so as to get the explanation from the addressee. The perlocutionary purpose is to get a positive or negative reaction to the new state of affairs, depending on the situation of communication, so as to demonstrate the interest to the interlocutor and the information produced by him/her or to demonstrate a stereotypical reaction imposed by etiquette.

The English language is richer in number of institutional speech acts and requestives than the Russian language, which is characterized by frequent use of expressives. It should also be noted, that institutional speech acts expressing sarcasm and requestives expressing support of the interlocutor are present only in the Russian language. This is explained by different types of cultures. English culture is defined as an individualistic one. The representatives of such a culture tend to be reserved, secretive and express emotions insincerely. Russian culture is defined as collectivist one. The representatives of such a culture readily express their emotions openly and sincerely, because it is accepted and even imposed by cultural norms.

Expressives in the Russian language are characterized by the use of the lexis of informal character, including: verbs (ошалеть, обалдеть, одуреть); nouns (загадка, сенсация, сюрприз) used in syntactic structure “exclamatory particle + intensifying particle + noun” («Вот это сюрприз!», «Вот это сенсация!»); informal intensifying adverb “неужели”; interjections of euphemistic character («О Боже мой!», «Господи», «Боже правый», «Черт возьми», «Черт подери»). Institutional speech acts are expressed by the following syntactic structures exclamatory pronoun + noun («Какая встреча!», «Какими судьбами!», «Какой сюрприз»), pronoun + I + verb in the first person singular («Кого я вижу!»), infinitive + adverb («Подумать только!»).

In the English language institutional speech acts are expressed by the following structural model: what + adj + noun (What a lovely surprise). Speech act of requestives in the English language is characterized by the use of negative syntactic structure personal pronoun + cannot (or second person singular of the verb do + negation) + verb (“I can’t believe it”, “You don’t say it!”, “You don’t mean it”, “You don’t say”, “She couldn’t have survived that”):

Comparative stylistic analysis of the means of expressing surprise also allowed us to single out a number of differences. English stylistic means of expressing surprise, are more diverse and numerous, than Russian ones. Taking into account, that stylistic means are defined as implicit, it can be assumed that the English prefer to convey surprise less expressively. Again, it can be explained by cultural differences. The dominant feature of Russian culture is straightforwardness and predominance of content. Thus, they express emotions directly and sincerely.

The English language employs non-verbal means more frequently, than the Russian language. Manual kinemes (to grasp/clutch at one’s hand, to bury one’s head in one’s hands) and phraseological units describing surprise at a sudden appearance of a person (to jump out of one’s skin) are present only in the English language. Phraseological units describing hand movements (всплеснуть руками, разводить руками) are present only in the Russian language. It should be stressed, that in Russian non-verbal culture much attention is paid to the expression of the eyes, because it is highly important to establish eye-contact with the interlocutor. This is why they frequently express surprise by mimic changes of their eyes. On the contrary, the English, being representatives of individualistic culture, avoid establishing contact with interlocutor and this explains their tendency to use non-verbal means describing their shocked and surprised state.

So, we can conclude that discrepancies in verbal and non-verbal behavior stems from different types of Russian and English cultures. Russian people, being representatives of a collectivist culture, tend to be explicitly open-hearted, sincere and straightforward, which explains their preference to use expressive linguistic means. However, it should be noted, that they are open only to their close friends and relatives. Thus, they tend to use typical etiquette expressions when it comes to interacting with strangers.

On the contrary, English people, being representatives of individualistic culture, tend to use implicit means of expressing surprise. The dominant feature of this type of culture is demonstrative and even feigned friendliness. Expression of surprise is characterized by markedly explicit, emphatic and even hyperbolic demonstration of goodwill without obligatory cultural demand to correspond to the true feelings of the speaker. Another dominant feature of individualistic culture is personal independence and self-reliance. This can be demonstrated by their tendency to be persistent and see the situation of surprise as the force, which impels the person to act in an unexpected situation with the intention of changing it in their favor.

 

 

List of references:

1. Апресян Ю.Д. Избранные труды, том II. Интегральное описание языка и системная лексикография. – М.: ≪Языки русской культуры≫, 1995.

2. Арнольд И.В. Потенциальные и скрытые семы и их актуализация в английском художественном тексте // Иностранные языки в школе. - 1979. - № 5. - С. 10-14.

3. Арутюнова, Н. Д. Язык и мир человека – М.: Языки русской культуры. – 1999. – 896с.

4. Белл, Р. Т. Социолингвистика. Цели, методы и проблемы – М.: Международные отношения, 1980. – 318 с.

5. Балли Ш. Французская стилистика. –М. 1961.

6. Беляева Е.И. Грамматика и прагматика побуждения: Английский язык. Воронеж, издательство ВГУ, 1992.

7. Богданов В.В. Деятельный аспект семантики. Прагматика и семнатика синтаксических единиц: сборник научных трудов – КГУ, 1984.

8.Верещагин ЕМ. и Костомаров В.Г. Язык и культура: Лингвострановедение в преподавании русского языка как иностранного. 4-е.изд., перераб. и доп. – М., 1990

9. Верещагин Е.М., Костомаров В.Г. О своеобразии отражения мимики и жестов вербальными средствами (на материале русского языка) // Вопросы языкознания 1981. – № 1.

10. Воробьев, В. В. Лингвокультурология: теория и методы - М.: изд-во РУДН, 1997. – 331 с

11.Глушак В.М. Речевое поведение коммуникантов в ситуациях повседневного общения. Монография. – Новосибирск: ЦРНС, 2009. – 165 с.

12. Грайс Г.П. Логика и речевое общение. Новое в зарубежной лингвистике. Выпуск 16. М: Прогресс, 1989.

13. Гудков Д.Б. Типы коммуникативных неудач// Slavica gandensia, 2000, № 27.

14. Ермакова О.Н., Земская Е.А. К построению типологии коммуникативных неудач// Русский язык в его функционировании. – М., 1993.

15. Земская, Е. А. Русская разговорная речь: лингвистический анализ и проблемы обучения: учебное пособие – М.: Русский язык, 1979. – 240 с.

16. Зубкова, Я. В. Концепт «пунктуальность» в немецкой и русской лингвокультурах: Автореф. дис…канд. филол. наук. – Волгоград, 2003.

17. Иванова С.В. Культурологический аспект языковых единиц. - Уфа, 2002. - 116 с.

18. Иванова С.В. Лингвокультурологический аспект исследования языковых единиц: Автореферат дисс.... док. филол. наук. - Уфа: 2003.-41 с.

19. Иванова С.В., Чанышева З.З. Лингвокультурологя: проблемы, поиски, решения: Монография. – Уфа: РИЦ БашГУ, 2010. С. 37-51, 104-127.

20. Ионин Л.Г. Социология культуры. - М.: Логос, 1996. - 280 с.

21. Капанадзе Л.А., Красильникова Е.В. Жест и структура высказывания в разговорной речи // Русская разговорная речь. – М., 1973.

22. Карасик, В. И. Языковой круг: личность, концепты, дискурс - Волгоград: Перемена, 2002. – 477 с.

23. Карасик, В. И., Слышкин, Г. Г. Лингвокультурный концепт как единица исследования // Методологические проблемы когнитивной лингвистики: Сб. науч. Трудов / Под ред. И. А. Стернина. – Воронеж, 2001.

24. Кобозева И.М. Лингвистическая семантика. - М.: Эдиториал УРСС, 2000. - 352 с.

25. Костомаров В.Г., Бурвикова Н.Д. Об одной из единиц описания текста в аспекте диалога культур // Иностранные языки в школе. - 2000. - № 5. - С. 3-6.

26. Красных В.В. Этнопсихолингвистика и пингвокультурология: Курс лекций. - М.: ИТДГК «Гнозис», 2002. - 284 с.

27. Колшанский Г.В. Соотношение субъективных и объективных факторов в языке. - М.: Наука, 1975.

28. Крейдлин Г.Е. Невербальная семиотика: Язык тела и естественный язык. – М.: Новое литературное обозрение, 2004.

29.Кукушин В.С. Деловой этикет. - Москва – Ростов-на-Дону: МарТ., 2003.

30. Ладо Р. Лингвистика поверх границ культур // Новое в зарубежной лингвистике. Выпуск XXV. - М.: Прогресс, 1989. - С. 32-62.

31. Лебедева Н.М. Введение в этническую и кросскультурную психологию - Издательский дом: Ключ., 1999.

32. Леонтьев А.А. Язык, речь, речевая деятельность. М: Просвещение, 1969.

33. Маслова, В. А. Лингвокультурология: учебное пособие для студентов высших учебных заведений – М., 2001. – 208 с.

34. Мечковская Н. Б. Социальная лингвистика. – М., 2000.

35. Муханов И.Л. Интонация в практике русской диалогической речи – М., 2009

36. Николаева В.В. Эстетика языка и речи – Л.: Наука, 1979. – 216с]

37. Попова, З. Д., Стернин, И. А. Язык как национальная картина мира – Воронеж, 2000. – 59 с.

38. Степанов, Ю. С. Константы. Словарь русской культуры. Опыт исследования - М.: Школа «Языки русской культуры», 1997. – 824 с.

39. Стернин, И.А. Улыбка в русской коммуникативном поведении – М., 2000а

40. Стернин, И.А. Что такое коммуникативное поведение? – М., 2002б

41. Стернин И.А.. О понятии коммуникативного поведения – Halle., 1989 - 279-282с

42. Телия В.Н. Русская фразеология. Семантический, прагматический и лингвокультурологический аспекты - М.: Школа «Языки русской культуры», 1998. - 288с.

43. Фокс К. Наблюдая за англичанами. Скрытые правила поведения. – М., 2008

44.Формановская Н.И. Употребление русского речевого этикета – М., 1982

45.Формановская Н. И. Русский речевой этикет: лингвистический и методический аспекты – М., 1987

46.Формановская Н.И. Речевое общение: коммуникативно-прагматический подход – М., 2002а

47.Формановская Н.И. Русский речевой этикет: нормативный социокультурный контекст – М., 2002 б.

48. Чанышева З.З. Уровни понимания в межкультурном общении//Языковые единицыв парадигматике и синтакгматике: Сб.науч. Статей: В 2 ч. Ч.I. – Уфа: РИЦ БашГУ, 2008. – С.225-235

49. Швейцер А.Д. Введение в социолингвстику. М., 1978.

50. Austin I.L. How to do thing with words. Oxford University, 1962.

51. Hanvey R.G. Cross-cultural awareness // An attainable global perspective. - New York: Center for global perspective, 1976.

52. Izard C.E. The Psychology Of Emotions, 1991.

53. Lucy J.A. The scope of linguistic relativity: An analysis and review of empirical research // Rethinking Linguistic Relativity / Ed. by J.J. Gumperz and S.C. Levinson. - Cambridge University Press, 1996. - P 37- 69.

54. Niemeier S. and Dirven R. The Language of Emotions, 1997 – p.162-163

55. Omaggio A.C. Teaching Language in Context. - Boston, Mass.: Heinle & Heinle Publishers, Inc., 1986. -479 p.

56. Searle J.R. Expression and meaning. Cambridge, 1979.

57. Seelye H.N. Teaching Culture: Strategies for Intercultural Communication. - Lincolnwood, Illinois USA: NTC Publishing Group, 1993.-XIII, 289 p.

58. Whorf B. Language, Thought, and Reality. - Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1956. - XI, 278 p.

 

 

Dictionaries:

1. Ожегов С.И., Шведова Н.Ю. Толковый словарь русского языка M., 1949.

2. Oxford Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms, complied by Alan Spooner, 2005, Oxford University Press.

3. Soule’s Dictionary of English Synonyms. Словарь синонимов английского языка.

4. The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. Micropaedia. Knowledge in Depth. -Vol. 22. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.: Chicago, 1994.-994 p.

 

Fiction:

1. Донцова Д. Метро до Африки – М.: Эксмо, 2007

2. Донцова Д. Зимнее лето весны – М.: Эксмо, 2007

3. Маринина А. Черный список – М.: Эксмо, 1995

4. Маринина А. Благие намерения – М.: Эксмо, 2009

5. Гармаш-Роффе Т. Королевский сорняк – М.: Эксмо, 2007

6. Устинова Т. Одна тень на двоих – М.: Эксмо, 2005

7. Устинова Т. Отель последней надежды – М.: Эксмо, 2006

8. Устинова Т. Саквояж со светлым будущим – М.: Эксмо, 2005

9. Устинова Т. Близкие Люди – М.: Эксмо, 2003.

10. Archer J. A twist in the tale - Pan Books, 2003

11. Archer J. A Quiver Full Of Arrows - Pan Books, 2003

12. Archer J. False Impression - MacMillan, 2005

13. Archer J. Honor Among Thieves - Harper Collins, 1993

14. Niven J. Amateurs - William Heinemann, 2009

15. Niven J. Kill Your Friends - William Heinemann, 2008

16. Mayle P. A good year - Vintage, 2005

17. Hill R. Good Morning Midnight - Harper Collins, 2004

18. Rendell R. (under pseudonym Barbara Vine) The Chimney Sweeper's Boy - Washington Square Press, 2006

19. Rendell R. No night is too long - Onyx, 2003

20. Rendell R. The Water’s Lovely - Hutchinson, 2006

 

Contents

Introduction …………………………………………......…………………...……..3

Chapter I. Review of approaches to the study of speech behavior………………...5

1.1 Speech behavior in the structure of speech communication. The interdependence of the theory of speech behavior on the theory of speech acts………………………6
1.2 Non-verbal communicative behavior…………………………………………..17

1.3 Speech etiquette in the structure of communicative behavior. Principles of politeness...................................................................................................................22

1.4 Sociolinguistic parameters of communication…………………………………26

Chapter II. The problems of revealing the cultural meanings of language and speech units………….……………………………………………………………...32

2.1 The interaction of cultural and linguistic aspects................................................33

2.2 The specificity of cultural linguistics investigation field and methods...............40

2.3 National specificity of Russian and English communication..............................47

Chapter III. Analysis of pragmatic properties and lexico-grammatical means of expressing surprise in the English and Russian languages………...……………….54

3.1 The structure of analysis……………………...……..…...……………...……...54

3.2 Classifications of speech acts expressing surprise.……………...……………..55

3.2.1 Speech acts expressing surprise in the Russian language…………………….58

3.2.2 Speech acts expressing surprise in the English language…………………….63

3.3 Stylistic means of expressing surprise………………………………………….69

3.3.1 Stylistic means of expressing surprise in the Russian language……………...69
3.3.2 Stylistic means of expressing surprise in the English language…………...…71

3.4. Non-verbal means of expressing surprise……………………………………...74

3.4.1 Non-verbal means of expressing surprise in the Russian language…………..74

3.4.2 Non-verbal means of expressing surprise in the English language…………..76

3.5 Nationally specific stereotypes of verbal and non-verbal behavior in expressing

surprise…...………………………………………………………...…….…………79

Conclusions ………………………...……..……………………..………………...84

List of references ………………………………..………...……………………….88

Introduction.

The present paper is devoted to the analysis of culturally specific differences of means of expressing surprise in the Russian and English languages, as well as to the study of cultural linguistic grounds of the revealed discrepancies in the use of the means of expressing it by native speakers and reaction to it.

The object of study is culturally specific means of expressing surprise in English and Russian communication.

The topicality of the paper stems from the fact that there’s a growing interest of cultural linguistics towards the interaction of cultural and linguistic aspects in speech etiquette units of expressing surprise in the Russian and English languages. The topicality is also determined by the connection of the object of study with a cognitive communicative paradigm of modern linguistic research, based mainly on human factor.

The topicality of the paper has predetermined the aim and objectives:

The aim of the research is to compare cultural peculiarities of lexico-grammatical nature and functional properties of means of expressing surprise in English and Russian communication.

The aim is achieved the fulfillment of the following tasks:

- To consider such notions as the speech act, the communicative behavior, the speech etiquette;

- To consider the problems of revealing the cultural meanings of language and speech units;

- To consider the specificity of cultural linguistics investigation field and methods;

- To single out culturally specific speech acts expressing surprise in the English and Russian languages;

- To analyze pragmatic properties of the means of expressing surprise;

- To analyze and compare typical lexico-grammatical means of expressing surprise in the English and Russian languages;

- To summarize the analysis from the point of view of revealing corresponding cultural features of English and Russian communicative behavior.

The material for the analysis includes 450 examples of speech acts in the Russian and English languages, expressing surprise, selected from 20 contemporary detective stories by D. Dontsova, A. Marinina, T. Garmash-Roffe, T. Ustinova, J. Archer, J. Niven, P. Mayle, R. Hill, R. Rendell (the total number of pages is around 6000).

The methods of analysis used in the present paper: contextual analysis, definitional analysis, quantitative analysis, structural and functional analysis.

The composition of the paper is as follows: introduction, two theoretical chapters, one empirical chapter, conclusion, and list of references.

The first chapter (“The main approaches to the study of speech behavior”) includes three paragraphs. It deals with speech behavior, namely: speech behavior in the structure of speech communication. The interdependence of the theory of speech behavior on the theory of speech acts, non-verbal behavior, speech etiquette and principles of politeness.

The second chapter (“The problems of revealing the cultural meanings of language and speech units”) includes three paragraphs, it deals with interaction of cultural and linguistic aspects, considers specificity of cultural linguistics investigation field and methods, as well as specific features of the English and Russian cultures.

The third chapter (“Analysis of pragmatic properties and lexico-grammatical means of expressing surprise in the English and Russian languages”) is empirical, it includes five paragraphs. This chapter deals with the classification of speech acts expressing surprise, stylistic and non-verbal means of expressing surprise. The nationally specific differences are presented in the fifth paragraph.

In the conclusions I summarize the results of the theoretical reviews and practical analysis.

 

 

Chapter I. The main approaches to the study of speech behavior.

In modern linguistics, the status of speech behavior is highly uncertain. This is indicated, firstly, by the lack of clear definition of the concept of behavior in the speech, and secondly, by the variety of terms used to define this phenomenon (speech behavior, verbal behavior, language behavior, communicative behavior, etc.), and thirdly, by a mixed assessment of this phenomenon in linguistic studies.

Speech behavior is interpreted as a communicative discourse phenomenon that allows us to trace the connection between the processes of verbal interaction between the communicants and discursive categories. This should contribute to the creation of the concept of speech behavior, on the basis of which one can identify conceptual models of speech behavior [Глушак 2009]. In activity a person’s actions are determined by the conscious purposes and motives, and the behavior is quite often habitual, and motives and purposes are in subconsciousness.

Analysis of the characteristics of verbal communication in social interaction is connected with distinction of the following levels of social communication:

- Communication of people as representatives of various groups (national, age, professional status, etc.). In this case, the determining factor of speech behavior of two or more people is their group affiliation or social position (employer - employee, consultant – client, teacher - student, etc.);

- Transferring of information to a variety of people: direct in the case public speech or indirect in the case of the mass communication [Формановская 2002a].

The speech behavior is stereotypical, habitual, therefore it is expressed in stereotype utterances, speech clichés, on the one hand, and in the manifestation of individual speech of the given person on the other hand. They distinguish verbal and nonverbal aspects of speech behavior. The verbal aspect of speech behavior assumes “rules and traditions of speech intercourse in certain conditions of communication”, and it reflects in the choice of adequate etiquette formulas for different situations, in observance of a sequence of fragments of intercourse and time restrictions in different communicative groups. The nonverbal aspect covers paralinguistic means regulated by the given linguistic and cultural community in order to realize the process of intercourse. A linguistic person belonging to the given time, country, region, social group, family is manifested in the speech behavior. Speech etiquette, routinely implemented in speech communication, involves background knowledge of the individuals on the culture of the native-speakers, so it is a necessary component in studying a foreign language. Communicative behavior is an integral part of nation's culture that is why it involves consideration of this phenomenon in cultural linguistic aspect.