Abstract: The object of the study is the Russian and Chinese speech etiquette at the table. The author examines in detail such aspects of the topic as differences in seating arrangements, use of dinner set and meal system between China and Russia at business banquets, and also lists the relevant rules of etiquette and at the same time indicates the specific reasons for the differences. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the reasons for these differences by comparing the seating arrangements, use of dinner set and meal system at business banquets between Russia and China, and practical recommendations are given for future business banquets between Russia and China. The special conclusions of the study are religious ideology, geography, history and culture have a very important influence on table manners in Russia and China. The author's special contribution to the research of the topic is the analysis and comparison of speech etiquette at the table in business communication between Russians and Chinese, which helps the staff of both countries to better understand each other in economic and trade cooperation. The novelty of this article lies in pointing out not only the differences between Russian and Chinese business banquets, but also the factors influencing these differences.

Keywords: principles of using dinner set, principles of seating arrangements, Russian banquet, chinese banquet, meal system, use of dinner set, seating arrangements, business banquet, influential factors, business conversation

Abstract: The article is devoted to the methods of classification of ancient toponyms from the point of view of their external and internal structure. The first paragraph of the article gives a brief outline of the history of the issue. Despite the generally large number of works devoted to individual problems of ancient Greek toponymy or individual toponyms, only a few works in both domestic and foreign scientific historiography are devoted to the study of ancient Greek toponymy as a system from a philological point of view. The object of research in this article is the problems of creating a common word-formation-semantic classification of ancient Greek geographical names as a whole. The subject of the study is the ancient toponyms of the Cilician plain (Greek. Κιλικία πεδιάς) – low plains in the south of modern Turkey. Among the toponyms of Plain Cilicia, geographical names of ancient Greek and Latin origin (24 ancient Greek and 5 Latin names) were selected and analyzed for morphological structure and semantic features. Special attention is paid to the problems of etymologization of toponyms and the indication of centuries of fixation. The classification of ancient Greek toponyms, proposed in a 1965 article by the Swiss Hellenist Ernst Risch, is taken as a basis. The results of the study are presented in a table reflecting the four main word-formation types of ancient Greek toponyms in diachrony.

Keywords: hellenization, composites and juxtaposites, diachrony, classification of toponyms, etymology, semantics, ancient toponymy, word - formation type, the ancient Greek language, Cilician Plain

Abstract: The article addresses the subject of the use of Greek in the apologiae for Castilian (Spanish) language, drawing upon the key Spanish scientific treatises, and literary texts of the Spanish Golden Age (end of the 15th — first half of the 17th centuries), which mention Greek in an attempt to assert the prestige of Castilian. Particular attention is paid to the judgments about Greek and native languages expressed in the works of A. de Nebrija, J. de Valdés, C. de Villalón, F. de Medina, A. de Morales, F. de Quevedo, G. Correas and other writers and thinkers. Most studies in the field have always been primarily focused on the comparisons of Romance languages with their “mother”, Latin, while the use of Greek in the apologiae for Castilian has been a less frequent topic of study. The author comes to a conclusion that Greek invariably acts as the highest reference point for the Spanish grammarians, philologists and thinkers (and as an arbitrator or, sometimes, an "ally" of Castilian), while the attitudes towards Latin evolve over the course of the 15th–17th centuries.

Keywords: Spanish national identity, language debate, apologia for Castilian, humanism, Spanish Golden Age, Greek, Ancient Greece, Spanish, Castilian, Latin

Abstract: The object of our research is the problem of the integration of Spanish, Persian, Armenian and Slavic loanwords into the Greek language, while the subject is the etymology of μοῦτζος / μοῦτσος and μουζακίτζης. Special attention is paid to the problems of etymology and the nuances of dictionary entries throughout various time periods and source languages. It can be stated that the loanwords originated from various spheres of human activity, such as: seafaring, commerce, warfare, politics and government. We take in account both linguistic peculiarities and the usage context of μουζακίτζης, which is a hapax legomenon in Leo Deaconus’s Historia. The main conclusion of the study is that the most plausible version of the origin of μουζακίτζης is the Persian one (from موزک mūzak). We also provide solid counter-evidence against the Irano-Armenian and Slavic versions. The Spanish etymology of μοῦτζος / μοῦτσος (← mozo) is confirmed, possibly via Italian mozzo. The novelty of the study consists summarizing of the lexicological and lexicographic descriptions of the analyzed words and in the systematization of Byzantine and Modern Greek anthroponymy containing the Μο(υ)ζακ- element, as well as in the proposed conjecture into the text of Leo Deaconus’s edition, which assumes capitalization (Μουζακίτζης instead of μουζακίτζης). The relevance of the study is determined by the analysis of the loanword borrowing into the lexical fund of the Greek language within the context of the multilingualism of the Byzantine Empire, including the use of vocabulary, which has so far received insufficient attention in linguistics.

Keywords: Byzantine Empire, multilingualism, etymology, loanwords, Proto-Slavic, Armenian, Persian, Spanish, Greek, Leo Diaconus

Abstract: The article examines the features of the functioning of precedent signs of high culture with the source sphere “F.M. Dostoevsky” in the media space. The subject of the study is media texts that use the precedents of the specified sphere (texts, statements, situations), the authorship of which is attributed to the writer. The purpose of the article is to identify “false” quotations as part of Dostoevsky's precedent world and analyze their high frequency in media texts. Media texts published in Russian publications, as well as materials from social networks and blogs, were used as the research material. Methods of contextual analysis of precedent phenomena and their “transformations”, the method of semantic and pragmatic interpretation were used for the analysis. To identify the “pseudo-citations”, literary studies of scientists devoted to the study of the creativity and biography of F.M. Dostoevsky were required. The scientific novelty of the work consists in the fact that it analyzes for the first time the “pseudo-precedent” cultural signs actively replicated in the media space with the source sphere “Dostoevsky” from the point of view of their ethical correctness and aesthetic value. The conducted research revealed the frequency of the use of Dostoevsky's “pseudo-citations” in the modern media space; in addition, several groups of the writer's “pseudo-citations” were identified according to the degree of unreliability of information. The research materials allowed us to conclude about the potential risks of replication of Dostoevsky's “pseudo-citations” acting as a means of political propaganda and ideological struggle. The results of the research can be used in the development of special courses in media linguistics, axiological linguistics and linguoethics.

Keywords: linguoethics, precedent world, precedent personality, pseudo-citation, Russian classical literature, Dostoevsky, signs of high culture, precedent sign, media text, media fake

Abstract: The article is devoted to the analysis of the last poem by the bright representative of the Silver Age of Russian poetry Sergey Yesenin. The poem "The Black Man" is not only and not so much the poet's confession before his death, but the result of the poet's work, the logical, albeit tragic, completion of his artistic and life searches. The article examines the key images and motifs of the Yesenin poem in trans-literary and trans-cultural aspects, including references to medieval mysticism, mediated by the Russian literary tradition of the XIX-early XX century. The reception of mystical experience in the artistic world of Yesenin takes place through a rethinking of the traditions of Orthodox spirituality, the European Christian worldview and the romantic picture of the world.

Keywords: mystery, silver Age, symbolism, poet-prophet, duality, demonic motives, romanticism, medieval mysticism, Pushkin, Sergei Yesenin

Abstract: Automated and machine translation tools have become integral elements of the translation process, but their place in translation models is still not defined. On the one hand, the trend towards automating translation practices is reducing the burden on human translators, freeing them from repetitive, tedious and low-tech tasks and freeing them up for more complex and creative tasks, on the other hand, it is also invading into the territory of professional translators at the conversion level. This article attempts to comprehend translation activity in the era of digital translation and modeling of translation activity taking into account digital technologies, as opposed to the model of traditional translation activity. The main result of this work can be considered as definition of the place of digital technologies in the actant model of translation activity as auxiliary means. With the development of digital technologies, the model of translation activity is developing towards automation and the emergence of new forms of translation activity. At the level of intercultural communication, since AI does not yet have the emotional and creative intelligence of a higher mind, as well as the biological and social characteristics inherent in human intelligence, automatic translation models are subject to limited cultural, contextual, historical and social norms. It is for this reason that machine translations require final editing, interpretation, adaptation, and other cultural adjustments by human translators.

Keywords: forms of translation activity, modeling of translation activity, digitalization, digital technologies, information and communication technologies, The Internet, machine translation, structure of translation activity, automated translation, translation activities

Abstract: The purpose of the article is to identify and establish common and distinctive central features of the concept of "fidelity" based on the materials of German and Russian literary texts of the first half of the twentieth century. The object of the study are lexemes representing the value representation of the linguistic and cultural concept of "fidelity" in the Russian and German languages. The subject of the proposed research is the lexical and semantic explication of the conceptual component of the concept of "fidelity" in German and Russian literary texts, the direction of realism in the first half of the twentieth century. The study used such methods as: definitional analysis, component analysis, comparative method, as well as the reception of quantitative calculations. In the work, as a scientific novelty, it is proposed to study for the first time the verbalization of the conceptual component of the concept of "fidelity" on the material of literary texts in a comparative aspect. The analysis allows us to conclude that the conceptual component of the concept can be verbally represented in the form of synonyms of nuclear lexemes, which, according to their meanings, can represent the center and periphery of the concept. Also, as a result of the conducted research, the presence of distinctive central conceptual signs of loyalty was determined, namely: in German literary texts, it is devotion and affection, and in Russian texts - constancy.

Keywords: comparative typology, verbalization, synonym, dictionary, concept center, literary text, Russian, German, concept fidelity, token

Abstract: The article focuses on estimating the influence of Rudyard Kipling’s figure on the works of his younger contemporary, the American Frank Norris. The author comes to the conclusion that the English writer fundamentally determined his literary follower’s development vector. Kipling who has become extremely popular among American readers raises Norris’s interest toward neo-romantic short story. The early stage of Norris’s work is noted by Kipling’s powerful influence and the article reveals common plot, compositional and stylistic elements in their works. The writers are united by artistic ideals: Kipling and Norris emphasize the exotic and the criminal and treat the concept of masculinity in a similar way in their short stories. The relevance and scientific novelty of the article are determined by the fact that the article studies Norris’s short stories which were previously unexplored in Russian literary criticism. The author makes an attempt to determine the significance of romanticism’s legacy for Norris’s work and to demonstrate its close relationship with naturalism, exploring various works by R. Kipling. The article uses the following methods: elements of the biographical method; estimation of Norris's theoretical ideas according to the principles of cultural studies; comparative analysis of the works of the two authors. The article can be used in teaching the history of foreign (in particular, American) literature in higher educational institutions.

Keywords: romanticism, masculinity, pastiche, criminal, exotic, neo-romanticism, Rudyard Kipling, naturalism, Frank Norris, imperialism

Abstract: Modern Japanese fantasy is based on a limited set of characters. One of them is “demon lord” or "Maou" (jap. 魔王). Given the growing popularity of novels implementing the character during composition, as well as growing popularity of manga and anime adaptations, it seems relevant to study the key characters of Japanese fantasy. In this regard, the purpose of the study is to determine the role of the demon lord character. Subject of the study pertains to modern Japanese fantasy. To achieve research goals, methods of comparative historical analysis, J. G. Kavelty's literary formula approach, and content analysis were used.   The main result of the work was identification of the characteristic features and the role of the demon lord as character in its diachronic and synchronic aspects. The fields of application of the research results are literary studies, Oriental studies, the study of modern Japanese mass literature. It is concluded that the demon lord as a concept dates back to traditional Buddhist origins, but nowadays returns to its roots in a new capacity after adapting Japanese popular culture, in response to the needs of modern man. In the context of modern mass literature, the demon lord holds value as a type of standard of Japanese fantasy and as an important element of the conventional structure of the literary formula.

Keywords: isekai, concept, Japanese reincarnation fantasy, collocations, content analysis, fictional character, formula literature, popular literature, japanese fantasy, fantasy

Abstract: The article is devoted to the heroic image in the national epic «David of Sasun», which is an ancient Armenian heroic epic, as well as the pinnacle of Armenian classical folk literature. The subject of the study is the heroic image of four generations of Sasun. The purpose of this study is to study the typological features of the heroes of Sasun, to explain their origin and the transformation of characters due to territorial features. The article shows that to a large extent they are similar to the images of early ancient Homer's heroes with primitive colors, noble origin and mighty power. They are distinguished by amazing strength, great kindness and bravery, an acute sense of justice and compassion, a high degree of patriotism, strong sense of collectivism and valuable civilian consciousness. In general, being a kind of symbol, the image of the Sasun’s heroes reflects the deep desire of the Armenian people, who have suffered from foreign aggression for a long time, for world peace, national independence and a strong national defender. But at the same time, the author identifies those features that distinguish them from the heroes of other epics in the article. The fact is that over time, being passed from mouth to mouth, they "localized" on the territory of the Armenian Highlands and acquired the qualities inherent in this people with fundamentally different thinking, activities and ideas about bravery, about war. The article shows the similarities and differences between the heroes of the Armenian and Greek epics, the distinctive characteristics of the behavior and character of the heroes of the Armenian epic. The major research methods are text analysis and comparative study.

Keywords: epic, Armenia, Sasun, Mher the Younger, David, Mher the Elder, David of Sasun, Sanasar, image, hero

Abstract: The article deals with the evolution of the rhetoric of academic communication in the genre of university lecturing. The main emphasis is laid on its socio-cultural, historical, psychological and phonetic antecedents beginning with the times of antiquity to these days. It is the speaking image of the lecturer and those rhetorical means that facilitate one’s interaction with the university audience that come into focus. The task is to show how knowledge is shared via university lecturing with respect to traditions of public speaking and the linguoculturological realia of this or that epoch. In other words, what comes to the fore in this paper is continuity and optimization of intellective communication in the present-day Global English space. The main conclusion the authors arrive at is that to introduce any changes in the non-native speakers’ rhetoric of academic discourse a really comprehensive cognitive processing of the genre of lecturing is required. Different aesthetic and ethical aspects of academic English are to be taken into account and weighed up from different angles, including its innovative phonostylistic design in the West and the traditions of intellective communication in other parts of the globe.

Keywords: British publich speaking, American public speaking, university lecture, intellective communication, speaking culture, English academic discourse, lecturing style, phonostylistics, prosodic minimum, speaking image

Abstract: The object of this study is ancient Chinese literature, and its subject is the depiction of female characters in the literary works of Ancient China. The following research methods were chosen: meaningful analysis of specific female images in ancient Chinese literature; a comparative analysis of the typical characters of female characters, a comparative historical analysis of the images of women in literary works of various periods in the development of Ancient China, a historical analysis of the influence of literary works on the formation of female self-awareness. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that it is an analysis of female images in the literature of Ancient China from various points of view: in terms of historical development, terms of typical characters, and in terms of influence on modern women. Based on the results of the work done, the following conclusions are drawn: female images in Chinese literature have rapidly transformed as Chinese society has developed. The courageous and determined characters of literature have helped real Chinese females to boost their self-confidence to start fighting for their rights.

Keywords: literary characters, literary images, Chinese women, women's literature, position of women, women, status of women, Ancient Chinese literature, literature, female writers

Abstract: The article is devoted to the study of the specifics of the category of aspectuality in the Russian language in the context of the implementation of its (category) temporal and non-temporal characteristics, considered in the focus of the Chinese language. The purpose of the work was to identify the features of the expression of temporal and non-temporal characteristics of the category of aspectuality of the Russian verb in the context of the Chinese language. The object of the study is Russian verbs that characterize the aspectual system of the language under consideration, in the context of the Chinese system of aspectuality. The subject of the study is the specificity of the temporal and non-temporal characteristics of the category of aspectuality in the framework of its expression and implementation in Russian in the context of Chinese. The following methods were used during the study: analysis (component, comparative, semantic-cognitive), synthesis, generalization, comparison, dialectical method, descriptive method, classification method, functional method, etc. The main conclusions of the study are : temporal and non-temporal components of the category of aspectuality are represented in Russian to a greater extent by verbs, to a lesser extent by predicatives and auxiliary non-verbal means; in Chinese they are represented by lexical means (morphological signs of aspectuality are not pronounced). The author's special contribution to the study of the topic is to identify the specifics of the expression and implementation of temporal and non-temporal characteristics of the category of aspectuality in Russian in the context of Chinese. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time (within the framework of the problems of modern linguistics) a comprehensive analysis of the specifics of the expression and implementation of temporal and non-temporal characteristics of the category of aspectuality of the Russian verb in the context of the Chinese language was carried out.

Keywords: perfect view, species pair, aspect, functional-semantic field, non-temporal characteristics, species affiliation, Russian, temporal characteristics, actionality, category of aspectuality

Abstract: The subject of the study is the possibility of applying M.M. Bakhtin's theory of polyphony to the analysis of dramatic works. Bakhtin’s concept of "polyphony" is associated with the identification of a new novel genre – the polyphonic novel and a new type of artistic thinking, which is different from the monological type. Bakhtin justified the new phenomenon on the example of the work of F.M. Dostoevsky, and does it have a wider distribution? According to many Chinese researchers, Bakhtin's theory of polyphony can be applied not only to Dostoevsky, but also to the dramaturgy of W. Shakespeare, A.P. Chekhov, the Chinese playwright Gao Xingjian, etc. They try to analyze the polyphonic features of various dramatic works, relying on Bakhtin's theory of polyphony. However, some researchers do not accurately interpret Bakhtin's concept. They discover elements of polyphony in some dramatic work and thus consider it quite polyphonic. In this article, the author examines Bakhtin's statements about the monologue of drama and reveals the inaccuracy of Chinese researchers’ interpretations of Bakhtin’s concept of polyphony. Based on the conducted research, we came to the conclusion that M.M. Bakhtin's theory of polyphony does not go beyond the limits of the novel genre, and it cannot be applied to the analysis of dramatic works. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that this article examines various interpretations of Bakhtin’s concepts and terms and reveals the incorrect use of the Bakhtin’s theory of polyphony in modern Chinese literary studies. The author's special contribution to the research of the topic is to determine the scope of the application of M.M. Bakhtin's theory of polyphony and to identify the state of reception of Bakhtin's theory of polyphony in China.

Keywords: dialogue, Dostoevsky, novel genre, Gao Xingjian, hero-ideologue, Chekhov, Shakespeare, drama, polyphony, Bakhtin