The Specifics of Word Formation in Chinese Russian-Learners' Interlanguage

Chzhen Qianmin Postgraduate student, Department of Russian Language and its Teaching Methods, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia 123290, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, 39k1 Shmitovsky Ave. toujie@mail.ru Other publications by this author

IntroductionThe relevance of the study is due to the close economic, political, and cultural relations between Russia and China in recent decades and the increase in the number of Chinese students studying Russian, as well as the number of Russian students studying Chinese.

In the process of mastering a second language, students build their own language system, namely the interlanguage. Most of the research specializing in the topic of interlanguage focuses on phonetic and syntactic aspects, less attention is paid to the lexical aspect of the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian. Thus, the study of the specifics of word formation in the interlanguage of Chinese students is important and relevant.

To achieve the purpose of the study, it is necessary to perform the following tasks:

1) consider the research related to the term "interlanguage", find common features of the interlanguage;

2) systematize and analyze the specifics of the phrase in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian.

In accordance with the purpose and objectives of the study, such methods as the descriptive method, the method of distributive analysis, the oppositional method, the method of comparative analysis, etc. are used.

Oral and written language materials of two groups of Chinese philology students studying Russian at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, namely, examples of word formation, were obtained by the author from classroom tests and extracurricular assignments developed by teachers and used as language research materials.

A number of fundamental research works in the field of interlanguage are also devoted to such terms as "almost-language", "intermediate language", "interlanguage", "interlanguage system", etc. ^{[14, p. 171]}. The term "interlanguage" is chosen as more modern and widespread, it is used in most recent Russian studies.

V. M. Shaklein, Ts. M. Zheng note that "the definition of the term "interlanguage", which came to Russian linguistics in the late 90s of the XX century, is the same as in foreign linguistics. At the beginning of the XXI century, the theory of interlanguage is gradually developing in Russian linguistics" ^{[13, p. 46]}.

. In recent years, in Russian linguistics, the phenomenon of interlanguage has been devoted to the works of E. B. Alexandrovskaya, A.V. Bagdueva, M. P. Zhigalova, D. E. Zamanstanchuk, N. V. Loseva, E. V. Perekhvalskaya, L. N. Polunina, N. N. Rogozna, I. Yu. Sukhotina, M. N. Tsylina, V. M. Shaklein, etc. ^{[5; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8, 9, 10; 11; 12; 13,14]}.

The practical significance of the research lies in the fact that the collected language materials can be used in courses or seminars on the topic of "interlanguage" in universities, due to the fact that the authors based on them developed tests for classroom work and assignments for independent and homework. At the same time, the results of the study provide useful recommendations in the activities of teaching a foreign language – in the second language classes, especially in the classes for teaching Chinese students Russian. The obtained research results can be used in the process of compiling textbooks and teaching materials on the discipline of the Russian language or applied linguistics.

The main partHaving studied the works of L. Selinker ^[17] and other researchers, N. N. Rogoznaya notes that "interlanguage is a special language system that arises when learning L2 (a second language), which is in a state of intermediate competence, which in a state of dynamics moves to the level of a perfect form of language proficiency" ^{[8, p. 78]}.

For N. N. Rogoznaya, "the complexity of uncovering the problems of language contacts and their solution lies not in complex interactions of languages, but in a complex phenomenon where factors of different order are intertwined: linguistic, psycholinguistic, psychological, social, linguoculturological, ethnohistorical, biopsychic and many others necessary for solving problems" ^{[10, p. 56]}. From her point of view, language learning is a complex process, students are required to master the rules of the language being studied under the influence of linguistic, psycholinguistic, psychological, social, linguoculturological, ethnohistorical, biopsychic and other factors.

I. L. Ashmarina's interlanguage means that "an interlanguage is a restructured continuum of an intermediate language system that arises in an individual on the way from his native language to mastering a foreign one" ^{[1, p. 483]}.

V. M. Shaklein and Zheng Qianmin note that the interlanguage has such features as "consistency, individuality, dynamism" ^{[14, p. 171]}.

According to N. N. Rogoznaya, the interlanguage "has an ontological status, the essence of natural language, consistency and structurality, a time factor of a communicatively limited sphere of use, capable of constant expansion. In addition, it has a restriction on the left in the form of a native language and on the right in the form of a non–native language, which once again emphasizes its intermediate nature and autonomy" ^{[10, p. 62]}.

In the last work of N. N. Rogoznaya, the concepts of such features of the interlanguage as: "1) independence; 2) phasing; 3) dynamism; 4) consistency; 5) regularity" are updated ^{[10, p. 63]}. Along with this, N. N. Rogoznaya added the following general characteristics of the interlanguage: "1) relative lack of connection with the languages Ya1 and Ya2; 2) consistency; 3) conservativeness; 4) low permeability; 5) ossification (or locking function); 6) quick contact; 7) linguistic and functional limitations and etc. " ^{[10, p. 58]}.

The specifics of word formation in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian are considered in such aspects as the specifics of the prefix a, the specifics of the suffix and the specifics of the endings of words:

1. The specifics of the prefix of words in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian.In Russian, the smallest units of the language are prefixes, suffixes, roots, endings, but in Chinese words are formed by hieroglyphs.

It is known that in the Russian language different prefixes, which determine not only the lexical but also the grammatical meaning of words, have different meanings. If we replace the prefix of one word, it will become another word, the meaning of which will change.

In the Russian language there are such prefixes as: anti-, pro-, pri-, po-, do-, na-, za-, re-, ob-, raz-, v-, you-, s-, u-, etc., with which you can form such words like anti septic tank, about walking, when walking, on the way, before going, on writing, for going, re-going, about going, once, in walking, in going, with doing, with going, etc. It is difficult for Chinese students studying Russian to remember and distinguish the meanings of different prefixes.

Russian Russian prefixes After analyzing the collected materials, we can conclude that there are two types of Russian prefixes in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian, namely:

Russian Russian students use inappropriate prefixes + the basis of words that form words that do not exist or are not used in the Russian language in the interlanguage of Chinese students learning Russian. Russian Russian learners' interlanguage contains such words as "without danger*", "without controversy*", "without fee*", etc., which do not exist in the Russian language, instead of the words "without danger", "without controversy", "without fee".

Russian Russian has similarities in the form and meaning of the prefixes without- and without-, for example, both prefixes without- and without- convey the meaning of "there is nothing" or "absence of something", it is difficult for Chinese students studying Russian to remember the difference between these prefixes and, accordingly, it is difficult use them correctly.

In addition, in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian, there is also an incorrect spelling of words with the prefix "under" from the point of view of spelling. For example, students write non-existent words "under go *", "under go*" instead of "drive up", "under go".

Russian Russian students' interlanguage contains prefixes + the basis of words forming words that exist in the Russian language, but are used in an inappropriate context.

When discussing the specifics of the forms of prefixes of words in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian, we can observe such a phenomenon: from the point of view of word formation, prefixes are chosen correctly, but words are used in the wrong context. For example, in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian, the verbs "tell", "express" are used instead of "say", examples of such situations are presented in the following table:

Table 1

Russian Russian examples of word formation with correct prefixes and word bases in the Russian language and in the interlanguage of Chinese students learning Russian in an inappropriate context

Along with this, the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian also uses words whose prefixes do not coincide with prepositions in sentences. Examples of this phenomenon are given in the following table:

Table 2

Examples of words whose prefixes do not match prepositions in sentences in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian

As can be seen from the examples, in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian, there is a difficulty in choosing words with the correct prefixes that would coincide with prepositions in sentences. In Russian, verbs with certain prefixes are used with fixed prepositions. For example, to go ... to some place, to go/to go... somewhere for someone/something, etc.

2. The specifics of the suffix (postfix) of words in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian.Russian Russian verbs suffix specifics in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian.

There is no postfix in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian.

Examples are shown in the following table:

Table 3

Russian Russian suffix/postfix form examples and the absence of a postfix in the interlanguage of Chinese students learning Russian

 In Chinese, verbs with postfix -xia and without postfix -xia are written the same way. For example, prepare/prepare are translated as , dress/dress are translated as , return/return are translated as , etc. Thus, under the influence of the rules of the native language in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian, verbs without a postfix are often used where it is needed.

Russian Russian nouns and adjectives suffix specifics in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying the Russian language.Russian Russian has a group of nouns that are difficult for Chinese students learning Russian to master.

This group is formed with the help of diminutive suffixes: -ec, -eshk, -ik, -k, -osh, -ush, -ts, -chick, -oik, -yushk, etc. For example, pairs of words mom – mom, cat – cat, boat – boat, cup – cup, apple – apple, flower – flower, etc. In Chinese, the adjective "a small" (in Russian, "small") is mainly used to express a diminutive-affectionate attitude towards someone or something. For example, ? - ? ( (cat – cat), ? - ? ( (boat – boat).In the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian, these diminutive suffixes -ec, -eshk, -ik, -k, -osh, -usk, -ts, -chick, -oik, -yushk are often mixed, students themselves create nouns with incorrect suffixes.

For example, in the inter-language of Chinese students studying Russian, similar mistakes are not uncommon when writing words: flower*, boat*, apple*, etc.

In addition to these specifics, the use of adjectives and nouns with suffixes -n- and-nn- is confused in the inter-language of Chinese students studying Russian. Russian Russian learners use words with the suffixes -n- instead of -nn- most of all in the Chinese interlanguage, which does not comply with the rules of the Russian language. For example, voe ny*, wood ny*, glass ny*, travel n ic*, etc.

3. The specifics of the endings of words in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian.It is believed that in a typical inflectional language, for example, in Russian, "if possible, all grammatical information is concentrated in one morpheme – the ending" ^{[15, p. 95]}.

In the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian, nouns such as man, uncle, grandfather are often considered as feminine nouns because of the endings (-a, -I), for the same reason, students use similar words with feminine adjectives. Russian Russian, for example, is a handsome man*, an erudite grandfather*, etc. We can say that Chinese students who study Russian sometimes cannot correctly choose the appropriate gender of adjectives due to the fact that they initially mistakenly determine the gender of Russian nouns, relying on the endings. From a morphological point of view, in these phrases in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian, (handsome man *, erudite grandfather *) the endings of adjectives are considered incorrect.

ConclusionAnalyzing the specifics of word formation in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying Russian, we can come to the following conclusions:

1. As a result of the search for an update of the concept of the term "interlanguage" in recent Russian studies, common characteristic features of interlanguage have been found: consistency, individuality, dynamism, regularity, relative lack of connection with the languages Ya1 and Ya2, conservativeness, low permeability, ossification (or locking function), quick contact, linguistic and functional limitations, etc.;

Russian Russian learners may encounter words with incorrect prefixes that do not exist in the Russian language, or words with correct prefixes, but in inappropriate contexts. 2. In the interlanguage of Chinese students who study Russian, there are words with incorrect prefixes that do not exist in the Russian language, or words with correct prefixes, but in inappropriate contexts.;

3. In the inter-language of Chinese students studying Russian, verbs without a postfix are used in contexts where it should be;  

4. In the inter-language of Chinese students studying Russian, when writing nouns, incorrect diminutive suffixes are used;

5. Due to the erroneous definition of the genus of nouns in the Chinese language of students studying Russian, adjectives with incorrect endings are used.

It should be noted that the study of the specifics of word formation in the interlanguage of Chinese students studying the Russian language was not carried out from a dynamic point of view due to the limited time of collecting language materials and analysis. Russian Russian is represented by the prospects for further research in the study of the comprehensive aspects of the interlanguage and its interaction with the native and the studied languages at each stage of mastering the Russian language of Chinese students studying the Russian language,.