Lexical units nominating women in the paremias about the gender inequality of the Russian language

Yan Syue PhD in Philology Postgraduate student, Department of General and Russian Linguistics, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia 117198, Russia, Moscow, Miklukho-Maklaya str. 7k1, 6 yangxue19960826@gmail.com

The current level of development of linguistics is characterized by an anthropocentric vector of development, which determines the tendency for all research objects to be studied through the prism of man. This trend marked the beginning of a new direction within linguistics, where language began to be studied as a reflection of the experience accumulated by one or another linguistic and cultural community. One of the most striking examples of the verbalization of such an experience is the paremia.

Different countries and nationalities have unique national cultures, which are reflected in the history, religion, language, customs and traditions of speakers of a certain linguistic culture. As one of the forms of language, paremias are inextricably linked with the language and culture of the nation, they are born among the people and passed down from generation to generation ^[1]. Characterized by short and concise features, they at the same time express deep meanings in simple and intelligible forms, reflecting different stages of the historical development of the nation, absorbing and encapsulating a unique experience that is important precisely for speakers of the linguistic culture within which they originated and spread ^[2]. The researchers agree that the paremias represent the linguistic stratum that contains stereotypical national ideas and reflect the picture of the world of the people, formed during a long historical development ^[3].

The linguistic universal is a layer of paremias that reflect the attitude of native speakers to work and mark interpersonal relationships in the family, in different historical and cultural conditions of development, people have different values and different attitudes ^[5]. On this basis, it can be assumed that it is the paremias that contain the unique experience that the ethnic group has accumulated over the centuries.

At the same time, we can now observe the growth of research on the study of gender aspects in language and speech. Gender linguistics is one of the promising areas of study of the language and its units containing gender components.

Thus, the relevance of this study is determined by both linguistic and extralinguistic parameters. The first group includes an interest in the linguistic and cultural analysis of the paremiological fund, including in a comparative aspect. The second group of factors includes a social demand to satisfy the need to understand the mentality of representatives of the Russian linguistic culture.

In the modern scientific space, there are many areas of research on the linguistic picture of the world. Thus, linguists of the Moscow Semantic School, and above all, Y.D. Apresyan, include the question of the linguistic picture of the world in the process of studying lexical semantics, and by the 1990s a relatively complete semantic landscape of the linguistic picture of the world had been formed ^[1]. According to the Moscow Semantic School, the linguistic picture of the world is a set of simple, pre—scientific views and opinions on the objective world, reflected in a certain natural language and inherent in this language. The purpose of the research of the Moscow Semantic School of the linguistic worldview is to focus on the vocabulary of the language, the study of the meanings of words in order to describe the worldview of an ethnic group. Unlike the scientific picture of the world, the linguistic picture of the world represents the views and opinions of people on the objective world, expressed in a linguistic form, changing in historical development. T.B. Shchepanskaya suggested that the cultural semantic analysis of Russian cultural words (concepts) is the most effective method of studying the worldview of national languages ^[15].

Paremias are of particular interest for research in the field of linguistic genderology, since they embody the cultural and national worldview of each nation. Ideas about gender inequality are verbalized in language using a stereotype, which is originally a sociological term. As interdisciplinary connections developed, the term began to be used, including in linguistics. Gender stereotypes, as one of the main theories of gender linguistics, are a product of the integration of gender linguistics research and stereotype theory research. Social gender stereotypes are one of the group stereotypes, which represents the general idea of society about the typical characteristics of male and female groups and their behavioral and behavioral features ^[6]. In particular, it assumes two aspects: firstly, these characteristics are in this group, each member has a different degree of expression; secondly, these characteristics are reflected in different forms of expression, such as clothing, food, housing, transport, speech and behavior of members of the linguistic and cultural group.

Researchers believe that language is largely a reflection of ideology. Little girls are often described with the words "angel", "little princess", "baby", whereas other language patterns are used to address boys, such as "champion" or "buddy" ^[7].

In modern language, social gender linguistic stereotypes are being formed, which are also vividly reflected in the behavior of social individuals, including non-verbal behavior. Understanding stereotypes helps people better regulate their words and actions in intercultural, especially intersex communication, and achieve effective communication ^[7]. I. A. Huseynova came to the conclusion that, speaking about the relationship between gender stereotypes and language, the content of gender-linguistic research can be disclosed only through the analysis of the linguistic structure, which means that when to help establish how gender relations are verbalized in language ^[3]. Gender inequality is realized in language in culturally related stereotypical forms, vivid examples of which are paremias, which fix personal behavior, as well as linguistic socialization of personality ^[4]. It can be said that language is the most important means of expressing gender stereotypes: by nominating specific phenomena related to men and women, language also defines a number of qualities that men or women in a given society should possess. Moreover, many of the cognitive stereotypes are acquired through learning and through language (writing), and social gender stereotypes are no exception ^[7].

In real communication, social gender inequalities are usually expressed in the form of stereotypical thinking and behavioral stereotypes of men and women. According to V. A. Maslova, verbal stereotypes of thinking are mental images and stable representations of people about things or situations that, on the one hand, are related to objective reality, and on the other, they are related to language ^[9]. As for behavioral stereotypes, according to V. A. Ryzhkov, it is "a national communicative unit capable of exerting a stylized influence on individual consciousness by representing the need for social recognition ^[12].

As for the social gender stereotypes described in our study, women are very susceptible to their influence, which is reflected in the paremiological fund of the Russian language.

Within the framework of this study, all selected paremias are divided into groups:

- parodies with the woman component;

- paremia with the baba component;

- parodies with the wife component;

- paremia with the daughter component;

- paremia with the mother-in-law component;

- parodies with the mother-in-law component.

Let's consider in detail the content of each group below.

In the parodies with the "woman" component, a stereotypical opinion about a woman's low mental abilities is fixed:

Women are the Devil's nets,

In Russia, a woman is not considered a person:

A mare is not a horse, a woman is not a person.

Russian proverbs fix the idea that a woman's appearance is not the main thing, it is not the most important condition of beauty. Society has established the framework of "masculinity" and "femininity". People who do not fall within this framework are considered "transcendent" compared to the norm and "alternative" and will be directly or indirectly subjected to social sanctions. The ideal female image is a gender ideology based on male—centered thinking. In an effort to force women to consciously and actively comply with this restriction, the existing gender system is skillfully maintained. This is actually a kind of "hidden hegemony". It is much more important for a woman to be a good hostess, to be kind, caring and quick-witted. Proverbs of the Russian language proverbs illustrate the importance of good looks and good manners for women. The above proverbs also have cultural semantics that humiliate women, thinking that women exist only as a kind of decoration and embellish the lives of men. Men are career-oriented and have an active status, which has a positive meaning, whereas women are of the lustful type and have a passive status, which often has a negative meaning.

A significant place in the Russian language is also occupied by a group of proverbs that are misogynistic in nature. In these proverbs, there is a disrespectful attitude towards a woman:

A woman is also a human being.

Chickens are not a bird, and a woman is not a person.

Russian Russian folklore is dominated by proverbs about infidelity of the wife, while the Russian people emphasize that husbands should not give excessive freedom and will to their wives:

The husband is in prison, and the woman is in antimony.

The connotation of condemning women is fixed in Russian paroemias, which is expressed on an explicit level. Women's laziness is also belittled, because women do not like to get married if they are afraid of work, they do not want to work. Some especially Russian proverbs glorify the beauty of a woman and her treasure — virginity. The so-called affirmative proverbs often formulate general advice for men:

A woman is not a balalaika that you hang on the wall after a game.

Women and soup should not be kept waiting, otherwise they will cool down.

The analysis of the paroemias also made it possible to establish a linguistic and cultural stereotypical idea of the social role of women:

A woman's road is from the oven to the threshold.

In this parody, the idea is conveyed that the range of a woman's activity is limited to cooking for the family, and she is mainly at home, i.e. she does not step outside the house, which at an implicit level expresses the meaning that a woman cannot have affairs unrelated to everyday life.

A man and a dog in the yard, a woman and a cat in a hut.

However, we note that there is nothing derogatory or disparaging at the explicit level. A woman's place in a hut is not because she has nothing to do "in society", but because she is a kind spirit, the keeper of the hearth, and the decoration of the house:

A good wife will save the house, a bad one will shake her sleeve.

Russian proverbs also emphasize the general virtue of a woman, i.e. she is a "complement" or a source of life for a man:

A peasant without a wife is like a goose without water.

It is also considered native Russian that a husband and wife share the same field of berries:

Husband and wife have the same thoughts.

Husband and wife are one Satan.

The parodies with the nominee component "daughter" convey the meaning that parents will have more trouble with their daughter than with their son, which at an implicit level expresses the meaning that having a son is preferable to having a daughter:

To marry off a daughter is not to bake a pie.

A daughter in a cradle – a dowry in a box.

The idea of a close relationship between mother and daughter is also fixed in the Russian national consciousness, which implies the fact that the qualities possessed by the mother, a priori, will be adopted by the daughter:

Where the mother goes, the daughter goes.

Looking at the mother, take the daughter.

A good mother has a good daughter.

Also, the role of the mother-in-law occupies an important place in the family and household relations of the Russian people. The mother—in-law is the wife's mother, not a blood (proper) relative who appears as a result of marriage. It has both positive and negative characteristics:

I was at my mother-in-law's, but I'm glad to have flown away.

A good mother–in-law's son-in-law is the most beloved son.

Unlike a mother-in-law, who may have a good relationship with her son-in-law, the mother-in-law is represented in Russian proverbs mainly from the negative side:

You'll drown in tears from your mother-in-law's affection.

The mother-in-law is angry that the daughter-in-law is having fun.

From a sociological point of view, gender stereotyping, as a special form of stereotyping, is primarily a kind of cognition, that is, the understanding of oneself and others by members of a male and female group in a particular society or culture belonging to a kind of collective consciousness ^[8]. The expression exists in the consciousness of the human brain. Each social culture sets for men and women a number of relevant norms and assessments that limit their behavior. These norms and assessments are reflected in language in the form of stable expressions and influence expectations regarding the behaviors demonstrated by women ^[10].

However, the largest number of proverbs are proverbs reflecting social characteristics. A possible explanation for this fact may be that relationships are closely maintained in Russian culture, which is expressed by the nominative density of kinship terms: brother, daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law, parents, etc.

In this regard, linguistic androcentrism can be noted. This means that most of the parodies reflect a male point of view and male dominance. The image of a woman is not always negative. It is more likely to be a trend than a negative attitude. But there is a certain degree of androcentrism.

The study of gender relations is one of the ways to understand social changes in society. Linguistics and its linguistic structure more clearly show the state of consciousness of society.

So, in the Russian language, the dominant mode is the one that indicates the inability to think deeply, illogicality, irrationality and stupidity in general as the main characteristics of women. In fact, in the linguistic consciousness of many people, stereotypical ideas have developed about a woman as a being with unidirectional thinking. The examples given give reason to believe that for the ordinary mind, the female intellect serves as an example of a backward, unformed mind. Against this background, the cultural and national interpretation of linguistic expressions is clearly visible: "the female consciousness is infantile" ^[13].

This is the core of the everyday mentality, rooted in the linguistic and cultural consciousness, and it lives in the self-consciousness of the people, being a linguistic and cultural ray, the dominant of national identity. It should be noted that all this also applies to paremias — cultural attitudes towards the perception of female intelligence as insufficient and underdeveloped. The stereotypical female consciousness opposes the male one and is perceived as a "subhuman" consciousness, therefore, women's activity should be limited exclusively to the "private" sphere ^[14]. Women need a man's mind to guide them in their behavior. Gender inequality is perceived as an axiom and as a fact that men are assigned the role of legislators of a better world order." As a result, in the considered mode, the inconsistency of the concept of "woman" is most clearly manifested not only in comparison with the concept of "man", but also in comparison with the broader concept of "man".

Conclusion

It has been established that the phraseological fund of any language is an interesting factual material for gender studies, since it reflects such aspects of people's lives as history, national consciousness, morality, values, preferences, attitudes and lifestyle. Gender stereotypes are general ideas about the behavior and role of men and women in society. An analysis of the collection of proverbs and sayings with gender components allowed us to establish the following trend: a significant number of parodies are dedicated to women and most of them contain a negative connotation of female representatives. The paremias indicate the social role of a woman (wife, mother, mother-in-law, mother-in-law, daughter), and also indicate gender inequality. It can be said that gender biases and social gender ideologies that reflect the social relationship between a man and a woman are relatively common in proverbs.