A study of metonymy in compliments to the female gender in Russian youth speech (In comparison with Chinese youth speech materials)

Yue Tang; Zihan Du; A. L. Novikov

doi:10.34069/AI/2022.55.07.6

Yue Tang RUDN University, Russia. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8542-6726
Zihan Du RUDN University, Russia. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6290-4206
A. L. Novikov Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (Moscow, Russia). https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3482-5070

DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.55.07.6

Keywords: compliments, youth speech, metonymy, female gender, Russian language.

Abstract

This article is devoted to metonymy in the lexical units of compliments to the female gender in youth speech of Russian. Metonymy, as one of the tropes, is an important means of semantic change and replenishing the lexical stock of youth speech. This paper collects complimentary expressions using metonymy in modern Russian youth speech, divided into 6 different lexical-semantic groups through component analysis. The purpose is to analyze the cognitive-semantic features of metonymy in Russian and compare its similarities with Chinese compliments for females in youth speech. As a result of the study, the following is shown: 1) metonymy, as a common means of semantic change, is widely used in youth speech; 2) metonymy of adjectives is more frequently used in compliments for females in youth speech based on the cause-and-result relationship between features of objects; 3) metonymization is closely related to extra-linguistic factors, in which reflected the aesthetic standards of youth for female; 4) the comparison with Chinese materials shows the similar metonymization of youth speech in two languages as well as differences in expressions, which reflects the connection of metonymy with the national, linguistic picture of the world.

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Author Biographies

Yue Tang, RUDN University, Russia.

Ph.D. Student, RUDN University, Russia.

Zihan Du, RUDN University, Russia.

Ph.D. Student, RUDN University, Russia.

A. L. Novikov, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (Moscow, Russia).

Ph.D. in Philology, Associate Professor, is Associate Professor at the General and Russian Linguistics Department, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (Moscow, Russia).

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