Russian Social and Humanitarian Studies

Background. Today, pets are not just a form of leisure or an element of everyday life, but important assistants in a person's spiritual life and performers of philosophical meaning. The fast pace of life, the digitization of communication, and the gradual disappearance of traditional forms of communication lead to a deep sense of loneliness and inner division. Against this backdrop, a contradiction arises: at a time when people are increasingly surrounded by technology, they are increasingly seeking solace in the silent and living – in animals.

The purpose of the study is to examine the philosophical significance of interaction with animals as a form of emotional support and physical empathy, a source of living presence. Pets provide emotional support through their presence, as well as a sense of acceptance and care. The study discusses how, through contact with animals, people restore their connection with nature, other people, and their own bodies.

Research methods. The study uses methods of analysis of literature sources, description and generalization, as well as phenomenological principles of obviousness and intentionality.

Results. The study found that animals play a key role in human emotional life, acting as mediators between culture and nature, and helping to restore lost connections with the surrounding world and with oneself. It has been proven that an animal is not an object, but a phenomenon of co-presence, which, in turn, helps humans in the process of restoring the ontological value lost in the context of technologization.

Background. This work is dedicated to the study of the folk vocabulary of the Evenki language. The relevance of the topic arises from the necessity to study and describe the disappearing Evenki language as a whole, and in particular the previously unexplored folk vocabulary.

Purpose. The aim of this study is to linguistically describe the Evenki folklore lexicon. Achieving this aim involves addressing the following tasks: identifying, systematising, analysing, and summarising the results obtained.

Materials and Methods. The research draws upon the "Evenki-Russian Dictionary" by V.A. Robbek and M.E. Robbek. The primary method of the study is descriptive, with a lexical-semantic approach applied in the systematisation of the material.

Results. The work identifies the composition of the Evenki folk lexicon extracted from the "Evenki-Russian Dictionary". The material is organised into four main groups. The first group consists of words denoting folk realities, which include proper names, names of heroes, natural objects, supernatural beings, words describing various qualities, action verbs, and state verbs. The second group includes absolute and semantic synonyms. The third group encompasses expressive means of Evenki folklore: stable expressions, metaphors, and modified words. The fourth group is represented by call phrases. In the field of folklore vocabulary, names of traditional cultural phenomena that are no longer in existence have been identified.

Background. From a linguistic point of view, medical texts are interesting primarily as a material for studying medical terminology, which is the subject of many scientific papers, including in the field of historical terminology. This article substantiates that the commonly used vocabulary of historical medical texts has its own characteristics and is of scientific interest. The object of the research is the development of non-terminological vocabulary of the Russian literary language of the first half of the 19th century based on scientific medical texts. The purpose of the work is to analyze the commonly used vocabulary of historical texts in lexicographic, lexico-semantic, and word-formation aspects.

Materials and methods. The research material was the scientific medical texts of the 19th century on pharmacology by Alexander P. Nelyubin (1785-1858) and Pyotr F. Goryaninov (1796-1865) – professors of the Imperial St. Petersburg Medical-Surgical Academy – the highest specialized educational institution of the Russian Empire.

The comparative-historical method, which was used when working with the material of the 19th century, contributed to achieving the goal of the work, as well as removing possible linguistic difficulties when reading specific historical texts by a modern reader.

Results. A comparative analysis of non-terminological words was carried out from two sides: for compliance with the literary norms of the nineteenth century and in comparison with the norms of the modern Russian literary language. The result of the work showed that in scientific medical pre-revolutionary texts there are spellings of words that do not comply with the spelling rules of the nineteenth century, the inconsistencies identified are few. The study revealed the following deviations from the orthographic norms of the 19th century: spelling of the words "doctor", "medicine", "professor", "surgeon", "phytologist" with a lowercase letter; spelling of the word "ether" with the letter "f"; spelling of the prefixes raz-, iz-, voz- with the letter "z" in words where a voiceless consonant is written after the prefix, except for the letter "s"; double spelling of words. Spelling that differs from the standard is explained by several reasons: the process of democratization of the language of the 19th century, the existence of two equal spelling variants, author's errors, and typos when typesetting texts in a printing house.

The analysis of lexical and semantic features of non-terminological words in scientific medical texts has shown that changes in the lexical meaning and stylistic affiliation of words reflect the general process of democratization of the Russian literary language of the 19th century, which manifested itself in the reduction of Church Slavonic vocabulary and loanwords and the inclusion of dialectal, vernacular and colloquial elements in its composition.

Background. Currently, due to the growing interest in political communication, we have reviewed the main translation techniques used to achieve political correctness within the framework of English-language political discourse.

Purpose – to analyze the instruments for implementing political correctness in translation within the political discourse.

Materials and methods. The examples for the study were taken from the inaugural speech of D. Trump, the speech of H. Clinton, as well as other English-speaking politicians. The main translation techniques used for achieving political correctness are transcription, calquing, explication, logical synonymy, omission and addition.

Results. As a result of the research, it was found, that these techniques are used to change the modality of utterances and often perform a manipulative function, allowing the author of the translation to reduce the negative connotation of the utterance and elicit a neutral or positive reaction from the recipient, thereby ensuring political correctness in the context of the utterance.

Background. The relevance of this research is driven by the growing influence of media in creating public consciousness, where linguistic devices such as epithets are not only literary devices but also tools in shaping the masses. An integrated approach to categorizing and functioning in the work of epithets in media texts facilitates the better comprehension of their work in building meaning, emotional associations, and manipulation. The article also takes into account translation strategies of preserving semantic, emotional, and pragmatic equivalence when translating English-language mass media text epithets into Russian through strategies such as modulation, calquing, grammatical substitution, explication, and antonymic translation.

Purpose – analysis of types of epithets and their functioning in English-language media and identification of the peculiarities of their translation into Russian.

Materials and methods. The study is based on material published in 2024–2025 in The Guardian, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Economist, and other publications, as well as their translations published on the InoSMI portal. Based on contextual, component, and comparative analysis, as well as statistical methods, the main types of English-language epithets and translation techniques for their rendering into Russian have been identified.  

Results. It has been revealed that epithets not only perform emotional, evaluative, and expressive functions, but also become a tool for shaping media images and exerting semantic influence on the mass audience. Successful translation of epithets in media texts requires a strategy aimed at functional equivalence rather than formal correspondence.  The translation of epithets in the media is a strategic operation to reconfigure the evaluative architecture of the text, which is necessary for adequate intercultural media dialogue.

Background. Over the past ten years, interest in artificial intelligence (AI) has grown significantly around the world. AI is seen as a catalyst for transformations in education, including preschool education, which should affect not only the learner, teacher and administrator, but also the parent, as it is the parent who is often the main “supplier” of AI-based gadgets and applications for their children, the measure of their safety and usefulness.

Purpose. The article aims to determine the attitude of modern parents towards AI as a means of speech development in children aged 4 to 7, and to identify the risks associated with the introduction of intelligent technologies into preschool education programs.

Materials and methods. The study combined quantitative and qualitative methods: a survey (questionnaires and interviews) and content analysis of video recordings of classes and situational reflection diaries. A total of 44 parents and more than 180 children aged 4-7 participated in the study.

Results. The results of the study indicate a predominantly positive perception of AI technologies in preschool education by parents, as they believe in the potential of these tools for the holistic development of children as well as their language development. At the end of the experiment, the parents noted significant benefits of using AI technologies, such as expanding vocabulary, developing speaking and listening skills, and increasing motivation through gamification. However, there are also significant risks associated with limiting children’s social interaction and physical activity through excessive use of AI technologies, as well as potential inaccuracies and exaggerations in generated content. The study also shows the need to consider financial costs, technical failures, and the lack of ICT skills among teachers and parents. The study highlights the importance of a balanced and responsible implementation of AI in early childhood education, taking into account both its benefits and possible threats.