The functioning of the elements of the semantic field social significance in the Russian and English languages according to vocabulary and corpus sources

Abstract

The goal of the research is to determine the location of the elements of a certain semantic field by integrating the results of traditional, including definitional, analysis methods and modern corpus-based approach to language research. In the study the scientists try to define the way the elements статус/status are functioning in the semantic field “social significance” in Russian, British and American English according to dictionaries and corpora (The National Corpus of the Russian Language, the British National Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary American English), as well as according to some other tools of computational linguistics, including Aranea Corpora. The aim of the study is to analyze the hypothesis that it is relevant to study elements of the semantic field in different languages through the use of a combination of traditional and innovative techniques. The working hypothesis was confirmed: it is the combination of traditional and innovative methods of analysis in the study of the structure of the semantic field that provides the most complete and objective results. Moreover, the features of the analyzed semantic field, identified in this manner, can be viewed as authentic markers in language pictures of different nations. As a result of the work, the structures of semantic fields статус/status in Russian, British and American English were obtained and visualized.