The article compares the points of view of prominent scholars on the correspondence of the meaning range and structure of the terms “notion” and “concept”. The basic approaches to understanding of the both terms are distinguished; the main lines of comparison are shown; the author’s point of view on the notion and concept is pointed out in the process of investigation. The analysis proves that the notion and the concept have the same inner form, but they are different in nature, structure and sphere of usage. We can confirm that the concept is a complicated multidimensional term, with content including the notional features. The term “concept” is firmly established in the modern scientific discourse, it has replaced the synonymic terms, and is used in psychology, culture studies, linguistics. The term “notion” during its evolution was generalised and is encompasses a wide range of meanings. It is used in scientific investigations for a generic nomination of the corresponding terms.

The article is aimed at ascertaining the joint effect of language sign conventionality and motivation on its arbitrariness. Examples are given to show how partial arbitrariness of language signs’ usage augments the natural language functional potential. A conclusion is drawn that partial arbitrariness of language signs, arising from the combination of their partial motivation and partial conventionality, gives natural language flexibility, semantic mobility and situational adaptability. The article is addressed to all those who take an interest in the issues of General Linguistics and Linguistic Semiology.

The paper focuses on the language conceptualization of objects’ state of being expressed by the verbs stojat’, lezhat’, sidet’. The authors reveal the key role of the subject’s semantics in the way its state of being can be conceptualized and offer a semantic description of the verbs. The paper provides arguments against postulating the verbs that are used in existential sentences as delexical. The authors argue that it is the idea of isomorphism between the reality and its linguistic representation as well as of variability in cognitive interpretation of physical objects’ state of being that makes it possible to reinterpret the semantics of the verbs.

The article describes the cognitive features of the insincere discourse that f within the framework of political texts in English. It is shown that the cognitive basis of insincere discourse is formed by the scripts that represent a transformed worldview. Scripts were analyzed by three parameters: the time sphere to which they relate, the type of the worldview transformation presented in the script, language means of expressing the transformation. The specificity of insincere discourse scripts in English-language political texts has been determined: the scripts present mainly the realms of the present and the past; transformations of the reference structure and the distortion of the action are reflected; language means are used to express transformations most clearly.

The article presents the identification of trophonyms in S. Milligan's fairy tale for children and the description of their functions. The author gives a descriptive analysis of the material (names of dishes) and specifies the term “trophonym”. In the course of the study it was found out that trophonyms used in S. Milligan’s eccentric fairy tale for children reflect his individual style. Trophonyms are the means of achieving the comic and eccentric effect in the work analyzed. It is proved that in a modern children's English literary fairy tale trophonyms are used for giving it a national character. The description of national dishes (trophonyms) in fabulous menu are given and the functions of trophonyms in the text of a modern literary English of tale are defined. The article is addressed to linguists who study gastronomic and gluttonic discourse, it might also be interesting to researchers of comic and eccentric and English children's literary tales.

This article is devoted to a collocation as a translation unit. From various definitions of collocation we chose as the basis for the study the following: a collocation is a statistically stable word combination consisting of two and more words, one of which is translated and the others are restricted and dependent on the choice of the former, composing a set of meaning and a set of translations. The author considers different types of collocations and a possibility of their translation into a foreign language. Occasional collocations are not frequently present in the corpus and can not be checked via corpora while translating, that is why they are of special interest. The author collected a set of examples with this type of collocation and showed the possibility of their translation using corpora and functional-semantic analysis. It helps to estimate objectively the mistakes made by the translator and to present the semantically correct variants of translation.

The article identifies the factors determining the social timing of the 17th century literary fairytale genre. The research procedures and methods are: the analysis of empiric material - Ch. Perrault’s fairytales - was conducted from the sociolinguistic perspective. Empirical tests showed that social timing of the genre is determined by the factor of fashion in literary and linguistic writings of the authors of that time. It is proved, that new cultural codes, corresponding to sociocultural and linguistic standards of an addressee with high social status, were reflected in literature fairytales. Theoretical and relevance is in revealing the signs of daily life semiotics, reflected in semiotic system of aristocraticism and luxury, which is not typical for folk fairytales, but relevant to literary fairytales of pre-Enlightenment age. The article is addressed to professionals dealing with the issues of semiotics, text linguistics and literary studies.

The article deals with humorous effect translation in the literary text. The purpose of the article is to present a taxonomy of parameters which are essential to take into account. The author with the help of theoretical basis in such fields of knowledge as Translation Studies, Humour Studies, Literature, Cognitive Studies and Text Theory reasonably states the usage of some vital parameters. Such methods as analysis and synthesis, as well as hypothetico-deductive method and the method of theoretic modeling were applied. The author tries to arrange a number of essential parameters and illustrates a multidisciplinary approach to the problem. It allows us to turn away from understanding the humorous effect in translation as entirely linguistic prerogative. Theoretical relevance is supported by the list of parameters, and practical - by the opportunity to use the data in teaching practice, as well as in the practice of translation.

Various abbreviations in electric power terminology are widely used in technical documentation and professional communication. The paper presents the results of the analysis of specific details, ways of formation and translation of abbreviations within the relevant terminological area. The quantative and semantic methods of analysis have been used in the research. Out of dictionaries, standards, the industry journal and technical documentation English and Russian abbreviations were selected to serve as a basis for generalizing some of their patterns and difficulties of use. The research showed that initialisms are the most frequently used type of abbreviations in electric power terminology. The study resulted in compiling the glossary of English and Russian abbreviations that may be used for translating texts of this specialized field.

Contemporary semantic research focuses on different lexemes meaning, including synonyms meaning. Methodically such works combine hypothetico-deductive method and component analysis that was proposed by O. N. Selivyorstova. The goal of the investigations is to find out differential features and describe them in explanatory dictionaries. Translation dictionaries can benefit from found features as well. Moreover, visual representation of the researched semantic features can be beneficial in translation. An example of this type of entry including schemes, pictures, tables, etc. is shown in the article. A translation experiment was conducted to show the efficiency of the visual representation.

The author identifies the ability of English distance marking adjectives to imply the temporal sequence meaning in primary attributive and secondary adverbial functions. The article describes the referential analysis of deep-semantic structures which represents the distance marking adjectives with temporal sequence meaning. Analyzing the time markers the author uses the method of deep semantic reconstruction based on the semantic primitive method. The author conducts his research studying the examples from XIX-XX centuries English and American writers’ works. The author found out that distance marking adjectives can imply temporal sequence meaning in both adverbial ((prep.) + adj. + time period noun) and primary attributive functions mainly as a referential moment in a phrase. The referential features of non-verbal time markers are not extensively studied yet. The results of the work can be used in referential analysis methodology in general linguistics, Germanic and Russian philology, in translation theory. The article is adressed to the specialists in the field of Russian and comparative linguistics.