DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2022.11.39012

Abstract: The article addresses the subject of the semantics of Spanish words and collocations containing the roots -gr(i)eg- (-grec-, -gring-, etc.), -helen-, -bizant-, associated with Greece and with the Greek culture. The author analyzes the semantics and etymology of the words and expressions the way they are represented in the two most reputable explanatory dictionaries, Diccionario de la lengua española (DLE) and Diccionario de americanismos. In some cases, the usage of the selected units is described with reference to corpus data (Modern Spanish corpora — CREA and CORPES XXI). The study has revealed the presence of a significant proportion of “learned borrowings” (“cultismos”), which is explained by the importance of Ancient Greek and Byzantine culture for European civilization in general and for Spain in particular. It is stated that the semantic evolution of some vocabulary units was influenced by stereotypical ideas about Greece and the Greeks. In addition, the analysis of Diccionario de americanismos has shown some peculiarities of the usage of the words and expressions under analysis in Latin American Spanish (e. g. the more frequent use of “gringo” and its derivatives).

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2021.12.37094

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the origin of the phenomenon of voseo in the Uruguayan Spanish. Description is given to the evolution of the use of pronoun ‘vos’ and the corresponding verb forms in the Old Spanish and classical Spanish language, as well as to specificity of the development of the forms of voseo in Latin America (namely the process hybridization of the paradigm). Special attention is given to the spread of this linguistic phenomenon in the Río de la Plata, which includes the territory of modern Uruguay, in the context of the history of colonization. The author examines the theory of the two “norms” (urban and rural) to clarify the correlation between ‘tú’ and ‘vos’ in the Uruguayan Spanish of the XVIII – XXI centuries. This article is first within the Russian Spanish studies to examine the forms of address in the Uruguayan Spanish from the diachronic perspective, as up to the present it has rarely become the focus of attention of the Soviet and Russian philology. The following conclusions are formulated: 1) the key factor in wide spread occurrence of voseo in the Spanish language of America lies in the specificity of assimilation of the Spanish language by autochthonous and mixed population; 2) unlike Spain and some regions of America, the forms ‘vos’ prevalent Río de la Plata with the beginning of colonization have not been displaced by the form ‘tú’ due ti peripheral location of the territory and remoteness from cultural centers of the empire; 3) at the same time, the presence of tuteo was more noticeable in the cities, which led to the formation of two “norms” in the region – rural, characterized by voseo; and urban tuteo, which was oriented towards Pyrenean norm.

DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2019.2.29945

Abstract: This article is devoted to the development of Uruguayan national identity and how this process reflects in the printed media texts. In addition to that, the authors of the article also analyzes the historical environment of that period. Russian studies of Latin America have not studied Uruguay as the priority area of research. However, Uruguayan peculiarities of the national variant of Spanish have been traditionally discussed by a number of researches that cover quite a wide language material. The corpus of this research includes only Uruguayan texts, over 100 El Dia newspaper issues and other printed matter of that era. The methodological basis of the research is the discursive historical approach that implies the synthesis of linguistic data and historical, sociocultural and political contexts. The authors also define the main language means and discursive strategies used to develop the national consciousness. The authors conclude that texts of the printed media of the 1900 - 1930s have played a crucial role in the discursive construction of Uruguayan national identity that is created as the 'civil' cosmopolitan type balancing between Eurocentrism, regionalism and pan americanism and supported by sports achievements and mass events.