Linguistic markers of the dichotomy "youth vs. old age" in the news discourse

Introduction

The most important concepts for the national linguistic picture of the world are reflected in language, including in such a form of its implementation as news discourse. According to the definition of O.A. Pantina, "news discourse is a type of media discourse, the purpose of which is to inform and inform" ^{[10, p. 8]}. News discourse at this stage of media development is implemented primarily in the space of the Internet. Ideas about youth and old age as defining anthropological qualities are very important for a linguistic personality. Youth is defined in the explanatory dictionary as "the period of life from adolescence to adulthood" ^[3], old age – as "a period of life that has changed maturity, when there is a gradual weakening of the activity of the organism" [Ibid.]. These concepts are in contrast.

For researchers, there is undoubtedly a comparison of youth and old age in the perception of native speakers, but this comparison, like the concepts themselves, can be evaluated in different ways. T. V. Belova and O. V. Chetverikova consider "youth-old age" as a linguistically signified motif in a certain way, analyzing it on the example of I. A. Bunin's poetic speech ^[1]. D. O. Faloju characterizes youth and old age as concepts that receive linguistic and cultural embodiment in paroemias ^[12]. We are closer to the linguistic and cultural understanding, in which YOUTH and OLD AGE act as concepts. Linguistic and cultural concepts are "fragments of a person's life experience" that are fixed both in the individual's personal memory and in the collective memory, which at the same time are "associated with experiences", with thoughts and feelings important for a native speaker, and this leads to linguistic "fixation of the relevant experience and reflexive activity in relation to it" ^{[4, p. 33]}. From the point of view of linguoculturology, concepts are created by a person "for intellectual, spiritual, social needs" ^{[8, p. 3]}, they serve all cultural intentions expressed by a linguistic personality, without them a speaker cannot build interaction with other members of the collective, fully organize communication and activities ^[14].

The relevance of this study is determined by the importance of considering the conceptual dichotomy "youth vs. old age" and its linguistic markers in the modern news discourse from the point of view of the perception of these concepts by a modern linguistic personality, the identification of the experiences caused by them.

In accordance with this goal, the following tasks were solved in the course of the study: 1) to identify in the modern news discourse the main and additional linguistic markers of the dichotomy "youth vs. old age"; 2) to establish the peculiarities of the perception of this dichotomy by a modern linguistic personality. The study was conducted on the material of news publications of the popular electronic resource "RBC" ^[11].

To achieve this goal and accomplish the tasks, the following research methods were used: the method of linguistic and cultural analysis aimed at identifying the reflection of the culture and mentality of the people in the language; the method of continuous sampling when selecting language material, as well as general scientific methods of observation, analysis and synthesis when working with scientific and linguistic material.

The theoretical basis of the research was the works in the field of concept theory ^{[4; 8]}, as well as studies in which the concepts of YOUTH and OLD AGE are comprehended ^{[1; 2; 6; 7; 9; 12; 13]}.

The practical significance of the research lies in the possibility of using its results in the process of teaching university courses in journalism, linguoculturology, cognitive linguistics.

The concepts of YOUTH and OLD AGE as components of a dichotomy

The dichotomy of "youth vs. old age" is based on the comparison of two concepts – YOUTH and OLD AGE. These concepts have a dynamic nature, and their dynamics depend on the understanding of age by modern people. Scientists note the gradual shift of the perception of the concepts of YOUTH and OLD AGE from the physiological sphere to the social one; it is not the physiological processes in the body that distinguish people of different ages that become more important, but their perception of these processes, that is, the so-called "social age" ^{[13, p. 41]}. YOUTH and OLD AGE are considered as oppositional concepts with vivid subjective and evaluative meanings ^[9].

The linguistic means of verbalization of the concept of YOUTH include, first of all, lexemes of the corresponding semantics: youth, youth, youth, maiden, girl, sucker, guy, girlish, young, getting younger, getting younger, young, etc. ^{[6, pp. 296-299]}. The concept of OLD AGE is also marked with the help of vocabulary: the words grandmother, grandfather, veteran, elderly, old, getting old, old-fashioned, etc. ^{[2, p. 42]}. These concepts are also presented by units of the paremiological fund of the Russian language, where most often there is a "comparison of the world of the elderly with the world of young people and children" ^{[7, p. 111]}, leading to their opposition, for example, with the help of paremias: "The old is pulled down, and the young is pulled up", "Young is with toys, star – with pillows", etc. In general, these concepts are characterized from the point of view of their verbalization by "a high potential for stylistic and lexico-grammatical variation" ^{[6, p. 299]}. There are many linguistic units that are ready, if there is a corresponding intention of the speaker, to join the linguistic representation of the concepts of YOUTH and OLD AGE: these are metaphorical names: puppy, green, snotty, yellow-faced, experienced, etc.; and euphemisms: elderly, lived, withering, age, etc.; and numerous derivatives from the corresponding roots: old man, old woman, old age, young, young, young-green, well done, etc.

The functioning of the linguistic markers of the concepts of YOUTH and OLD AGE depends on the scope of use of the text in the structure of which they are embedded, on the discourse.

The main language markers of the dichotomy "youth vs. old age"

The main linguistic markers of the concepts of YOUTH and OLD AGE in the news discourse include the lexemes: young, youth, youth, young, girl, old age, etc. Not all linguistic markers are emotionally significant, evaluative, among them there are words and expressions that simply convey information about age, stating age when naming a person. The most striking examples are: a young man, a girl, a guy, a pensioner. For example: "A young man offers a girl to go to the cinema" (10.10.2021) ^[11]. Our attention was attracted by words and combinations that are cultural markers that convey views and emotions associated with the perception of age in the speaker's mind. The analysis of the use of these tokens shows the attitude in society towards people of different ages.

Young people appear in the news discourse as a valuable state reserve that needs to be valued: "…Such a system will help preserve the young generation of future scientists for Russia" (12.10.2021) [Ibid.], as people with a fresh look, new ideas, possible prospects: "Such a tandem of experienced deputies and youth with a fresh look, it always brings only benefits" (08.10.2021) [Ibid.]. At the same time, different qualities of young people turn out to be important: respectively, the long life ahead of them and the expression of their original views. In any case, youth is defined as the undoubted dignity of a person, which makes him appreciate his achievements in various fields more highly: "The youngest writer who will have a book presentation at the festival is 11 years old" (06.10.2021) [Ibid.].

It is noted that in the field of business and politics, young people are more mobile, which is positioned as a positive phenomenon. So, young firms can offer their clients cheaper and better services: "Young teams are starting to enter the industry, offering much cheaper services, shorter waiting times ..." (11.10.2021) [Ibid.], and more and more young people are entering politics: "The youngest deputy of the current convocation is 22 years old..." (11.10.2021) [Ibid.]. Young age is estimated as a period when a personality is open for development, when its main qualities are laid, what a person will become is determined: "Emotional loops are formed in childhood and adolescence, after which we spend our whole life spinning in them ..." (01.08.2021) [Ibid.].

At the same time, the great suggestibility of young people is emphasized, the possibility of influencing young people, to which older people may no longer succumb: "It is necessary to motivate people at a young age, it is difficult to motivate a person with already established rules of life and stereotypes" (12.10.2021) [Ibid.].

Regarding the concept of OLD AGE, attention is constantly focused on the fact that this age is negatively perceived by the person himself, causes anxiety and fear in aging people: "The fear of old age and death is a combination of physical problems, psychological factors and social stereotypes" (30.09.2021) [Ibid.]. In this example, the word death is adjacent to the lexeme old age, which indicates the connection of these phenomena in the perception of a linguistic personality and explains the fear described in the example. Old age is interpreted as a time of helplessness, both physical and financial, and therefore it must be provided in advance:"Perhaps this approach will ensure your old age" (12.09.2021) [Ibid.]. This age is positioned as a period when people sum up and evaluate their whole life: "I doubt that I will ever repeat this, but there will be something to tell in old age" (05.08.2021) [Ibid.], that is, it is implied that life is coming to an end. In connection with these negative meanings, the old age lexeme is used only in a limited way, in most of the examples it is included in a stable combination of "old age pension", without performing emotional or evaluative functions.

The positive contexts of using the concept of OLD AGE include those where the lexeme old age itself is not used. For example, the news may report about the special respect shown to honored elderly people: "His congratulations were also addressed to veterans of pedagogical work in the region" (05.10.2021) [Ibid.].

The concepts of YOUTH and OLD AGE receive symbolic meanings in the news discourse. At the same time, youth is expected to become a symbol of inexperience, fervor, and therefore there is a stable comparison of Russia with a young man. For example: "Our country is young and, like most young people, does not differ in consistency and predictability" (12.10.2021) [Ibid.]; "The country is young, growing, legislation continues to be formed ..." (11.10.2021) [Ibid.]. The reference to youth in relation to the state serves to give rise to additional meanings: the addressees are invited to condescend to some negative manifestations, writing them off to the young age of the country. Comparison with a person in the Russian language reflects such a phenomenon as personification, or "endowing the entire conceivable world with human qualities" ^{[5, p. 77]}.

The dichotomy of "youth vs. old age" manifests its oppositional character in the news discourse. There is a regular juxtaposition of youth and older people, for example, in the field of science, where there is a "critical rift between the new generation of scientific youth and academic authorities" (12.10.2021) ^[11]. In such contrasts, it is emphasized that young people have new views and new methods of work, and people of older generations, based on their formed attitudes, deny these innovations. Youth and old age are also contrasted in terms of reliability. For example, young people are considered more reliable financially: "They associated the situation on the assignment market with the activity of MFIs, which treat young borrowers more loyally than banks" (12.10.2021) [Ibid.]. However, there are judgments that indicate that the older age is not always inferior to the younger, in many ways they are not opposed, but similar: "…Psychologically, a person develops not only in childhood and adolescence, but also later – throughout life" (20.01.2021) [Ibid.]. In the given example, there is an implicit indication of old age.

Additional language markers of the dichotomy "youth vs. old age"

Additional markers of the concept of OLD AGE in the news discourse can be called the words old, old man, youth, sucker, girl, etc. The rarity of their use is explained by various reasons.

The old lexeme is practically not found to indicate the age of a person due to taboo. The avoidance of excessive straightforwardness in the designation of this age leads to the functioning in the media of euphemisms of the elderly, age, venerable age, etc., reflecting the requirements of modern speech etiquette.For example: "William Shatner became the oldest person to have been in space" (13.10.2021) [Ibid.], "The oldest deputy is 85" (11.10.2021) [Ibid.]. The old man lexeme is used extremely rarely, for example, in a quote from a statement by some person (in this case, singer T. Bulanova):"This is a real tool to support our elderly, which, thanks to the administrative resource, the townspeople will not find out about" (08.08.2021) [Ibid.].

It is more difficult to explain why the word youth is practically not found on the pages of news discourse. Perhaps this is due to its axiological nature, the presence of a philosophical meaning that does not correspond to the format of news.

Practically unclaimed in the news discourse are lexemes stylistically reduced, colloquial, having a bright evaluation (sucker, girl, etc.). Examples of their use are single: "Now the army ranks want military departments to teach not some suckers ..." (02/21/2013) [Ibid.]. However, with their help, journalists can name in the text those representatives of a certain age group who are negatively evaluated by the author of the article, other persons or society as a whole. For example: "Rocco Siffredi (Italian porn actor) climbed the Cannes stairs with two girls in dresses that did not cover below the waist" (05/16/2016) [Ibid.]. It is significant that stylistically reduced lexemes that are still found in the media, albeit rarely, are markers of the concept of YOUTH, and lexemes of negative connotation that are markers of the concept of OLD AGE (grandfather, old lady, etc.) are not found at all in news discourse. This shows a general cultural tendency, reflected in the news discourse, to demonstrate respect for old age, with which any manifestations of rudeness are incompatible. The "youth vs old age" dichotomy, otherwise referred to as ageism ^[15], in general, in our opinion, is a natural phenomenon of growth, in which the old standard of development is overcome and new features are formed that allow faster and better adaptation to the changed environment. However, the asymmetry of the use of evaluative markers of ageism and the use of euphemisms in modern news discourse indicates the need for preventive measures to prevent the stigmatization of both youth and old age in modern Russian society. 

Conclusion

Concluding the study, we come to the following conclusions.

1. To the main language markers of the dichotomy "youth vs. old age" in modern Russian–language news discourse refers to young, youth, youth, young, girl, old age, etc., to additional - old, old man, youth, sucker, girl, etc. The state of youth is marked more often than the state of old age, that is, news publications tell much more about the actions of young people, give them assessments. As a result of such preferential attention, a general orientation of the media towards young people and positioning of the priority of young age is created.

2. Analysis of linguistic markers of the dichotomy "youth vs. old age" allows us to conclude that youth is interpreted in the linguistic picture of the world of modern man mainly as a dignity, a valuable resource. Such qualities of young people as the availability of fresh ideas, mobility, openness to development are highlighted. Negative connotations of youth (suggestibility, inexperience) are mentioned less often in news discourse. Old age is most often perceived as a disadvantage, a fear-inducing condition characterized by financial helplessness. Less often it is indicated on its positive properties: old age is interpreted as a time of summing up, as an age that requires respect. Such differences between the interpretation of youth and old age, transmitted by the dichotomy "youth vs. Russian Russian "old age" obviously reflects the ideas about these states, which have become entrenched in the mentality of the modern Russian person, in the Russian language picture of the world.

The prospects further research may consist in identifying and describing more linguistic markers of the "youth vs. old age", the analysis of attitudes to the states of youth and old age, which the linguistic personality demonstrates through these markers, as well as in the comparative study of the functioning of the dichotomy on the material of different languages.

You can simply select and copy link from below text field.