The Concept “Vietnam” in Russian Linguistic Consciousness: What Russians Know about Vietnam

About the author:

Minh Tuan Uong, Postgraduate Student, Department of Russian Language, General Linguistics and Speech Communication, Ural Federal University (Yekateriburg); uongminhtuan@gmail.com

Abstract:

This article studies the onomastic concept “Vietnam”. The paper argues that the given concept can be defined as a concept-minimum, for which the cognitive matrix of knowledge is not completely filled. To determine the scope of the semantic content of the concept in the linguistic consciousness of a Russian native speaker, the author has used the experimental research method, i. e. a sociolinguistic survey for 457 respondents of different age groups.

The format of knowledge of a toponymical concept is a cognitive matrix or multidimensional knowledge. Thus, the questionnaire contains 15 points referring to geopolitical knowledge of the object as well as knowledge of Vietnam as a socio-ethnocultural phenomenon. Analysis of the survey results shows that the analysed concept exists in the Russian language consciousness since the predominant majority of respondents (82-99%) assimilate mentally the nuclear cognitive components of the concept “Vietnam”. The conceptual unit is placed in a grid of geographical landmarks, recipients are familiar with the governmental structure of the country, the main religion and names of prominent political figures. The older group of informants is more aware of Vietnam.

The concept “Vietnam” reflects the dynamics of the worldview of Vietnam in the collective consciousness of the Russians. The Soviet media covered the military aid by the USSR to Vietnam in the fight against the US aggression, which contributes to the conceptualization of information about Vietnam, the structuring of a positive connotative zone of the concept. Recent constituents of the cognitive matrix occur in the field of cultural and economic knowledge.

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