Semantic analysis of negative-evaluative nouns “ловкач ‘dodger’”, “прохиндей ‘trickster’” and “прохвост ‘swindler’” in modern fiction and journalistic texts

Abstract

This article studies three synonymic nouns of the noun series “lovkach ‘dodger’” in the Russian linguistic picture of the world. Semantic peculiarities and contexts of use of these lexemes are analyzed based on the words “lovkach ‘dodger’”, “prokhindey ‘trickster’” and “prokhvost ‘swindler”’. The analysis uses the data of the Russian National Corpus, which makes it possible to reveal the function specifics of these words in different types of discourse; special attention is paid to the role these nouns play in the formation of national-cultural perceptions of dishonesty, cunning and deceitfulness in Russian linguoculture. The research is aimed at deepening the understanding of the mechanisms of reflecting cultural values and moral norms in language, as well as at revealing the dynamics of these concepts’ perception in Russian society. The results of the work can be used in lexicographic practice, in teaching Russian as a foreign language and in the sphere of intercultural communication.