Отражение этнической ментальности в русском языке

Ethnic mentality and the Russian language: Studies in Linguistics xx

In every language the real world surrounding people is perceived and regarded in a certain way and is expressed in units of all levels of the language. Getting to know the Russian language and Russian culture assumes an attempt to understand the way of thinking of the nation, an attempt to look at the world “from the point of view” of the native speakers. If to consider the language from the point of view of its functioning and ways of mastering, sociocultural layer turns out to be a part of the language or the background of its real life. Ethnic mentality unites people culturally and spiritually. Russian (as well as the language of any nation) reflects spiritual shape of the people, ethnic mentality in vocabulary and grammar. Adequate comprehension of this reflection is effective in comparative research. In Russian philology there is a tradition of comparison first of all with West European and American culture. This experience creates basis of expansion of lingocultural researches. Communication is an important part of a person’s life. Communicative behavior is defined by a number of factors among which the important role is played by ethnic consciousness and mentality. They define both verbal and nonverbal communicative behavior, stereotypes of behavior of the Russians. In intercultural dialogue it is necessary to consider peculiarities of national character of the speakers, specific character of their emotional state. In this article the basic results of researches on reflection of ethnic mentality in the Russian language, presented in the recent literature are analyzed and generalized.