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European Journal of Natural History
ISSN 2073-4972
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STEREOTYPES IN RUSSIAN AND CHINESE LANGUAGES

Andreeva S. and Van Tsi
Any language serves all social and cultural needs of its native speakers. Languages and culture of other people can always be considered as a component of the general spiritual culture.

The experience of teaching of Russian as foreign testifies that possession of structure of language, knowledge of elements of culture served by it. The national-cultural specificity of the organization of the most speech dialogue, sold in stereotypic for the given ethnos situations of dialogue, in many respects reflecting in the mental dialogue («ethnic rhythms») (L. Gumilev), creates «communicative noise, handicaps», complicating dialogue (Prokhorov JU.E., Akishina A.A.).

Stereotype is a kind of mental «pictures» of the world (stereotypes-images and stereotypes - situations) which influence communicative behavior. Stereotypes appear as the minimized representation, a variant. They are stored in memory as a cliche, as stamps of consciousness.

The realizations of interrelation of language and culture during mastering by a modern language as means of dialogue entered in mutual relations of thinking and language, and persons are really shown in dialogue through these mutual relations. The given theory is probably considered in a mentally-linguistic model, in a complex, which is presented by three parts - by thinking, consciousness and language, which we understand like a «functioning on the basis of a human brain organized as an information system which provides perception, understanding, estimation, storage, transformation, generation and transfer of the information» (Morkovkin, 1994).

It´s necessary to say that such position is important for basic conviction in an opportunity of speech dialogue of representatives of different languages and cultures. Ethnic language considers as the form of realization of the general for all people of genetic language, as process of imposing some information, mentally-linguistic integrity, a complex of corresponding «sound» language during familiarizing the language, the person with the world of the natural objects included in its activity or in the activity of previous generations.

The mentality of language as reflections of social and cultural environments of realization of speech dialogue is shown in the choice of the language means accepted in the given society for expression of an estimation of the certain phenomen or social influence on participants of dialogue.

Thus, we agree with JU.E. Prokhorov, who understands a stereotype of speech dialogue as a social and cultural mentally-linguistic unit, a complex of the representative of ethno culture which is realized in speech dialogue in the form of normative local association to standard for the given culture.

We would like to consider some stereotypes - images describing qualities of the person from the point of view of Russian and Chinese national-cultural mentality.

So, for example, in Russian language a stereotype-image:

1. SNAKES: it is used for describing of:

  • an artful person capable of treachery, cold, prudent: the person under its bad, spiteful attitude to world around; (not language, and a snake sting; well, has hissed, the snake);
  • the person on its behavior in the certain situations, deals with behavior of the snake (the snake is flexible and resourceful; possesses «ability» to hypnotize the victim);
  • appearance of the person, a subject, feeling or a situation, foretelling dangerously.

The situations which cause associations with one of displays of the snake:

  • a viper - the characteristic of the person artful, ungrateful, dangerous;
  • green snake - personification of alcohol, alcoholic dependence.
  • snakes - the tempter:
  1. the characteristic of the person persuading the interlocutor to make any act, promising compensation and-or the various blessings;
  2. the characteristic of the man-temper;
  • wise snakes, wise as serpent - the characteristic of the person, differing the mind, owning special knowledge;
  • to warm the snake on a breast - to assist, protection the person artful, to consider as its friend and to test owing to its treachery the deepest disappointment.

2. The RAVEN - concerns to number of the most ancient mythological images; acts as a stereotypic image; it can be used for the characteristic of the person or a situation.

  • in national representations - dirty (devil) and the ominous bird connected with the world dead.

In modern Russian there are a lot of words and expressions connected with a raven.

  • about color of a black wing <a black wing> - considerably black color.
  • the person is beautiful, smooth, young, and with black hair on temples.
  • about «to croak»[troubles] - to draw words of trouble; it is based on a stereotypic image and it is connected with the most ancient representation that the word is business and that the word possesses magic force.

Chinese people name snake in such expressions:

  • «a small dragon», symbolized happiness.

In a national fairy -tale the snake is a good subject designates that the ancestor has sent snakes to destroy danger in the house. But on the other hand the snake is one of five most poisonous animals (the snake, a scorpion, a toad).

  • «To slam grasses, to let out the snake»- to work not carefully;
  • «a head of a tiger - a tail of the snake» is used when people lose patience;
  • «to draw luxury on the snake» is Russian synonym of this expression - «it´s necessary like as a dog needs the fifth leg».

THE HORSE. The horse in the Chinese national culture has taken a very high place, has a series symbolizing value:

  • the talented person, wise man;
  • military force during ancient time;
  • «uncontrollable and prompt run of ten thousand horses» - to scale of mass activity huge and hot;
  • «the black horse» - unexpected won person;
  • «to clap the horse´s back», designates what to toady someone;
  • «the old horse always remembers road» when people wish to express that the person skilled.

3. THE COCK. All expressions with words of «cock» has «ignoble» and «mean» values. During ancient time people use cocks to guess and expel harm.

  • «the crane costs among the hen» - appearance and talent of one person is much better than the others have;
  • fallen asleep as the wooden cock;
  • both «the hen has departed, and eggs were broke», designate achieved nothing.

Thus, generalizing results of the given analysis of stereotypes, we come to the defined conclusions:

1) the stereotype is standard of social and cultural unit of speech dialogue of representatives of ethnos;

2) the stereotype can be shown in the form of a speech cliche or like a consciousness stamp;

3) the stereotype - mental unit, a complex of the representative of ethnos; steady and marked local social and cultural association in a certain situation of the dialogue which studying is rather actual and important as they are the representatives of peoples´ cultures in its wide understanding and a reliable support of the language person in dialogue interaction.

References

  1. BeresnevaN.I., DubrovskajaL.A., OvchinikovI.G. Stereotype and individual strategy of speech behaviour. - Language, consciousness, ethnos, culture. - М, 1994. P. 173-174.
  2. Krasnikh V.V. Foreign native : a myth or a reality? - M., 2003. - 375 p.
  3. Prokhorov JU.E. National social and cultural stereotypes of speech and their role in training of Russian language.- M., 2008. - 224p.
The work is submitted to Scientific Conference "The Problems of International Integration of Educational Standards", England (London) - France (Paris), April 23 - May 1, 2010. Recieved by the editorship on 15.04.2010.

Библиографическая ссылка

Andreeva S. and Van Tsi STEREOTYPES IN RUSSIAN AND CHINESE LANGUAGES // European Journal of Natural History. 2010. № 3. ;
URL: https://world-science.ru/en/article/view?id=21025 (дата обращения: 28.04.2026).