Lexical and semantic oppositions of russian and ossetian dictionary units

The subject of this article is the lexical-semantic oppositions of the Russian and Ossetian languages. These oppositions are considered from the point of view of sememe semasiology, i.e., the meaning (sememe) is described as a certain integrity that goes beyond the details of its structure; accordingly, semantemes are analyzed, i.e., the composition of sememes of a lexeme functioning in Russian and Ossetian. The focus is on the value types. The article aims to study the most frequent oppositions of lexical semantics of words in Russian and Ossetian, which represent an active zone of interlingual interference that allows us to assert, on the one hand, the preservation of important national images of Ossetian culture and, on the other hand, the mental influence of Ossetians on the Russian culture of a given region. Explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language and translated Ossetian-Russian lexicographic reference works served as sources for the empirical data; data obtained through interviews with the inhabitants of Vladikavkaz were also used. The typology of lexical-semantic relations is represented by three main types of interlingual relations: equivalence, inclusion, and intersection. Special attention was paid to polysemic lexemes since they most convincingly show similar and differentiating sememes of the compared semantic structures. The priority of these sememes in the semantic structures of Ossetian lexemes in comparison with the corresponding Russian words, testifying to the preservation of important national images inherent in the Ossetian mentality, is affirmed. Thus, the denotative-conceptual apparatus and connotations of the Ossetian lexemes allow us to talk about the features of the worldview of the Ossetian people, which is actively manifested in the lexical-semantic comparison. The presented semantic oppositions reflect the social transformations due to the current tendency in modern society to form a Russian identity that implies separate, relatively autonomous constituents, for example, the identity of a national character. Accordingly, the study of lexicalsemantic oppositions between Russian and Ossetian vocabulary units seems to be relevant not only in linguistic but also in ideological terms, as they reflect the basic values of the population of a particular Russian region.

semantic opposition, contrastive semantic analysis, sememe, semantemes, semantic equivalence, semantic inclusion, semantic overlap, national identity