Психолінгвістика (Apr 2021)
Investigating the Concept of “Flirting” as Reflected in the Russian-Speaking Ukrianians’ Linguistic Consciousness
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to define and describe the semantic components of the verbalised concept “flirting” as a component of ludic competence in the linguistic consciousness of the Russian-speaking people from Eastern Ukraine. The main method of the research was a psycholinguistic experiment. The sample comprised 400 young people (aged 18-35), males and females being equally represented. Results. The experiment results proved that the concept “flirting” in the linguistic consciousness of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine is represented by four core semantic clusters: “verbal and nonverbal means of communication” (27.75%), “forms and types of interaction” (25.25%), “emotions, feelings, states” (24.75%), and “gender” (10.5%). The peripheral clusters “romantic relationship” (4%) and “meeting place” (1.5%) are represented by a relatively equal number of male and female reactions. The fact that clusters on the extreme periphery are exclusively represented either by female (“secret actions”) or male reactions (“time of year”) is most probably explained by certain individual preferences in usage rather than by gender-specific tendencies. The analysis of isolated reactions allowed distinguishing the following cluster reactions: “age” (youth), “period of time” (temporality) and “time of day” (it is getting late). The associative behaviour of the respondents is characterized by a heterosexual orientation of flirting, which is reflected in the peripheral subcluster “heterosexuality” (1.25%). Conclusions. Based on the results of cluster analysis, two psycholinguistic meanings of the concept of “flirting” were described: 1. A type of courtship that does not involve sexual intimacy (90.75%) and 2. Sexual relations (4.5%). The semantic content of the concept core of “flirting” does not depend on gender identification based on the results of the analysis of female and male associative fields. The attitude of informants to the stimulus of “flirting” is emotionally positive and is characterized by positive evaluation. The comparative analysis of the verbalised concept “flirting” in the linguistic consciousness of Russian-speaking population of Ukraine and people who live in Russia revealed a wider semantic scope and prominent positive attitude to the stimulus of Ukrainian sample. In general, the evaluation of this phenomenon by Russian-speaking respondents in Ukraine and members of the Russian linguistic culture is presented mainly by positive and neutral reactions.
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