The State Of Regional Economics: Specificity Of Linguistic Interpretation

Abstract

The article aims at revealing the specificity of linguistic interpretation of knowledge about the world in stative format. The material of our research is non-professional discourse which characterizes the state of regional economics. The starting point of the study based on the fundamentals of Cognitive Linguistics consists in ascribing the conceptual structure of REGIONAL ECONOMICS taking into consideration economic, social and environmental dimensions of its functioning. With the help of social poll method the representative linguistic data is collected and processed. Among the most influential findings there are, first, the interpretive nature of STATE OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS concept, and, second, its matrix structure. It is proved that linguistic interpretation of the concept under study is dependent on several factors, the most important of them are the region and its peculiarities and the interpreter with his/her sociocultural identity together with here-and-now situational specificity. Moreover, the deeper interpreter’s knowledge about the world is, the more creative the level of linguistic interpretation of STATE OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS is fixed. The present study contributes not only to the problem of construing the world in language but reveals some dominant aspects of stative interpretation of knowledge about the world.

Keywords: Concept of Regional Economicslinguistic worldviewtheory of linguistic interpretationstative format of knowledge

Introduction

The problem of construing the world in language is central to contemporary linguistics. As it’s generally known, being based on the human construal of reality, language interprets and reinterprets the knowledge about the world influencing the possible ways of cognizing and communicating. One of the most intriguing issues of present-day science deals with integrative aspects of linguistics and other social and exact sciences (Karni, 2017; Machina, 2003; Protevi, 2019; Richardson, 1978; Vanderschraaf, 2019). The interaction of linguistics and economics is based not only on high social ground but on the unique access the language gives to understanding man’s feelings, emotions, opinions in general and satisfaction of the results of economic development of his/her country, region, city or town in detail. Though existing studies on issues of language and economics are numerous and diverse, there two major strands reflecting contemporary problematic areas of research. They shed light on both globalization of world economy highlighting the role of language in this process and terminological problems in the economic sphere. Paying attention to the wordplay of terms “the economics and language” and “the language of economics” it’s worth mentioning one more possible variant which reflects pure linguistic notion – “the economy of language”. Let’s address briefly to each of the outlined strands.

The economy of language

The linguistic economy principle is “one of generally recognized mechanisms, the objective of which is to save more time and energy by conveying more information with less effort” (Zhou, 2012, p. 100). In the framework of our study it is realized in expressing social mood and public opinion with the help of so called “shell” linguistic units, e. g. “like”, “dislike”, “consider that”, “feel bad”, “feel about”, “feel like”, etc. These linguistic units represent general positive or attitude, feeling or idea as the reflection to some stimuli but don’t explain exactly what a man feels or thinks (Pavlova, 2018a).

The economics and language

This strand of integrative research is distinguished between two directions. The first one is connected with investigating of the influence of foreign language knowledge on the personal success in the spheres of education and professional growth and on the economic development of the country in general. For example, the recent study by Chhaya (2017) shows the integration of natural and cultural diversity with economic development and language. The key point of this strand is whether to get education on international language (English) or on the mother tongue and what serious consequences this decision can have (Chhaya, 2017). The deeper understanding of this problem is represented in Liu and Pizzi’s (2018) paper aiming to reveal the problem of ethnolinguistic homogeneity and how it can facilitate economic growth.

The language of economics

The last but not the least strand “the language of economics” aims at revealing peculiarities of terminological interpretation of different aspects of economic science. The key point of this strand of research deals with explaining the origin, sources and meaning of economic terms (Latu, 2015, 2017). So, these studies of professional discourse abound in linguistic data classifications based on various criteria. Though our study is not interested in terminological data, there are terms fixed in the answers of our interviewees, which we analyzed according to the purpose of the study.

Problem Statement

Taken under the Cognitive Linguistics framework the present study discusses the problematic issues pertaining to linguistic interpretation of knowledge about the world (Boldyrev, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018). The linguistic system of stative interpretation is in particular focus of our research. According to Pavlova (2016), STATE is viewed as an interpretative format of linguistic knowledge possessing such peculiarities as

  • inferential nature, pointing out the dependency of stative meaning from the relevant bearer of state;

  • modus character, highlighting the creative linguistic cognition in the stative format;

  • conceptually complex structure (Pavlova, 2016).

Setting the stage for investigating the specificity of linguistic interpretation of STATE OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS, this seminal research becomes the starting point in ascribing the structure of the concept under study and its content. The further work on grounding the state as a cognitive dominant of linguistic cognition (Pavlova, 2018b) provides influential insights into deciphering the most profound conceptual and thematic domains of stative interpretation in the regional economics domain.

Research Questions

The main research question is “What is the specificity of linguistic interpretation of STATE OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS?” Trying to answer this question, we have to point out the linguistic and conceptual aspects which make us delve into how language limits our thoughts and how our high-level cognitive states trigger our linguistic interpretation of world knowledge.

Purpose of the Study

The study aims at revealing the specificity of linguistic interpretation of a situation with regional economics in stative format.

The concept STATE OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS

Aiming to reveal the specific features of the concept STATE OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS we study its structure and contents.

The category of linguistic stativity as a form of STATE OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS representation

Aiming to ascribe the mechanisms of stative interpretation we study the linguistic data collected during the social poll.

Research Methods

The critical overview of theoretical literature helps highlighting the diversity of problematic issues connected with economic sciences and language. The empirical method of social poll suggests huge preparation work covering the formulating of questions, collecting the interviewees according to special criteria and processing the data.

Method of social poll

The Scientific Research Institute of regional economics held a social poll aiming at revealing the social opinion on the evaluating of the state of regional economics by non-professionals. The conditions of the poll were the following:

  • the age of interviewees was between 25 and 55;

  • the group of interviewees was half male, half female;

  • the interviewees’ profession was not directly connected with economic sphere;

  • the interviewees were the residents of Orenburg region for more than 10 years.

The method of linguistic interpretation of the data

To have relevant results we processed the data with the help of conceptual analysis of interviewees’ answers to the following questions:

  • What does the concept of regional economics mean for you personally?

  • What are the main aspects the concept of regional economics covers from your point of view?

  • How can you estimate the present-day state of Orenburg’s regional economics?

The results of the study gave us the opportunity to construct the stative cognitive matrix of regional economics and describe the specificity of its linguistic interpretation.

Findings

The results of applied methods let us define the specificity of linguistic interpretation of a situation with regional economics in stative format.

Though idea of matrix organization of our conceptual universe in general in not novel (Langacker, 2013), it is new for understanding the contents and structure of the concept STATE OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS. To be precise, the content of the concept under study is organized by such conceptual and thematic domains as REGION’S INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL and INVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS (Fig.01).

Figure 1: Conceptual and thematic domains of the concept STATE OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS
Conceptual and thematic domains of the concept STATE OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS
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The first analyzed domain of REGION’S INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT is formed by such concepts as GAS PROCESSING PLANT, PETROLEUM REFINER, ORENBURG SHAWL FACTORY, MILK PROCESSOR, to name a few. Their presence in the region and their productive work are the basis of region’s financial state formed by taxes paid in the regional budget.

The second analyzed domain of REGION’S SOCIAL PROBLEMS is formed by such concepts as UNEMPLOYMENT, LOW LEVEL OF POPULATION INCOME, MEDICAL SYSTEM PROBLEMS, LACK OF EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, UNAPPROPRIATE STATE OF ROADS, to name a few. The stative conceptualization of these domains is dependent on interviewees’ sociocultural affiliation. For example, a driver mentions the poor roads’ condition in the city of Orenburg, a worker, who has lost his job lately and can’t find a new one, speaks about high unemployment level, a visually impaired man strengthens the role of medical system organizations in the general evaluation of regional economics state.

A lot of respondents pay attention to environmental problems, thus, forming the corresponding conceptual structure. Much evidence is proved to highlight exceeding level of air and water pollution because of harmful substances and byproducts of plants and factories. The following concept from the domain of INVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS: AIR POLLUTION, WATER POLLUTION, POACHING, DEFORESTATION, to name a few.

Thus, the concept STATE OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS is proved to be an interpretive concept. It means that its linguistic interpretation is dependent on several factors, the most important of them are the region and its peculiarities, for example, geographical position, nature resources, the level of economic development in federal district this region belongs to. Even more influential to linguistic interpretation of the concept under study is the interpreter with his/her sociocultural identity together with here-and-now situational specificity. Moreover, the deeper interpreter’s knowledge about the world is, the more creative the level of linguistic interpretation of STATE OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS is fixed.

Conclusion

The Theory of Linguistic Interpretation propounded by prof. Boldyrev (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018) and the conception of stative formatting of knowledge about the world introduced by Pavlova (2016, 2018a, 2018b) find their realization in the study of specificity of linguistic interpretation of STATE OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS concept. Its interpretive nature conveys a high variable in conceptualizing knowledge about the world in stative format on the issues of regional economics state. This variable is directed by specificity of both region’s characteristics and interpreter’s psychophysiological and cultural peculiarities. Moreover, the here-and-now factor brings its comprehensive impact on linguistic interpretation of STATE OF REGIONAL ECONOMICS concept.

References

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About this article

Publication Date

20 April 2020

eBook ISBN

978-1-80296-082-2

Publisher

European Publisher

Volume

83

Print ISBN (optional)

-

Edition Number

1st Edition

Pages

1-787

Subjects

Discourse analysis, translation, linguistics, interpretation, cognition, cognitive psychology

Cite this article as:

Aralbaeva, G. G., Solopova, N. V., & Kharitonova, N. G. (2020). The State Of Regional Economics: Specificity Of Linguistic Interpretation. In A. Pavlova (Ed.), Philological Readings, vol 83. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 635-641). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2020.04.02.74