Information on the thesis

The  thesis  focuses  on  the  analysis  of  prominent  features  and  functions  of  exotic
borrowings  in  English  media  texts  against  the  background  of  current  processes  of
intercultural communication.
Exotic borrowings are the words from relatively unknown as well as known Indo-
European languages, which are associated with a foreign culture and are used to describe
the peculiarities of clothes, manners and customs of other nations. The most characteristic
features  of  exotic  borrowings  are  the  absence  of  equivalents,  nominative  character  of
meaning,  relative  morphological  homogeneity,  localization  at  the  linguistic  periphery,
inability to vary, weak syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations, incomplete assimilation,
and distinct national and cultural coloring. Exotic borrowings can be common (fixed in the
dictionaries and included into the lexical system of the recipient language) and occasional
(located  outside  the  vocabulary  of  the  language).  They  are  a  quite  unstable,  although
dynamic and constantly replenishable group of heterogeneous vocabulary.
English  media  texts  provide  a  favorable  environment  for  exotic  borrowings,  in
which they can explicitly implement their functions. The most frequent exotic borrowings
are of French, Japanese, Spanish and Italian origin. The least used are  borrowings from
transliterated  Chinese,  Bulgarian  and  Portuguese  languages.  Most  exotic  borrowings
belong to the Indo-European language family and to the Romance language group. Among
exotic  lexical  items,  the  most  common  are  one-word  ones,  the  second  and  third  places
being occupied by two- and three-word borrowings.
Syntactic  relationships  of  exotic  borrowings  are  marked  by  dominance  of  the
attributive type, whereas the copulative one is the least frequent. Exotic borrowings are
often nouns or noun constructions, less frequently – adjectives.
Media texts are discrete units of the media discourse that record events within the
dynamic sociocultural space and at the same time fill them with additional information and
cultural meanings. Newspapers are the oldest and the most accessible media, which cover
versatile  issues  and  provide  a  sufficient  amount  of  information.  The  feature  genre  of
English newspapers expresses the subjective vision of the problems of modern society.
The textual functions of exotiс borrowings in the feature texts determined by their
genre  characteristics  include  the  functions  of  introducing  new  concepts,  of  reaching
semantic accuracy, of creating the effect of authenticity, of producing the coloring effect
as well as aesthetic, expressive and axiological functions.
In the feature texts, exotic lexical items also perform the following social functions 20
in the context of globalization and intercultural communication:  the function of cultural
transfer, the cognitive, ideological and that of ethnic stereotyping functions. All functions
are interrelated, they intersect and interact under the influence of various factors – from
communicative and textual to sociocultural and social in general.
The  English  travel  guide  is  a  printed  or  online  informational  edition  about  the
locations for tourists and visitors. The leading textual function of exotic borrowings in the
travel  guide  is  an  attractive  one.  It  aims  at  producing  the  explicit  impact  on  readers  in
order to interest them in the described location and encourage to visit it.
The  attractive  function  is  based  on  the  synergy  of  informational,  aesthetic,
expressive, coloring, cognitive, axiological and advertising functions. The exotic lexemes
perform the axiological function only of positive evaluation due to the pragmatic focus of
the travel guide on the formation of the attractive image of the country.
In  travel  guides,  exotic  borrowings  perform  a  number  of  social  functions  in  the
context  of  globalization,  namely,  the  function  of  enculturation,  educational  and
ideological  functions. The last of the abovementioned functions is  realized only  with a
positive  connotation.  Against  the  background  of  the  processes  of  intercultural
communication, exotic borrowings in the texts of travel guides also perform the function
of positive ethnic stereotyping, thus promoting positive stereotypes of countries, cultures
and people.
Exotic borrowings can therefore be treated as markers and agents of intercultural
communication. In English media texts, they customize foreign words, liberalize language
norms,  promote  the  tolerance  towards  cultural  expansion  and  slightly  mitigate  the
differences between global Anglo-American and other societies.
Keywords: exotic borrowing, intercultural communication, media text, feature text,
travel guide, textual function, social function.