New semantic-pragmatic load of Latin letters during the Russian-Ukrainian war

Tetyana KOSMEDA,
Doctor of Philology, Professor, Titular Professor (Poland), Romance Languages and World Literature,
Vasyl’ Stus Donetsk National University (Vinnytsia),
vul. Archipenka, 9, apt. 1, Lviv-5;
E-mail: tkosmeda@gmail.com
ОRCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8912-2888

Heading: LANGUAGE AND TIME
Language: Ukrainian

Abstract
Scientific research is performed in the paradigm of the theory of linguistics, pragmalinguistics, discourse linguistics, lingua axiology and creative linguistics. The basic methodological position is the doctrine of the relationship between the content and form of expression of language units, especially sound-letters, and graphemes. It is shown that the letters of different alphabets can become the subject of respect, love, pride and other feelings, and, conversely, they can express contempt, hatred, shame and even aggression. In different linguistic cultures sound-letters can be filled with capacious semantic-pragmatic content, and the modelled meanings actualize axiologically opposite meanings. The originality of the semantic load of Latin letters actualized by Putin’s ideology during the Russian-Ukrainian war (February-April 2022) and the process of verbalization of opposition to this ideology are considered. The letter Z, which has a complex history of symbolization that dates back to Nazi Germany as a prototype of the rune, which is the sign of the oldest German alphabet, acquires a special functional load. The modern interpretation of the letter symbols V and Z in Russian and Ukrainian discourses is traced. A certain conflict of the semantic-pragmatic load of these letters in different linguistic cultures in accordance with actualized ideological extralinguistic factors has been revealed. They are used to model (a) a graphic language game, linguo-creative manipulations associated with (a) capitalization (at the beginning, inside or at the end of a word), (b) graphohybridization (mixing of Latin and Cyrillic letters), (c) conscious graphic deviations (violation of uppercase and lowercase letters) to update the relevant connotations. Several neologisms of the Ukrainian language in the structure of which there is the letter Z is given. It is shown that the letter Z becomes a negative poetic image in the Ukrainian literary text. It is stated that legislative processes are underway to identify the Z sign with Nazi and communist symbols and its ban.

Key words: grapheme, ideological extralinguistic factors, linguo-creative manipulations, language game, ambivalent semantic-pragmatic load.

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