Basic Divisions: Department of General and Slavonic Linguistics, Academic and Research Laboratory for Speech Communication and Speech Acoustics Studies.

 

Brief Description of Research Activities

The trend has been developed since the 1970s.

 

Urban speech within the scientific trend is understood as a constantly developing dynamic language unity. The specificity of urban speech is in its dual character: on the one hand, it is a heterogeneous structure which provides mutual influence of such diverse elements as literary language, dialects, colloquial speech, aboriginal languages, etc. and on the other hand, such interrelation causes the development of a homogeneous system which is specific to each region. Such view of the subject is new and acute for Modern Linguistics.

 

One of the theories within the trend is the theory of local variation of language existence forms, particularly the local variation of literary language. The concept of localism – a linguistic unit used in a certain area, which is formulated and developed within the trend, has essential significance for the linguistic research. The local variation research makes considerable contribution to the development of the Regiolect Theory.

 

A considerable amount of urban speech research works is devoted to modelling of a special and integrated sociolect which allows discovering and explaining the sociolinguistic mechanism of split-level linguistic units and analysing speech behaviour regularities in everyday life. Variability, as well as stability, is an important feature of urban speech that is why probabilistic method is used for modelling urban speech sociolects. The complex statistic models of urban speech based on the Russian language data were developed and continue to be developed only within the trend. The statistic modelling analyses the influence of both single factors (gender, age, education, profession etc.) and complex factors on speech. Studying the sociolinguistic variation of linguistic units of different levels (phonetic, lexical and grammatical) and linguistic units within the level (localisms, professional terms, obsolete words, slang words, etc.) led to a conclusion about complex interrelations between the social factors and “awareness” or “usage” of various linguistic units.

 

Another line of research is the analysis of Russian speech of bilinguals (Komi-Permyaks and Tatars), the aboriginal population of the Perm Region, since the specificity of their speech has considerable influence on the linguistic situation in the region and functioning of the Russian language in it.

 

A combination of sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic approaches is the specificity of the research within the trend: sociolinguistic questioning data is specified and corrected by the analysis of native speakers’ linguistic consciousness.

 

The methodology of the integral analysis of urban speech, developed within the trend allows both describing urban speech specificities in different cities and revealing the invariant features of urban speech as a complex phenomenon.

 

Selected Publications Characterising Scientific Research Trend

1. Erofeeva T.I. Local variation in literary conversational speech: Study Guide. Perm: Perm State University Press, 1979. 91 p. (In Russian)

2. Erofeeva T.I. Practices of urban speech analysis (areal, social and psychological aspects). Sverdlovsk: Ural University Press, 1991. 136 p. (In Russian)

3. Erofeeva T.I. The stratification aspect of sociolect // The Russian language today / ed. by L.P. Krysin. Russian Language University of the Russian Academy of Science. Moscow:  Wordbook, 2000. Iss. 1. pp. 85–92. (In Russian)

4. Erofeeva T.I. Norms of urban oral speech in sociolinguistic interpretation // The Russian language today: collection of papers / ed. by L.P. Krysin. Russian Language University of the Russian Academy of Science. Moscow, 2006. Iss. 4: Language norm questions. pp. 206–214. (In Russian)   

5. Erofeeva E.V. et al. Urban sociolects: Perm urban speech: Sounding chrestomathy / Erofeeva T.I., Erofeeva E.V., Gracheva I.I. Perm; Bochum, 2000. 172 p., CD. (In Russian)   

6. Erofeeva E.V. et al. Localisms in literary urban speech: Study Guide / Erofeeva E.V., Erofeeva T.I., Skitova F.L. Perm: Perm State University, 2002. 108 p. (In Russian)   

7. Erofeeva E.V. Probabilistic structure of idioms: Sociolinguistic aspect. Perm: Perm State University Press, 2005. 320 p. (In Russian)

8. Balashova E.A. Fragments of ordinary views on the world of Russians and Slovenians based on the ordinary meaning of words (sociolinguistic approach): Study Guide / Perm State University. Perm, 2006. 160 p. (In Russian)

9. Boronnikova N.V. et al. Komi-Permyaks’ Russian speech: sounding chrestomathy / ed. by T.I. Erofeeva; composite authors. Perm State University. Perm, 2007. 72 p., CD. (In Russian)

10. Erofeeva T.I. Linguistic unit in gender aspect // Chelyabinsk State University Herald: Philology. Art History. Chelyabinsk, 2008. Iss. 19. № 9(110). pp. 35–39. (In Russian)

11. Erofeeva T.I. Modern urban speech: Iss. 2, revised and enlarged / Perm State University. Perm, 2009. 240 p. (In Russian)

12. Erofeeva T.I. Sociolect: stratification analysis: monograph / Perm State University. Perm, 2009. 240 p. (In Russian)

13. Erofeeva E.V. Linguistic situation in a modern city and methods of its investigation // Perm University Herald: Russian and Foreign Philology / Perm State University, Perm, 2009. Iss. 5. pp. 16–23. (In Russian)

14. Erofeeva T.I. Sociolect as an instrument of description of the linguistic situation in the region // Perm State University Herald: Russian and Foreign Philology. Perm, 2010. Iss. 1(7). pp. 21–25. (In Russian)

15. Erofeeva T.I. Touches to the portrait of the Kama Region: Study Guide / Perm State University, Perm, 2010. 192 p.

16. Dotsenko T.I. et al. Perm School of Sociolinguistics: theoretical and methodological fundamentals / Dotsenko T.I., Erofeeva E.V., Erofeeva T.I. // Perm University Herald: Russian and Foreign Philology. Perm, 2010. Iss. 2(8). pp. 144–155 (In Russian)

17. Boronnikovva N.V. et al. Russian spontaneous speech of Tatar bilinguals of the Kama Region: sounding chrestomathy / ed. by T.I. Erofeeva; composite authors. Perm State University, Perm, 2010. 100 p. CD. (In Russian)

18. Questions of Sociolinguistics and Psycholinguistics / ed. by T.I. Erofeeva, E.V. Erofeeva. Perm, 2002-2011. Iss. 1–15. (In Russian)

19. Zubareva A.A. Russian Speech Etiquette Formulae: sociolinguistic investigation: Study Guide / Perm State University. Perm, 2010. 198 p. (In Russian)

20. Usmanova M.V. Gender characteristics of cognitive models of situations: case study of spontaneous dialogues / Perm State University. Perm, 2006. 152 p. (In Russian)

21. Erofeeva E.V., Erofeeva T.I. Person and Text: anthropocentric approach in research // Perm State University Herald: Russian and Foreign Philology. Perm, 2010. Iss. 4(10). pp. 28–33. (In Russian)               

 

The Most Significant Fundamental and Applied Research Projects

1. 2001-2002 – The grant of Russian Foundation for Basic Research №01-06-80098 “Analysis of Mass media text array to give the most complete description of formal features of this type of text and development of a computer programme for text archiving and processing to reveal by linguistic analysis the statistically valuable differences of super-large text arrays”.

2. 2002-2003 – The grant of Perm Industry and Science Office “The first system dictionary of one Ural village dialect”.

3. 2002-2003 – The grant of Scientific and Technical Enterprise The Universities of Russia UR.10.01.017 “Speech of the Russian provinces: socio-ethno-cultural aspect”.

4. 2002-2004 – The grant of Russian Foundation for Basic Research №02-06-80223 “Language personality in situation of diglossia and bilingualism”.

5. 2003-2005 – The grant of Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation № 03-04-00165а “Dynamics of linguistic situation in the region as an indicator of social stereotype changes”.

6. 2005-2006 – The grant of Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation № 05-04-82404 а/У “Sociocultural aspect in Perm provincial speech: history and modernity”.

7. 2006-2008 – The grant of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation 2.1.3.6711 for the Analytical Departmental Target Programme “Development of Russian High School Potential” “Urban speech sociolect modelling as an instrument of description of the linguistic situation in the region”.

8. 2007-2009 – The grant of Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation № 08-04-82406 а/У “Sociolinguistic glossary as a dictionary of social image”.

9. 2008-2010 – The grant of Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation № 08-04-00040 а “The Russian language in the changing language space of the early XXIst century city”.

10. 2011-2012 – The grant of Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation № 11-14-59 а/U “Russian language of The Kama Region bilinguals”.

11. 2011-2013 – The grant of Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation № 11-04-00009 а “Language subcultures in the system of urban culture”.

 

Training of Researchers (Post-graduate and Doctoral Programmes):

Post-graduate Programme, specialty 10.02.19 “Language Theory”. Conferring the degree of Candidate of Philology.

 

International Research and Educational Activities

1. Since 2001 – publication in the annual symposium book “Philological notes” (The Russian Federation, Republic of Macedonia, Croatia, and Slovenia).

2. International scientific and educational cooperation (including student and teacher practical studies) with the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University (Skopje, Republic of Macedonia), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia). 

3. Regular scientific and educational programmes jointly with Oxford University, Charles University (Czech Republic), Palacký University (Olomouc, Czech Republic), University of Warsaw (Poland), University of Belgrade (Serbia), University of Brno (Czech Republic), University of Graz (Austria), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Kiev National University (Ukraine).

4. Organisation of International Club of devotees of the Slovenian language and culture.