THE DIVERSITY OF MEANS OF EXPRESSING THE DICHOTOMY OF TOLERANCE/INTOLERANCE IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN
 POLITICAL DISCOURSE:
ON THE MATERIAL OF THE RUSSIAN AND FRENCH MEDIA

Flera Ya. Khabibullina¹*, Iraida G. Ivanova², Lilya R. Gainutdinova^3
1Associate professor, Mari State University, RUSSIA, florakh@mail.ru
²Associate professor, Mari State University, RUSSIA, iraida44@yandex.ru
³Assistant Professor, Mari State University, RUSSIA, lili_marat@mail.ru 
*Corresponding author

Abstract

The article deals with the functioning of prefixal means of expression linguistic tolerance / intolerance in the political discourse of the Russian and French mass media in a comparative aspect. In the dichotomy "tolerance / intolerance" of the compared languages the prefixal morphemes with negative semantics prevail. The high-frequency prefixes, which convey the inherent nature of the modern European political discourse, are non-, non-, anti-, counter- / non-, de- (dès-), anti-, contre-. Additional negative shades acquire prefixes with the similar meaning: Hyper -, multi-, ultra-, Pro -, ex -; hyper-, sur-, pro -, ex -. In the functioning of prefixes there is a tendency to unification, in particular, in the Russian language under the influence of modern Western European languages. The revitalization of the phenomenon of verbal aggression in modern society motivates politicians to choose linguistic means of expressing tolerance in the “tolerance / intolerance” dichotomy. At the same time, the importance of studying language tolerance increases in a comparative aspect. The increased intensity of interaction between countries in the framework of global relations dictates the need for the competent building of political contacts. In a comparative study of word-building means of expressing linguistic tolerance in the Russian and French political discourses, one can identify both common and different features. Characteristic features of both languages is the use of both traditional prefixes with positive and negative connotations, as well as prefixes with specification meanings  ??(temporality, intensity, territory, adherence to something / someone, etc.). At the same time, in the case of the French language, which reflects the tendency toward a unified critical approach of the Western political world in the assessment of contemporary events, there is a semantic shift in the realization of the meanings of prefixes from the zone of traditional neutrality towards conflict. In the Russian political discourse, the number of borrowed prefixes that have an international character increases. High-frequency of the use of prefixal means of expressing intolerance remains.

Keywords: tolerance, political discourse, word-formation, prefix, mass media, the Russian language, the French language.