Online Journal of Humanities ETAGTSU

EDITOR'S FOREWORD

2025-10-14T15:07:19+04:00

The tenth issue of the Journal of Humanities ETAGTSU features a diverse collection of papers exploring current debates in modern language theory, cognitive linguistics, and applied linguistics.

Nazi Iritspukhova’s article, 'Metaphor in Web-based Promotional Tourism Discourse: A Quantitative Exploration,' investigates metaphor use on official tourism websites from Georgia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. N. Iritspukhova's analysis shows that metaphors are employed strategically rather than extensively, with verbs and prepositions shaping their distribution, reinforcing persuasive aims and aiding destination branding.

Ana Gelovani explores conceptual metaphors of the SOUL in classical philosophical texts by Plato and Aristotle. Using Steen’s (2010b) MIPVU methodology, this study identifies 55 metaphors, classifies them as structural, ontological, or orientational, and illustrates their key role in making abstract philosophical ideas understandable long before the development of Conceptual Metaphor Theory.

In 'Towards the Typology of Character Portraits in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales,' Mariam Zedelashvili investigates Chaucer’s techniques of verbal portraiture. Relying on established typological frameworks, the paper shows how Chaucer’s descriptive methods create vivid, multidimensional characters, progressing scholarship on characters' linguistic and literary shaping. Sopio Totibadze’s study, “ღვინო, Wine, Вино – The Study of Linguistic Landscape in Tbilisi,” examines the presence of Georgian, English, and Russian in the city’s central signage. Based on a dataset of 45 images, the findings highlight the dominance of English in commercial contexts, often surpassing Georgian, the official language. The study places these linguistic patterns within broader sociocultural, economic, and ideological contexts, contributing to research on linguistic landscapes in post-Soviet settings.

Sopiko Gvritishvili’s article, “Breach of Conversational Maxims in Courtroom Discourse: A Conversation Analysis Approach,” analyses the strategic use of implicature in legal communication. Using Grice’s Cooperative Principle, the study shows how courtroom participants intentionally flout conversational maxims to create implied meanings that influence narratives, challenge testimonies, and impact judicial decisions. The analysis underscores implicature’s role as a power, persuasion, and procedural strategy mechanism within adversarial legal environments.

Mariam Nebieridze’s contribution, “Towards the Use of Backchannel Signals during Classroom Oral Presentations: Speakers’ Perspective,' investigates how audience feedback affects student presentations. Employing a mixed-methods approach with 127 undergraduates at Tbilisi State University, the study finds that verbal and non-verbal backchannel cues significantly influence presenters’ anxiety, confidence, and performance. These results reconceptualise oral presentations as co-constructed communicative events, with practical implications for teaching in higher education.

Nino Jojua’s research, “Phonological Deviations in Georgian EFL Learners’ Pronunciation within Academic Discourse,” examines recurrent vowel deviations among Georgian learners of English. Classroom observations and audio recordings reveal difficulties with schwa pronunciation, vowel length contrasts, and diphthongs, caused by cross-linguistic transfer, orthographic influences, and interlanguage development. The study highlights the importance of prioritising clarity over native-like accuracy and proposes specific strategies for pronunciation teaching in EFL contexts.

Elene Khuskivadze’s article, “Research on Dictionary Use in Teaching Languages (Findings of the Survey Conducted with School Teachers),” investigates how dictionaries are used in Georgian and foreign language education. Based on an adapted questionnaire from K. Márkus, Khuskivadze surveys teachers of Georgian, English, German, French, Spanish, and Russian, uncovering widespread deficiencies in dictionary skills, neglect of dictionary training, and broader linguistic consequences such as the spread of Anglicisms and calques. The study emphasises the pedagogical value of embedding dictionary literacy into language instruction. Farzin Ghobadighadikolaei’s paper, “Etymological Analysis of Six Mazandarani Toponymical Suffixes,” offers a historical-linguistic perspective on Mazandarani, a northwestern Iranian language. Analysing 1,184 rural toponyms, the research examines six semantically obscure suffixes, tracing their development from Proto-Indo-European through Proto-Indo-Iranian and noting parallels with Germanic and Balto-Slavic languages. Processes of grammaticalisation, semantic erosion, and metonymic generalisation transformed common nouns, such as marz (“border”), into productive toponymic markers with broader meanings, illustrating both the conservative character of Mazandarani and its value for understanding Iranian linguistic history.

The issue concludes with Ilia Tsetskhladze’s paper, “Ephrem Mtsire’s Translation Technique Based on the Pseudo-Athanasius of Alexandria’s Homily Sermo de descriptione Deiparae,” which explores Ephrem Mtsire’s translational strategies in medieval Georgian Christian literature.

This study identifies additions, omissions, grammatical adjustments, and rhetorical adaptations through comparative analysis of the Old Georgian translation and its Greek source. It reveals a dynamic equivalence approach that balances fidelity to theological content with reader-oriented stylistic choices.

The research enriches the understanding of Georgian translation practices and contributes to broader discussions on cultural mediation in Byzantine and Georgian literary traditions.

The contributions featured in this issue collectively shed light on the complex intersections of language, cognition, culture, and society. They span theoretical, empirical, and historical perspectives, encompassing metaphor, discourse, phonology, lexicography, and translation studies. Together, these studies demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary inquiry in the humanities, highlighting how rigorous linguistic and literary scholarship can deepen our understanding of contemporary communication and human thought and expression evolution.

Metaphor in Web-based Promotional Tourism Discourse: A Quantitative Exploration

2025-10-14T15:43:27+04:00

The paper aims at systematically examining the frequency and distribution of metaphor-related words in the web-based promotional tourism discourse, which can be regarded as an online hybrid info-promotional/ persuasive register characterised by "description-with-the-aim-to-sell" (Biber and Egbert, 2018). The study employs frequency analysis and comparative statistical research to analyse texts from the official destination websites of an emerging tourist destination such as Georgia, and established touristic countries such as the UK, and the USA. This approach enables a rigorous evaluation of the role of metaphors in promotional tourism discourse and provides statistically grounded insights into how figurative language functions to construct brand identity, shape perceptions, and enhance visitor engagement. The choice of the destinations was motivated by the assumption that developing destinations rely more heavily on metaphors in their promotional discourse compared to the well-established tourism markets (Dann 1996; George 2010; Jaworska, 2017).

The results reveal that the metaphor density in web-based promotional tourism discourse is lower than in general discourse, at approximately 10%, which situates the info-promotional register between fiction and face-toface conversation (Steen et al., 2010). This frequency reflects the dual informational and persuasive functions of this register and promotional discourse of tourism, where clarity and readability must be balanced with emotive and imaginative engagement.

The findings also demonstrate strategic rather than excessive use of metaphors: contrary to the commonly held idea that developing destinations employ more metaphors for their promotion, Georgia exhibited the lowest metaphor frequency, challenging the assumption that developing destinations strategically rely on metaphors to attract tourists. This suggests that there might be factors beyond a developmental status of a destination, such as target audiences, cultural considerations, etc, which might play a significant role in shaping metaphor use.

The overall distributional analysis of metaphors across word classes demonstrates a clear preference for verbs and prepositions, emphasising dynamic, relational, and persuasive functions rather than purely informational ones. Cross-destination comparison indicates shared tendencies alongside regional variations: the UK corpus demonstrates a strong preference for metaphorical adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions, whereas Georgia exhibits a more literal style with lower metaphor density, reflecting distinct promotional strategies and stylistic conventions.

Overall, this study provides important insights into how tourism marketers employ metaphor to balance informational clarity with persuasive impact, strategically shaping promotional narratives and destination brand images. While the research is limited by its focus on frequency and distribution, it highlights a significant role of metaphor in online tourism promotion and sets the stage for future research into metaphor types, cultural resonance, and the interaction of medium, genre, and marketing strategy in shaping persuasive tourism discourse.

Conceptual Metaphors of Soul in Philosophical Discourse

2025-10-14T15:54:21+04:00

Philosophy has historically engaged with fundamental metaphysical questions concerning human life and death, the nature of mind, truth, knowledge, “the existence of God, the immortality of the soul and the freedom of the will” (Broad, 1923, p. 1). Its primary aim has been to clarify human understanding of the external world and the internal structures of thought and reasoning. Among the earliest systematic explorations, Plato and Aristotle developed influential theories of the soul, employing numerous analogies to render this abstract concept more comprehensible. In doing so, they unknowingly employed metaphors.

The emergence of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) in the 1980s, which posits that metaphors arise from and structure our conceptual system, significantly expanded the scope of metaphor studies. Johnson (2008), after examining the concept of causality, argued that all abstract concepts are necessarily conceptualised metaphorically. From this perspective, philosophy—a discipline concerned with abstract and theoretical constructs—can be regarded as fundamentally engaged in studying metaphor. Nevertheless, relatively little scholarship has examined philosophical discourse through the lens of CMT.

This study therefore sets out to: (a) analyse philosophical discourse, focusing on classical philosophy, to identify conceptual metaphors on the soul; (b) classify these metaphors into three principal subtypes— structural, ontological, and orientational; and (c) evaluate their functions and significance. The analysis draws on Steen’s (2010b) Metaphor Identification Procedure in Discourse (MIPVU), supplemented by procedures for transforming linguistic metaphors into conceptual ones (Steen, 1999). The empirical material consists primarily of the works of ancient philosophers, particularly Plato and Aristotle, thereby demonstrating that metaphor has always served as a crucial means of rendering abstract ideas accessible, long before the formalisation of CMT.

The findings reveal 55 examples of linguistic metaphor, which were subsequently grouped into distinct conceptual metaphors. The data underscore the central role of metaphorisation in philosophical discourse: the theories of the soul advanced by ancient philosophers were deeply reliant on metaphorical analogies. This emphasises the importance of continued research into the metaphorical dimensions of philosophical texts to enhance our understanding of philosophical reasoning and trace the evolution of metaphoric paradigms across intellectual.

Towards the Typology of Character Portraits in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales

2025-10-14T16:05:43+04:00

The verbal portrait, viewed as the textual depiction of a fictional character, represents one of the most complex yet relatively underexplored aspects of literary art from a linguistic perspective.

This paper investigates the role of verbal portraiture in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, with particular emphasis on the general prologue. Methodologically, it employs a qualitative framework that integrates typological, stylistic, semantic, and literary approaches. Three influential models—Gabel’s minimalist versus extended portraits (1964), Bazilova and Suleimanova’s concentrated versus deconcentrated portraits (2012), and Bespalov’s sketchy, evaluative, situational, and descriptive portraits (2001)—are analysed in comparison. The analysis uses linguo-stylistics and semantics to trace how lexical and structural choices shape meaning, while framing theory and narratology clarify how cognitive and cultural stereotypes influence interpretation. Seven representative figures—the Prioress, the Clerk, the Merchant, the Friar, the Parson, the Miller, and the Wife of Bath—are examined in depth.

The findings demonstrate that Chaucer’s portraits are rarely confined to a single type but instead exhibit hybrid, layered strategies that combine evaluative, symbolic, and situational functions. This hybridity illustrates how verbal portraiture in the General Prologue individualises characters, critiques medieval society, and enhances the text's realism and satirical effect.

Ġvino, Wine, Vino ─ The Study of Linguistic Landscape in Tbilisi

2025-10-14T16:18:51+04:00

This study investigates the linguistic landscape of Tbilisi’s city centre, with a particular focus on the visibility and spatial distribution of Georgian, English, and Russian across public signage. As a rapidly globalizing urban space with a complex sociolinguistic history, Tbilisi offers a compelling case for examining how language is used in public settings and what this reveals about identity, power relations, and sociopolitical dynamics in contemporary Georgia. The research aims to explore the symbolic and communicative roles of these three languages in the city’s central and touristically attractive areas, where commercial and cultural activity is dense and language use is often strategic.

The study adopts a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative analysis with qualitative interpretation. The dataset comprises 45 photographs of business signs, restaurant menus, and graffiti collected through purposive sampling in Tbilisi's urban core. The images were selected based on their diversity of language use, visibility, and relevance to both local and tourist audiences. Each image was analysed using a set of linguistic landscape analytical criteria, including language prominence, script type, placement, and intended audience. Special attention was paid to whether languages appeared monolingually or multilingually, and how language choice might reflect broader economic or political motivations.

Findings indicate that English has become the most prominent language in Tbilisi’s city centre signage, often appearing independently or as the primary language in multilingual signs. This dominance reflects English’s global status and the growing emphasis on tourism, international business, and modernity. Georgian, despite being the official state language and a central component of national identity, more often appears alongside English rather than as a standalone medium, particularly in commercial contexts. This pattern raises important questions about the symbolic status of the Georgian language in spaces of high visibility and economic activity. Russian, once a dominant language in public and private domains during the Soviet era, now appears less frequently, reflecting both shifts in language policy and demographic changes, including decreased Russian-speaking populations and evolving political relationships.

This research contributes to the growing field of linguistic landscape studies by offering empirical evidence from a post-Soviet, multilingual context. It highlights how language in public spaces is not only a matter of communication but also a reflection of broader sociocultural hierarchies, economic forces, and political ideologies. The study’s findings have implications for language policy, urban planning, and debates surrounding cultural identity in Georgia and comparable transitional societies.

Breach of Conversational Maxims in Courtroom Discourse: A Conversation Analysis Approach

2025-10-14T16:26:22+04:00

This article explores the phenomenon of implicature within courtroom discourse, adopting a qualitative research perspective to provide a nuanced understanding of how implied meanings function in legal interactions. Courtroom communication is inherently strategic, as participants—including judges, lawyers, defendants, and witnesses—navigate a complex network of linguistic and pragmatic choices. In such settings, conversational implicature becomes a powerful tool for shaping narratives, influencing perceptions, and advancing legal arguments.

In courtroom interactions, participants often diverge from the conventional norms of cooperative communication, as described in Grice’s Cooperative Principle. Rather than merely exchanging information, they frequently engage in deliberate manipulations of language, creating implied meanings that serve their procedural and strategic goals. These deviations from expected conversational norms result in various implicatures instrumental in supporting or undermining particular legal positions.

The primary aim of this study is to identify and analyze the types of implicatures used to challenge and discredit opposing testimonies. By detecting violations of Grice’s Maxims—quality, quantity, relation, and manner—the study seeks to uncover how legal representatives construct implications that cast doubt on opposing witnesses' reliability, consistency, or truthfulness. Lawyers, in particular, employ implicature to expose contradictions, highlight ambiguities, and subtly suggest dishonesty without directly accusing a witness of lying. Through careful questioning and selective framing of evidence, they generate meanings that go beyond the literal interpretation of words.

Defendants, on the other hand, utilize implicature defensively, often to assert their innocence or to strengthen the credibility of their testimonies. They may rely on indirect statements, omissions, or suggestive phrasing to avoid self-incrimination while conveying persuasive narratives. This dynamic interaction between legal actors creates a layered and complex discourse, where what is left unsaid can be as significant as what is explicitly stated.

The findings of this study demonstrate that implicature plays a pivotal role in the adversarial structure of courtroom proceedings. Lawyers strategically exploit implicature to weaken opposing arguments and influence judges and juries, while defendants leverage it to protect their positions and gain sympathy or trust. As a result, implicature emerges not merely as a linguistic phenomenon but as a central mechanism through which power, persuasion, and legal outcomes are negotiated in the courtroom. This highlights the importance of understanding pragmatic elements in forensic linguistics, as they provide critical insights into how meaning is constructed and contested in legal discourse.

Towards The Use of Backchannel Signals during Classroom Oral Presentations: Speakers’ Perspective

2025-10-14T16:33:10+04:00

Classroom oral presentations are crucial across many higher education courses. They also play a key role in developing communication skills and preparing students for future careers. Although oral presentations have long been recognised as important for communication development and are widely integrated into curricula, much existing research has mainly focused on delivery techniques, assessment methods, and presentation design. Conversely, comparatively little attention has been given to the role of the audience, especially the impact of verbal and non-verbal feedback signals on presenters. This paper addresses this gap by exploring how undergraduate students perceive audience backchannel signals—such as verbal cues (e.g., “aha,” “no,” “yeah”) and non-verbal reactions (e.g., eye contact, nodding, shaking the head, smiling)—and how these influence their levels of nervousness, self-confidence, and delivery performance during classroom oral presentations.

The novelty of this study lies in its speaker-centred perspective. While previous research has largely viewed the audience as passive recipients of information, this research emphasises the audience as active participants in shaping the speaker’s psychological state and performance. Understanding this dynamic is especially important in higher education, where anxiety around public speaking often hampers learning outcomes.

A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining quantitative and qualitative research methods (Creswell, 2012). Data were collected through an online questionnaire created in Google Forms and distributed among first-, second-, and fourth-year undergraduate students of the Department of English Philology at the Faculty of Humanities, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. One hundred twenty-seven valid responses were received, ensuring representation across different academic years. The questionnaire included closed and open-ended items, allowing for statistical analysis of trends and a deeper understanding of students’ experiences and perceptions. The data were systematically analysed to identify patterns of anxiety, common triggers, and the role of audience reactions in either exacerbating or alleviating stress.

Findings show that most students experience notable nervousness when delivering oral presentations, with the fear of negative evaluation being among the strongest causes of anxiety. However, the data also indicate that positive audience feedback—whether through reassuring verbal cues or encouraging non-verbal behaviours— plays a crucial role in boosting confidence, reducing stress, and improving delivery effectiveness. These results suggest that oral presentations should be viewed as co-constructed communicative events, where the audience’s active role is acknowledged and emphasised. This study highlights the importance of training both presenters and audiences in effective communication practices, fostering more supportive classroom dynamics, and incorporating feedback-awareness strategies into academic presentation training.

Phonological Deviations in Georgian EFL Learners’ Pronunciation within Academic Discourse

2025-10-14T16:40:47+04:00

This study investigates phonological deviations in the English pronunciation of Georgian EFL learners, focusing on vowel production and its influence on oral fluency within academic discourse. Although fluency is often seen as a measure of language proficiency, pronunciation remains a persistent challenge for Georgian learners due to limited contact with native speakers, cross-linguistic transfer from Georgian, and interference from English orthography. Unlike English, Georgian lacks reduced vowels and phonemic vowel length distinctions, while its transparent orthographic system encourages learners to associate spelling with sound. These structural differences often lead to mispronunciations that decrease clarity in academic contexts.

The research was conducted at Tbilisi State University with 20 undergraduate participants enrolled in a Practical Phonetics course. Data were collected through classroom observations, audio recordings, and an errorfocused checklist across 14 sessions, totaling approximately 200 minutes of student speech. A mixed-methods approach combined quantitative categorisation of frequent vowel errors with qualitative thematic analysis. The checklist targeted monophthong/diphthong quality, vowel length, and schwa realisation, allowing systematic identification of patterns and their possible causes.

Results revealed several consistent tendencies. High-frequency monophthong-to-monophthong substitutions often affected meaning (e.g., word → ward). Schwa was particularly unstable, often replaced by full vowels or diphthongs in suffixes (e.g., dangerous → /ˈdeɪndʒəroʊs/, government → /ˈgʌvərmənt/). Overgeneralisation of suffix pronunciation, such as treating -ate endings as verb forms (climate → /ˈklaɪmeɪt/), further highlighted orthographic influence. Vowel length inconsistencies, especially the substitution of /iː / with /ɪ/, indicated difficulties in perceiving and producing length contrasts absent in Georgian. Learners also displayed varying strategies with diphthongs: both monophthongisation (most → /mɒst/) and diphthongisation (country → /ˈkaʊntri/) were observed, reflecting unstable phonological representations.

The analysis suggests these deviations originate from interactions of first-language transfer, reliance on spelling, and developmental interlanguage processes. While some patterns align with global EFL trends, others are specific to the Georgian phonological system, notably the absence of vowel reduction and the strong grapheme-phoneme correspondence in Georgian.

Pedagogically, the findings highlight the importance of targeted instruction prioritising intelligibility over native-like accuracy. Explicit training in vowel length distinctions, schwa usage, and stress placement should be combined with perception-based methods and contextual listening practice. Raising awareness of irregularities in English spelling–sound correspondence can reduce overreliance on orthography. Additionally, fostering learners’ ability to perceive and produce high-functional-load vowel contrasts will likely improve overall communicative effectiveness.

In conclusion, the study emphasises both universal and Georgian-specific pronunciation challenges, offering empirical evidence for curriculum development and teaching strategies in EFL contexts. Future research with larger samples and automated acoustic analysis is recommended to validate these findings and monitor developmental changes in learners’ phonological competence.

Research on Dictionary Use in Teaching Languages (Findings of the Survey Conducted with School Teachers)

2025-10-14T16:47:42+04:00

This article presents the findings of a study examining the use of dictionaries in teaching both Georgian and foreign languages in schools. The research involved teachers of Georgian and several foreign languages— including English, German, French, Spanish, and Russian—working in public schools in Tbilisi. Research on dictionary use dates back to the 1960s, with numerous international studies highlighting persistent challenges and shortcomings in dictionary utilisation (Barnhart, 1962; Quirk, 1973). Many scholars have concluded that the culture of dictionary use is in decline, a trend that carries negative pedagogical and linguistic implications (Gouws, 2022).

Georgia mirrors this global trend. Studies conducted within the country have revealed that many users lack fundamental dictionary skills, which has contributed to the growing influence of English on the Georgian language, including the spread of English-derived barbarisms and calques (Margalitadze, 2020). Drawing on the author’s experience as a public-school English teacher, this study arises from recognising these challenges. Informal discussions with colleagues prompted the development of a survey for language teachers to understand their perspectives on fostering dictionary-use skills and identify factors contributing to the decline in dictionary literacy.

The study employs the methodology developed by Hungarian researcher P. Márkus, who investigated dictionary use among Hungarian students and teacher trainees of English and German (P. Márkus et al., 2023). For this research, Márkus’s questionnaire was translated into Georgian and adapted to reflect the specific context of Georgian schools and the challenges unique to dictionary use in Georgia. Consequently, this study represents one of the first systematic attempts to examine dictionary use in language teaching in Georgian schools.

Etymological Analysis of Six Mazandarani Toponymical Suffixes

2025-10-14T17:06:41+04:00

Toponyms are among the most conservative elements of language, often preserving lexical, syntactic, and morphological features across centuries. Due to its relative geographic isolation from the Iranian plateau, Mazandarani—a northwestern Iranian language spoken in Mazandaran province—has retained lexical items traceable to Old Iranian, including archaisms absent in other Iranian languages. Mazandaran, historically known as Tabarestan, is a southern Caspian littoral region whose well-protected terrain, shielded by the Alborz Mountains, has safeguarded its linguistic heritage from invasions and external influence. Consequently, Mazandarani, or Tabari, preserves a rich inventory of Middle and Old Iranian vocabulary, including Avestan and Middle Iranian lexical items, as well as borrowings (Borjian, 2021). Spoken by approximately 2.5 million people, Mazandarani is also the only Iranian language with recorded written literature dating to the medieval period, including works such as Nikināme, Marzbānnāme, Bāvandnāme, and various Koranic exegeses, some of which have been later translated into Persian or lost (Borjian, 2021; Najafzadeh, 1989).

This study investigates the etymology and semantic development of six Mazandarani toponymic suffixes. From a dataset of 1,184 rural Mazandarani toponyms, 43 suffixes were extracted, of which six were selected for detailed analysis due to their semantic ambiguity. The results indicate that all six suffixes ultimately derive from Proto-Indo-European, via Proto-Indo-Iranian and Iranian stages, exhibiting parallels with other Indo-European language families, including Germanic and Balto-Slavic. Phonetic forms and semantic content, however, underwent transformations through processes of grammaticalization and semantic change, including decategorization, desemanticization, erosion, and metonymical generalization (Hopper & Traugott, 1993; Heine, 1993; Trask, 2003; Geeraerts, 2010). For example, the common noun marz (“border”) experienced decategorization, losing its nominal function and becoming a functional suffix; through desemanticization and metonymic processes (synecdoche), its meaning broadened from “border” to a general sense of “land.”

The findings corroborate Tame’s (2020) conclusion that many toponymic suffixes originate as ordinary lexical items that acquire specialized toponymic functions through semantic change. Suffixes such as kelā (“village”), marz (“border/field”), male (“village”), and keti (“hill”) illustrate this trajectory. Comparable suffixes appear in other Indo-European languages, particularly Germanic and Balto-Slavic groups, reflecting shared etymological roots and inherited tendencies in word formation. The recurrence of related phonetic forms with consistent semantic functions further suggests the impact of successive waves of Indo-Iranian settlement in Mazandaran, the retention of Indo-European archaic forms, and the subsequent influence of Persian as a regional lingua franca. Overall, this research highlights the significance of regional dialects in reconstructing lost etymologies, preserving linguistic archaisms, and understanding the mechanisms of toponymization

The Art of Manipulation: Exploring Gaslighting in James Thurber’s Narratives

2025-10-14T17:12:20+04:00

Gaslighting, a form of psychological manipulation, represents a complex discourse with significant linguistic dimensions. Despite its relevance, it has received relatively little attention in linguistic research. This paper investigates the linguistic manifestations of gaslighting in James Thurber’s works, drawing on excerpts from The Unicorn in the Garden (1939), The Little Girl and the Wolf (1939), and The Great Quillow (1944).

The theoretical framework integrates speech act theory (Austin, 1961; Searle, 1979), the theory of the linguistic order of gaslighting (Catapang Podoski, 2020), and approaches from linguo-stylistics and discourse analysis (Lakoff & Johnson, 1981; Verdonk, 2002). The analysis demonstrates that gaslighting in Thurber’s stories is primarily enacted through explicit assertive speech acts. These assertives satisfy both preparatory and sincerity conditions, enabling the speaker to achieve the intended perlocutionary effect on the listener.

In Thurber’s narratives, gaslighting is shown to operate predominantly as first-order gaslighting: it does not overtly negate the victim’s perception of reality. Still, it subtly reshapes it to the manipulator’s advantage. Moreover, stylistic devices such as epithets, similes, and metaphors enhance the linguistic construction of gaslighting, reinforcing manipulation strategies and rendering them more covert and insidious.

This study provides insights into how language functions as a tool of manipulation and control, offering implications for literary analysis and the understanding of real-world communicative practices.

Ephrem Mtsire’s Translation Technique Based on the Pseudo-Athanasius of Alexandria’s Homily “Sermo de descriptione Deiparae”

2025-10-14T17:20:23+04:00

This study explores the translation methodology of Ephrem Mtsire, a significant figure in Georgian Christian literature, through a detailed examination of his Old Georgian translation of the homily Sermo de descriptione Deiparae (CPG 2269) attributed to Pseudo-Athanasius of Alexandria.

The research is based on a comparative textual analysis of the Georgian translation and the Greek original. The methodology employs a comprehensive, multi-layered approach that combines historical-paleographical analysis, textual criticism, and comparative philology. The paper underscores Ephrem’s early, pre-Hellenophilic translational style by comparing the Georgian translation with the Greek source. The analysis uncovers frequent additions, omissions, grammatical modifications (such as changes in number and the substitution of participial constructions), and stylistic adaptations (e.g., hendiadyses and rhetorical devices). Particular attention is given to Ephrem’s dual method of quoting Scripture: using existing translations for verbatim biblical quotations and translating paraphrastic or authorially modified scriptural references independently. The translation of the homily, preserved in the autograph manuscript S-1276, exemplifies a model of dynamic equivalence and suggests a reader-oriented strategy, while maintaining significant fidelity to the rhetorical structure and theological nuances of the Greek original. These features support attributing the translation to Ephrem Mtsire and situating the work within the earlier stage of his career, prior to the 1090s.