LEXICO-SEMANTIC MOTIVATION AND WORD- FORMATION MODELS IN RUSSIAN: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS WITH CHINESE

Abstract

Motivated words are one of the most important subjects of research in synchronic word formation. The article examines the concept of “motivation” in Russian and Chinese lexicology, examines the types of lexico-semantic motivation in both languages, analyzes the differences between the two languages in terms of word-formation motivation, explains the presence of varying degrees of motivation in the formation of words and indicates the manifestations of this difference in the corresponding lexical systems. Special attention is paid to differences and similar phenomena in the field of lexico-semantic motivation of the Russian and Chinese languages. As the study shows, the types of motivation of words in the two languages generally coincide, but in Russian, morphological motivation should be recognized as the main type of lexico-semantic motivation, while graphic and semantic motivations dominate in Chinese. The practical value of the research lies in the fact that identifying the “motivation chain” in the formation of words provides more opportunities for their understanding, memorization and right translation into a foreign language.