POLYSEMY OF THE COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS UND AND ABER IN GERMAN POPULAR AND SCIENTIFIC WORKS ON HISTORICAL SUBJECTS

Abstract

The article studies the use of the German conjunctions und and aber in works of German historians and publicists of the 21st century, with a particular focus on their semantic properties. The aim of this research is to examine how these conjunctions are used in popular and scientific works of German authors, in order to identify any distinctive features. The study makes use of a range of materials from the DWDS corpus and academic publications on historical subjects. The study demonstrates that the polysemy of conjunctions is contingent upon the type of text. Consequently, und can possess not only its basic additive meaning, but also temporal, causal, or adversative semantics. In certain cases, the conjunction aber displays a range of additional meanings beyond its basic adversative semantics, including those of concession and consequence. Moreover, it can also function as a particle. The study employs a variety of research methods, namely descriptive, structural, typological, and statistical approaches. The findings can be utilised in translating German texts on humanitarian subjects into Russian, as well as in interpreting in order to most accurately convey the subtleties of the original speech. The article is a valuable resource for those engaged in teaching German at language universities.