Russian NET vs. German NEIN ‘NO’: a semiotic approach

摘要

Words expressing the idea of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ behave differently from language to language. The examples analyzed in this paper show that the Russian net has additional meanings as compared to the German nein (as well as to the English no) because the Russian net is connected with both dictum and modus, i.e. not only with the propositional part of the utterance. Many of the cross-linguistic differences discussed here relate to the specific properties of the discourse structure. Thus, the Russian discourse is characterized by a hypertrophied coherence, addressing various levels of content, and focusing on interpersonal relationships between interlocutors, which they steadily profile in the course of conversation.