Savvateeva I.A. Semiotics of Flirtation in Playful Behavioural Relations (Based on English and Italian Linguistic Cultures)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2026.1.8
Irina A. Savvateeva
Candidate of Sciences (Philology), Associate Professor, Department of Foreign Languages No. 1, Irkutsk National Research Technical University, Irkutsk, Russia
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https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5995-9934
Abstract. The article addresses the problem of the semiotic verbalization of flirtation as a type of playful behaviour in different linguistic cultures – English and Italian. The material comprises dictionary definitions and contexts with the use of central verbalizers of flirtation: to flirt, to dally, to coquette in the English language and flirtare, civettare, amoreggiare in the Italian language. The research methodology involves identifying semantic components and their pragmatic interpretation within the framework of the "Agent-observer (behaviour initiator) – Preceptor-observer (interpreter)" model. As a result, a common semantic core of the words denoting flirtation in English and Italian was identified: the integral seme 'playful behaviour' and the differential semes 'frivolous intentions,' 'demonstration of interest,' and 'affectation.' The study introduces the systematized linguo-semiotic markers representing flirtation in various situations (play and frivolousness; performative, non-verbal actions; indirectness and ambiguity; direct or normative evaluation). The following types of flirtation are identified: self-deception, ritual, coquetry, pretence, social flirtation. They objectify the distinctive features of semiotic goal-setting in behaviour: the situation of self-deception (semiotic instability), ritual (adherence to linguocultural norms); the situation of coquetry (performative demonstration), pretence (conscious construction of behaviour), social flirtation (achievement of practical goals). The peculiarities of their interpretation in the compared linguistic cultures are examined.
Key words: semiotics of flirtation, axiology, playful behaviour, playful relations, componential analysis, observer, linguoculturology.
Citation. Savvateeva I.A. Semiotics of Flirtation in Playful Behavioural Relations (Based on English and Italian Linguistic Cultures). Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 2. Yazykoznanie [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. Linguistics], 2026, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 105-119. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2026.1.8
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