Morozova I.S., Permyakova T.M., Ross B., Smolianina E.A. Cross-National Rivalry: National Identity in Sports (A Case Study of English and Russian)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2022.6.10

Irina S. Morozova

Candidate of Sciences (Philology), Associate Professor, Department of Foreign Languages, National Research University Higher School of Economics

Studencheskaya St, 38, 614070 Perm, Russia

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2318-3407

Tatiana M. Permyakova

Doctor of Sciences (Philology), Professor, Department of Foreign Languages, National Research University Higher School of Economics

Studencheskaya St, 38, 614070 Perm, Russia

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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4960-5038

Beverly Ross

PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Criminal Justice and Psychology, Director
of the Linda and Harry Serene Leadership Institute, Chair of the University Grievance Committee, California University of Pennsylvania

University Ave, 250, РА 15419 California, Pennsylvania, USA

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Elena A. Smolianina

Candidate of Sciences (Philology), Associate Professor, Department of Foreign Languages, National Research University Higher School of Economics

Studencheskaya St, 38, 614070 Perm, Russia

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8256-1076

Abstract. Nationalism and sport are often interwoven and, subsequently, the competitive nature of sport competition can also mirror the contentious nature between international athletes. Evidence of such inter-group conflict may manifest itself through ethnolinguistics and is reinforced through social identity theory. Data analysis for the English and Russian languages was evaluated in four categories. Data includes Word Association Network entries for the four opposites of the sport event schema in Russian and English: 1) strong – weak; 2) success – failure; 3) ahead – behind; 4) winner – loser. Semantic analysis established asymmetries of the lexical oppositions relative to sport competition, which reinforce the manifestation of social identity in ways that elevate the status of one group while degrading the perception of the other. The authors believe that this study exposes that the congruence between semantics and ethno-linguistics which is rooted in social identity. The four authors have equally contributed to this study. The contribution included a literature review on the subject of the study and showing how rivalry in sport is influenced by social identity and ethno-linguistics, which helped to identify the dearth of research into cultural implications underlying sports. The authors also collected dictionary definitions of the items of the sports event schema and performed analysis of the data in the English and Russian languages.

Key words: sport, competition, social identity, English, Russian, semantics, ethno-linguistics.

Citation. Morozova I.S., Permyakova T.M., Ross B., Smolianina E.A. Cross-National Rivalry: National Identity in Sports (A Case Study of English and Russian). Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 2. Yazykoznanie [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. Linguistics], 2022, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 121-131. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2022.6.10

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