In this paper the author strives to describe semantic and stylistic peculiarities of a word gentleman and its functioning in the early publicistic works by Leskov. Comparative lexical and etymological analysis of the contents of Russian dictionaries and definitions of this derivation from English language shows the level of its assimilation in Russian speech. Also the article demon- strates the notions associated with the culture of England. Special attention is paid to historical and contextual aspects of use of the word “gentleman” in the author’s context and style.

The purpose of the article is to illustrate how a person is reflected in the structure and semantics of the copula-substantive predicate, one of the most productive types of main parts of the two-member sentence in the Russian language. A diversity of forms and the multilayered semantics allow to express both the attitude of the speaker to the statement, and the author’s preference in judgements and characteristics. The analysis of different forms of the copula- substantive predicate that are used in the modern Russian literary texts highlights the speaker’s opinion, his personal characteristics, and his attitude towards the events described.

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the role of word-building formants in semantic meaning of concept charm. On the basis of lexicographical sources an etymological research of transformation the paradigm of the lexical-word-forming nest of this concept is done, historically motivating top (bayati) of the lexical-word-forming nest is restored, derivational chain in diachronic level is reconstructed and the structure of derivatives on the synchronous level of development of Russian language is presented. In word-building formants it is established which components of the semantic meaning were added in the evolution of the composition and structure of lexical-word-forming nest.

The article is devoted to the research of the semantic features of the «speaking» proper names in texts of fiction literature on example of N. Gogol’s and U. Buida’s novels. The motivation of these names is described; the motivators and their meanings are revealed; the word-formation aspect of these proper names is anylyzed. The meanings of these anthroponyms are shown. These proper names describe the appearance of characters, their occupation, relationship and so on. It is proved that N. Gogol’s works and his ways of creation of the proper names have influenced U. Buida’s novels.

The article provides an analysis of the bisubstantive sentences that function in the texts of articles by famous Russian periodicals («Vedomosti», «Izvestiya», «Komsomolskaya Pravda», «Moskovsky Komsomolets», «Trud-7»). We analyze the structure and semantics of the constructions, present a number of examples to illustrate the efficiency and features of functioning of bisubstantive sentences with the semantics of the actual identification in its three varieties: the identification, detection and identification of the essence of the concept of the notion.

The article describes a temporal meaning of pronominal proper interrogative sentences extracted by the method of continuous sampling from the story by A. Kuprin “The Wheel of Time”. Such interrogative sentences are characteristic of the IC-2 that allows movement of the centre as a means of semantic opposition. It is proved that in such sentences the temporal uncertainty is explicated in its relation to the present, past or future syntactic time. The article considers temporal meanings used by the writer in interrogative-affirmative and interrogative-negative sentences.

The article deals with the problem of the use of a term “ballad” in the names of the works of prosaic nature. The author raises a question, how justifiable is the use of a word “ballad” in the names of novels, narratives, philosophical treatises and so forth. After correlating the genre characteristics of ballad with the basic elements of the poetics of the texts in question, the author comes to the conclusion that the use of term in the aforesaid situation is completely justifiable and in no way leads to the genre confusion.

The article considers the features of artistic picture of the world of P. Vasilyev. The author distinguishes and describes the colour and the acoustic features of the steppe landscape, and comes to conclusions about the peculiarities of the solar symbolism. Vasilyev’s figurative representation of the steppe is interpreted as the sphere of intercultural dialogue between different ethnic groups.

The article deals with the analysis of the animals’ images in various works by Daniil Andreev, including the treatise “The Rose of the World”, against the context of certain religious, philosophical and fiction ideas of Russian antecedent and contemporary literature. Some of his rapprochements with M. Voloshin, V. Khlebnikov and others have been traced. The conceptual domain of the article lies in the thesis that D. Andreev’s poetry shows his awareness of the spiritual basis residing in all plant and animal life, the dream of animals’ improvement and that of forthcoming transformation of the world as a whole. D. Andreev’s opinion concerning animals’ afterlife destiny doesn’t contradict the Orthodox Church traditions as it is basically in tune with the latter.

Chateaubriand’s «Martyrs», conceived as an epic novel, was an early model of a new modification - a genre of the historical novel, a novel-epic. The conflict between the Pagan, the Ancient and the Christian worlds appears in the wide historical and mythological context, in the course of formation of personal consciousness and the destiny of the characters. The romantic poetics of symbolization and the contrasts are the cornerstone of use of fantastic, ancient and biblical materials, transforming a concept and a genre, generating «the conflict of interpretations».

The article deals with the tradition of Turgenev’s “Poems in prose” in the Chinese literature on the example of creativity of the classic of Chinese literature of the first half of the 20th century - Li Ni (1913-1968). The author analyses the most representative artistic works of Li Ni, identifies the main artistic method and motifs. The results of the comparative analysis indicate that Turgenev affects Li Ni’s poetics in a whole (genre, selection of themes and characters, a system of images and motifs). The study gives grounds to make a conclusion about the extraordinary deep assimilation of the Turgenev tradition, opens to Russian scholars an unknown page from the history of interconnection between Russian and Chinese literatures.

The article discusses the influence of Nietzsche’s works on the symbolist Baltrushaitis’s poems. On the basis of analysis of Baltrushaitis’s books “Earthly Steps”, “Mountain Trail” and “Lily and the Sickle” the connections were made with some Nietzsche’s ideas, such as an idea of eternal comeback, pathos of God rebellion, a superman’s image. Dionisey’s beginning - music - is displayed in poems and images of Nature’s elements and is a background for lyrics - author’s philosophical speculations. The main reason for Baltrushaitis’s approaching the heritage of the German thingker is the biography of the poet, conflicts of which had same motives as in the Nietzsche’s works.

The author has considered influence on literary criticism of M. Menshikov during his work in the newspaper «Nedelya» of philosophical publicistic works of Leo Tolstoy «Confession» (1879 - 1883), «On life» (1887), «The Kingdom of God is within you» (1890 - 1893). Influence is analysed on material of letters of M. Menshikov to Leo Tolstoy of the period of the 1890s years and M.O. Menshikov’s book «The beginning of life» (1901).

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the motive of dispensation in the novel “Anna Karenina” by L. Tolstoy in the context of the problem “Russia and Europe”. In writing the present paper the views of the researchers on the role of dispensation and the influence of Europe on the process of social development were considered. The relevance of the paper is that the themes of “home”, “family” and “marriage” serve not only as the writer’s instrument of reflecting the inner world of the characters but also as decoding of the historical and philosophical ideas embodied in their images.