The article aims to describe the cognitive and linguistic mechanisms of meaning construction that underlie manipulative impact in media discourse and to demonstrate how cross-domain conceptual projections between TRUTH and LIE conceptual domains generate blend zones that enable covert influence on the addressee. The study draws on mental space and conceptual blending theory, frame and schema theory, and qualitative analysis of English-language media discourse focusing on emotionally loaded lexical and phraseological resources. The authors show that the emergence of a “grey zone” within the TRUTH LIE continuum (alternative truth, post-truth, counter-truth, counter-knowledge, etc.) results in systematic deviations in cross-domain mappings that leads to cognitive distortions (confirmation bias, availability heuristic, illusory truth effect, attribution errors) and addressee’s conceptual disorientation. It is argued that emotionalization through fearand threat-oriented frames and culturally entrenched schemata of a contemporary “culture of fear” significantly enhances the manipulative potential of media narratives. The novelty of the study lies in the account of the polydomain nature of conceptual projection in the mental space of manipulation, in identifying blend zones as structural hubs of manipulative influence, and in linking specific types of cognitive distortions to parameters of emotionalized media discourse. Epistemic vigilance is conceptualized as a key cognitive mechanism that enables resistance to manipulation and more adequate interpretation of media messages.
The relevance of the study of Russianisms is determined by the modern linguistic realities of Kazakhstan: understanding how Russian vocabulary functions in the linguistic consciousness of Kazakh youth is important for language policy and the preservation of ethno-cultural identity. Russianisms reflect the cognitive-speech processes of bilinguals, indicating the degree of influence of the Russian language. In the conditions of Kazakh society, there is a stable coexistence of the Kazakh and Russian languages, which contributes to the formation of complex language models in the minds of speakers. The Russian language, having a high status as the language of interethnic communication, has a noticeable impact on the structure and content of the linguistic consciousness of Kazakhs, especially among young people who actively interact with media, educational and digital platforms. The research is conducted in line with psycholinguistics and intercultural communication, focusing on what images and concepts Kazakh youth associate in Russian.
The aim of the analysis is to identify the ways of mental modeling of a complex of heterogeneous information about the world by a single subject of cognition and communication who possesses personal identity and shares language and collective identity within other members of a particular culture. The analysis is performed on the example of a hybrid popular science journalistic ludic text. Generalizations are formulated based on the comparison of evaluative judgments about the same text made by different recipients who share the same culture with the author of the perceived text. The most soughtafter methods and means of modeling historical processes that took place in Germany and are well-known to every member of the culture are described.
This article presents the experience of the faculty of journalism at RSUH in diagnosing and regulating students’ use of generative artificial intelligence. Drawing on concrete empirical material, it describes a step-bystep institutional response to emerging challenges: internal discussion, text diagnostics, structured dialogue with students, the development of methodological guidance, faculty-level expert review, and the formal adoption and implementation of rules in everyday teaching practice. The appendix includes the regulatory documents developed on the basis of this case and intended to govern the use of artificial intelligence in the educational process.
The article examines the term “cognitive mechanism” as a metaphor for the dynamics of mental processes in scientific discourse. Originating during the cognitive revolution of 1956–1965, it undergoes trans-terminologization from psychology to linguistics, neurosciences, etc., retaining a core of structural organization and procedural dynamics of cognition (input–output). In cognitive psychology, it denotes systems of operations (attention, memory, control) studied experimentally; in cognitive linguistics mechanisms of categorization, metaphor, profiling, focusing on semanticization. Differences are interdisciplinary: psychology emphasizes behavioral parameters, linguistics meaning and pragmatics. The term is interdisciplinary yet transdisciplinary in modifying features. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that it demonstrates metaphorization through the concept of “mechanism”, which models the temporal dynamics of mental processes.
This article explores the problem of manipulative euphemization in the mass media, based on material from English-language media sources. The concept of the manipulative euphemism is introduced and substantiated as a term for a specific type of euphemism deliberately used to shape the perception and interpretation of information. The problem of terminological precision in defining manipulative euphemisms is raised to identify their differences from traditional trends and directions of euphemization. The authors examine the main techniques of manipulative euphemization and their impact on the collective experiencer. Special attention is paid to the cognitive aspects of this phenomenon. It is shown that the systematic use of manipulatives reinforces distorted interpretations of events in the collective experiencer’s consciousness through pre-existing frames and scenarios, reducing cognitive criticality and creating a truth-like effect. This makes it possible to view manipulative euphemization as one of the key tools of manipulation in contemporary media discourse. Drawing on examples from modern media practice, the study examines how manipulative euphemisms distort the perception of events and serve as a tool for controlling public opinion.
The correlation between influctive speech acts “compliment” and “insult” is revealed, which allows to deepen the understanding of manipulative strategies and their cognitive foundations. We consider “backhanded compliment” as a new linguistic phenomenon formed at the junction of compliment and insult, representing an insult disguised as a compliment or a compliment disguised as an insult. The ability of backhanded compliments to actualize a manipulative effect is established. The cognitive-discourse study of backhanded compliments is conducted. The relevance of the study of manipulative influctive speech acts is connected with the modern tendencies of invectivization in English-language discourse. The study of influctive speech acts such as “insult” and “compliment” as well as backhanded compliment is absolutely critical for understanding manipulative strategies in language, which can have a significant impact on public opinion and interaction. Due to the rapid development of new automated systems designed to perform linguistic analysis of texts at different levels, including phono-semantic analysis, and considering the speed of implementation of these systems, there arises a need to verify their relevance. The benefits and drawbacks of the work of artificial intelligence aimed at conducting sentiment analysis in general, and phono-semantic analysis in particular, are scrutinized. A comparative study of the work of Russian and foreign computer programmes and online services aimed at automated sentiment analysis and phono-semantic analysis is carried out. The automated research of manipulative influctive speech acts with the use of automated sentiment analysis and automated phono-semantic analysis systems is realized, which contributes to the complex consideration of influctive speech acts. The relevance of the application of automated sentiment analysis and phono-semantic analysis in the context of linguistic research is assessed.
The article analyzes the concept of metamanipulation a manipulative technique used by the author of a news text, when he informs the audience directly: “You are being manipulated!” or “Those who you sympathize with/ who you are interested in are being manipulated!”. To conduct this research, we have studied news from 17 Russian-language Telegram media channels. Based on a dynamic, integrative cognitive mega-model of manipulation in media discourse, we propose a cognitive model of metamanipulation and describe its frames and the methods of their linguistic manifestation. We show that the noise level in automatic metamanipulation detection is rather high (≈70%). Therefore, selecting the samples requires adding new search parameters, such as the genre of the text, the presence of emotional or stylistically marked vocabulary, the presence of linguistic units synonymous with the verb to manipulate , etc.
This article examines the cognitive and discursive aspects of euphemisation in modern English. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the domain structure of euphemistic nominations, exploring their main areas of use (social, political, medical, business) and their specific functioning across various new discursive practices. Based on a detailed analysis of the thematic spectrum of euphemisation, the study identifies the most sensitive topics and situations that require euphemistic description, as well as patterns in the choice of euphemisation strategies. Special attention is paid to the manipulative potential of euphemisms, which leads to cognitive distortions. The article examines the types of conceptual mapping failures and their impact on information perception during communication. The study also establishes a correlation between conceptual processes and the cognitive models of euphemism formation. A system of their interaction is proposed, and patterns in the formation of new euphemistic units are identified.
