The following dissertation stories and analyzes the discourses and development of human-environmental connections in the Sonoran Desert. Firstly, after providing a brief introduction to the Sonoran Desert region, an overview of relevant theoretical, linguistic, and social psychological ideas is presented in relation to environmental orientation. Then, ten semi-structured interviews with environmentally-oriented individuals from two languacultures—White American (E group) and Mexican/Chicanx (S group)—are analyzed linguistically and thematically to uncover discursive and developmental patterns, respectively, of more-than-human affinities within and between groups. The results of the linguistic portion of the analysis—whose major codes include agentive verb use, personhood markers, I-constructions, and we-constructions—indicate a high degree of overlap between groups. Quantitatively, we-constructions and agentive verb use were more common than I-constructions and personhood markers, although the S group's greater use of I-constructions is of note. Qualitatively, consultants frequently identified emotive and/or cognitive functions not typically granted to more-than-human beings and perceived a degree of personhood within them, illuminating what might be considered a personhood-based affinity (which are linguistically demonstrated via the use of agentive verbs and personhood markers). Secondly, consultants instantiated a mirror-based affinity, which is built on the premise that humans and more-than-human beings can see themselves in one another. This type of affinity is exemplified by the use of I-constructions, and, as is the case for the personhood-based affinity, is most prevalent when referring to more-than-human beings perceived as discrete (e.g., animals, plants) when referring to direct mirrors (e.g., anthropomorphizing a more-than-human being), but is more common among more abstract more-than-human beings (e.g., desert/nature) when referring to scientific and/or spiritual parallels between humans and more-than-human beings. The final type of affinity identified—support-based affinity—is exemplified by the use of we-constructions, and is also most prevalent when referring to more abstract more-than-human beings. The results of the thematic portions of the analysis—whose major codes include cultural influences and more-than-human influences—similarly indicate a high degree of overlap between groups. Cultural influences were more prevalent among both groups, specifically family/friends/partners and education/media; however, it is of note that the first was more prevalent among S group consultants while the second was more prevalent among E group consultants. The more-than-human influences of emotional impact, receiving, and seeing oneself were popular among both. The overarching similarities identified between groups supports the idea that there is an environmentally-oriented cognition that extends beyond language and culture.

A critical discourse analysis (CDA) was employed to examine judicial opinions in the United States and Russia on the free speech provisions in their respective constitutions. As a research perspective, CDA is designed to directly speak to social change, focusing on power, history, ideology, and language’s role as a social phenomenon in expressing values of individuals and social groups (Wodak & Meyer, 2001). Fairclough’s (2001) methodological approach to CDA was selected for its consistency and structure in examining societal issues in CDA; namely, a five-stage approach that includes: (1) focusing on a social problem that possesses a semiotic aspect; (2) identifying obstacles to addressing the problem through text as semiosis (in relation to his three-part model addressed above); (3) considering whether the social structure “needs” the problem; (4) identifying potential routes to overcome the obstacles, and (5) reflecting critically on the first four stages. This methodological framework was utilized in answering the following research questions: (1) What are the textual and constructive differences in the U.S. and Russian constitutional free speech provisions and judicial systems? (2) How do the differences in (1) affect the protection of individual speech rights? (3)What are avenues to protect or improve speech rights in the future? The results of this study manifested similar structures of power and methods of defending the courts’ authority, notwithstanding different cultural understanding of free speech and jurisprudential approaches.

The purpose of this creative project is to develop an Android application which teaches English speakers Sakha language. Sakha is the language of indigenous people of Sakha Republic in Russia's Far East region. There are approximately half of a million Sakha people. Creating Learn Sakha app will be useful for English speakers, who are descendants of Sakha but live in English-speaking countries, to learn Sakha language. For the application development, I utilized Android Studio environment and Java as the programming language. Additionally, I saved quiz questions in the JSON file to allow further scalability. Question class was created to hold the values extracted from JSON file. Also, I used Intents and SharedPrefences for saving user data. Progress bar, buttons, and onClick sound effects were used to enhance user experience. I shared the Learn Sakha app at different stages of development with my friends to gather user feedback. Overall, I learned how to create an application on Android Studio, improved my Java and troubleshooting skills. As the result of this creative project, I was able to develop a working Android application with four lessons, each with three stages. Currently, there are 16 Sakha words can be learned from the application. Repetition principle was used to improve learning of new words. I am planning to further develop Learn Sakha app as an open source project and attract developers, linguists, and designers to advance the improvements. Furthermore, this app can be extended to learn Sakha from Russian and be shared with other small languages, currently neglected by large language-learning platforms.

Does immigrating to a foreign country cause you to become less inclined to use the traditional health remedies of your homeland? Is it possible that you can be more convinced of the effectiveness of the practices of health of your native country when you are exposed to health practices of different cultures? The aim of this study was to gain insight into how immigration and culture can affect the confidence people have in health practices. Russian natives (n=106) and Russian immigrants (n=46) were asked if they had experienced Russian health remedies and if so, for what illnesses and ailments? The participants were then asked to rate the effectiveness of 10 traditional health remedies. It was hypothesized that the sample of Russians living in America would rate traditional Russian health remedies as being less effective. The participants were asked to complete a survey distributed electronically and available in English or in Russian. Overall the results of the study did not support the hypothesis. In fact, the mean rating for health remedy effectiveness was higher for the sample of Russians in America than for the sample of Russians living in Russia. However, this measured difference between sample means is not particularly convincing because of a lack of statistical significance as measured by the Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon W statistical tests. For 7 of the 10 remedies (vodka, garlic, dry mustard, gorchichniki, banki, potato steam, zelyonka and raspberry tea), the data did not show strong statistical evidence that attitudes generally change after immigration. The three health remedies that did show statistical significance were garlic, goosegrass, and use of a banya.

Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita has been misunderstood by some scholars in terms of interpreting the character of Ivan, otherwise known as Homeless. Past researchers have looked at Ivan and found him to be a spiritual failure in not carrying on the tale of the Master's novel. In this paper, it is argued Ivan the poet actually achieves a spiritual state superior to the other character's in the novel. By the novel's end readers witness a rebirth of Ivan into one who yearly has a intimate spiritual vision involving Yeshua. Meanwhile other characters like the Master or his love Margarita end the novel in only a purgatory-like space which leaves them neither in the arms of a spiritual experience nor on earth. But Ivan is able to experience both the spiritual and the physical at the same time. Conclusions of this nature are drawn from the writings of Orthodox Father Pavel Florensky whose writings on aesthetics are heavily reflected in the novel. Ivan comes to embody the standard of Fr. Florensky's writings which glorify a person who has turned towards God. This then is the ultimate in beauty, the reflection of God who is the standard of goodness and beauty. Ivan then at the novel's end is able to experience a sense of closeness with God through a vision where he sees a Christlike figure. The dream causes him to become calm and at peace. He has in effect turned towards God and then embodies the goodness of God. Therefore, the spiritual state of Ivan is one who has garnered a closer connection with God than any other character in the novel.

Extensive cross-linguistic data document a wide gamut of semantic and pragmatic uses of the diminutive that revolve around the fundamental concepts of `small' and `child'. As typical inventory of informal registers, diminutives are utilized as pragmatic markers of politeness in a wide range of contextual meanings. This dissertation is intended to fill some major gaps in the systematic and empirical research on the formation and pragmatic uses of the diminutives in Macedonian and to explore the role of diminutivization in a broader linguistic framework, by examining the consistency of the field of diminutives, the core and peripheral meanings of the diminutive, their typology, as well as their pragmatic potential. The morphology and pragmatics of the diminutive is examined by combining data from electronic and printed sources, video recordings of natural conversations, as well as from material collected from participant and non-participant observations. At the level of morphology, it is argued that three fundamental semantic constraints underlie the formation of diminutives: [-big], [+ emotional], and [+ informal]. Furthermore, it is shown how diminutive combinability is rule governed in Macedonian by proposing sets of formal constraints for all grades of diminutives. At the level of pragmatics, the pragmatic functions of the diminutives proper and the related periphrastic diminutive malku are investigated in a variety of contexts involving child-directed speech (CDS) and adult communication. By analyzing the pragmatic functions of the diminutive in a series of speech acts, and drawing upon cross-cultural interpretations suggested by Wierzbicka (1991), it is argued that, in Macedonian, social bonding, cordiality, intimacy or affection are pragmatically more salient than personal autonomy in the Anglo-Saxon societies, realized through non-imposition, tentativeness, or similar pragmatic strategies for saving face. Additionally, it is contended that there exist cultural differences in the assessment of the concept of imposition between these societies. The analyses of the pragmatic potential of the diminutive proper and the periphrastic diminutive 'malku' give rise to the claim that Macedonian culture is predominantly founded on the pragmatic principle of positive politeness.