The information about traditional musical instruments of China in a Russian-language crossword

The subject of this research is the transmission and interpretation of the meanings of realia words that denote traditional Chinese musical instruments. This article examines the ways of presenting information about the cultural life of China in Russian-language crosswords. In contemporary science, a crossword is viewed as a special type of text. The essence of the crossword genre is defined by its semiotically complex properties: polycody, dialogicity, and specific semantic and syntactic organization. A crossword is the result of communicative activity by speakers of a language and culture, and is a conventionally accepted means of recording this result, while its text reflects the ways in which speakers of the language and culture solve communicative and cognitive tasks using various linguistic means. From this perspective, a crossword can become the subject of psycholinguistic research: analyzing the crossword as a special type of text allows one to judge the processes of meta-linguistic activity occurring in the minds of naïve speakers of the Russian language. Methods of work: the organographic method allows for a comparison of the constructions of Chinese and European instruments, highlighting their commonalities and distinctive features; the typological method, developed within the framework of linguistic and cultural studies, enables the identification of the closeness and specificity of the lexical units denoting musical instruments; methods of linguistic research include lexicographic analysis, analysis of definitions, phonetic and graphic analysis of the ways borrowed units are transmitted. Scientific novelty: for the first time, a Russian-language crossword has been studied as a source of data on the adaptation of Chinese non-equivalent vocabulary. New empirical material (136 lexemes) has been introduced. The selection of terms is determined not by the prevalence of instruments but by the linguistic "convenience" of their names for constructing puzzles. A comprehensive analysis of orthographic variability reflecting the transition from the Palladium system to intuitive transcription has been conducted. Ways of defining (logical, descriptive, synonymous) are described, allowing for the tracing of the formation of cross-cultural associations in popular consciousness. Conclusions: The selection of vocabulary in crosswords is not related to the real familiarity of instruments in China or Russia, but rather to the convenience of the letter composition for creating puzzles. Orthographic variability reflects the gradual Russification of exoticisms. Descriptive and synonymous methods dominate in definitions, forming superficial but recognizable analogies with European instruments. Crosswords serve as conduits for exotic vocabulary into mass consciousness, recording the initial stages of adaptation of non-equivalent units and revealing compromises between linguistic accuracy and cultural popularization tasks.