2015.4

The crucial parameter for the semantic field of oscillation is whether the situation meets the human needs and expectations: Hindi has a verb reserved for the oscillation of special devices such as a swing or a cradle; Tomo-kan, on the contrary, lexicalizes the type of oscillation that indicates some disfunctionality of an artifact. Two more parameters are relevant for both languages: whether the Trajector is firm or soft and whether it is animate.

The article is a review of works on the Turkish phonetics and phonology, created since the appearance of Turkic studies in Russia. Author offers the original sequence Turkological literature that demonstrates the common searches and views of many researchers and helps analyze the evolution of their views. This article demonstrates the importance of terminological differences and distinction between “phonetics” and “phonology” in Turkic theoretical linguistics.

The article investigates the role of the Chinese government in the process of searching for and identifying the next rebirth of the Dalai Lama XIV, who has been in India since 1959. The author considers the main assessments of the Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama’s entourage on the reincarnation issue based on Chinese sources and materials of Tibetan exile, and also notes possible ways the issue may evolve.

Article deals with a reflection of Tianjin treaty of 1858 in the diary of Archimandrite Palladius (Kafarov), head of 13th Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Beijing (1850–1858), one of the best expert on China of his time. Diary covers a period from the winter of 1858 to the end of the summer of 1858 and provides some valuable data on the history of Russian-Chinese relations in the middle of the XIXth century, especially in the dimension of daily work of Russian diplomats of this time. On the pages of the diary we can find some critical remarks on Russian representative count Putiatin behavior and clear misunderstanding of the China situation and Russian interests in the region, showed by him. For this reason, the original diary was published in abridged form and fully published only in 1912.

The following article focuses on the first years of the British occupation of north-eastern regions of Mesopotamia after World War I. The author investigates the key features of mutual relations between the local tribal elite and the officers of the British occupational administration. Special attention is paid to the subject of establishing control over the occupied area as well as its incorporation into the newly-formed Iraqi state.

The paper analyses the dynamics of civic activity and development of social protest culture in Turkey since the establishment of Republic in 1923. The study explores the main vectors, forms and normative strategies of social protest within different periods of Turkey’s modern history. Basing on the analysis of publications in the Turkish press (from the late 1920s up to the 2010s) the author argues new typology of mass political actions and protest unrest in Turkey and paradigms of interference between social protest and political culture.