Cognitive discourse analysis of the synonymous verbs: to tease - to taunt - to mock

The article presents a cognitive discourse analysis of the three synonymous verbs - to tease (поддеть), to taunt (подколоть), to mock (подковырнуть) - based on explanatory dictionaries, as well as extensive language material from the "Russian National Corpus" (hereinafter - RNC) and contexts found through free search on the internet. Modern contexts made in the last decade were analyzed. The analysis focuses on invariant and variant scenarios underlying the semantics of each verb, examines the peculiarities of the usage of these lexemes, and explores the range of actions verbalized by the synonymous verbs. The analysis has revealed differences between the verbs to tease (поддеть), to taunt (подколоть), and to mock (подковырнуть). The main methods used in the study are the component analysis of meaning, the distributional method, and the cognitive discourse analysis. The obtained data can be used in compiling a Russian synonym dictionary for nonnative speakers.