Linguostylistic analysis of errors in Russian-language notices (a case study of Irkutsk city)

The article is devoted to the analysis of errors in notices found in Irkutsk city. Nowadays, language studies are characterized by the prevalence of the anthropocentric approach, and the nature of language errors is difficult to distinguish from the human factor. The article analyzes the notion ‘speech error’ in language studies and methodological literature. It is noted that today in linguistics there is a problem of developing a scientifically well-grounded, internally coherent and generally accepted classification of speech errors; the best known classifications are described. The errors were selected from Irkutsk notices by means of the continuous sampling method. As a result, there were obtained 134 text fragments containing mistakes. The research purpose was to identify, describe and classify those. The main research methods were interpretative analysis and quantitative analysis. The empiric material allowed us to make a conclusion that there are all types of errors present in Irkutsk notices. The quantitative analysis showed which of those are predominant. Punctuation errors are most frequent. Spelling errors come second. Speech errors are presented in various types: combinability errors, pleonasm, ellipsis, tautology, using a word regardless of its semantics, confusion of paronyms, etc. Grammar mistakes are most often connected with wrong framing of a complex sentence and agreement errors. Logical errors are frequent in case of wrong framing of a homogeneous set. Factual errors can often be ascribed to the author’s inattention. Erratives refer to deliberate mistakes aimed at attracting attention of a target audience. The conducted analysis demonstrates the necessity for further study of this negative material in Irkutsk in order to identify the most problematic areas and compile reference books for boosting Irkutsk citizens’ speech culture.