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Abstract: The article focuses on the experimental study of Ural identity. The aim of the article is to identify and systematize the distinctive features of regional identity that exist in the everyday linguistic consciousness of the Uralians. A native speaker’s sense of attachment to their own territory is usually poorly understood and requires additional effort. An effective method for studying identity is experimentation. The experimental technique of unfinished sentences presented in the article relies on the semantic features of particles even and only as diagnostic operators. The functional feature of these particles lies in their ability to explicate the hidden meanings of an utterance. Students of the Ural Federal University were given the task to complete 4 sentences: Even the Uralians..., Even in the Urals...; Only the Uralians..., Only in the Urals... The material for the study encompasses 800 utterances obtained as a result of the experiment. The indicated particles are ambivalent in their semantics. They define a scale from the atypical and unexpected for the Urals and the Uralians (the particle even) to the typical, elevated to the level of unique (the particle only). The actualizing particles made it possible to explicate the stereotypical features of identity stored in the linguistic consciousness of the respondents, which fit into the system of semantic constants of the phenomenon of the Ural. Moreover, the characteristics of regional identity are defined primarily on the basis of its understanding as a reflection of space with all its natural and geographical realities. The main characterological feature of the Ural identity is the reference to the physical space of residence: Only the Uralians live simultaneously in Europe and Asia. The description of the physical space also includes characteristics of the climate and landscape. Respondents cite the severity of the Ural climate and the variability of the weather as the primary parameters. Landscape characteristics highlight its high aesthetic qualities. The region’s industrial specialization is also a significant feature. Stereotypical Ural character traits were cited: severity, friendliness, hospitality, fortitude, and hard work. Furthermore, the particles only and even act as markers of the value-based preferences of the regional community.

About the author(s) :

Irina T. Vepreva

Ural Federal University
named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin (Ekaterinburg, Russia)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2230-1985

Anastasia V. Kharitonova

Ural Federal University
named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin (Ekaterinburg, Russia)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9942-1730

Publication Timeline:

Date of receipt: 31.08.2025; date of publication: 31.10.2025

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