Discursive Asymmetry of the Ethnonymic German Adjectives Deutsch and Russisch (A Corpus-based Statistical Study of the Self/Other Dichotomy)

Ethnonymic adjectives in German-language discourse play a key role in constructing self/other dichotomy; however, the quantitative differences in the discursive representation of the adjectives Deutsch and Russisch remain insufficiently studied. The aim of this study is to identify and explain the discursive asymmetry in the distribution of qualia roles (formal, constitutive, telic, agentive) of ethnonymic adjectives in German texts from 1900 to 2025. The material comprises the DWDS-Kernkorpus and the Gegenwartskorpora mit freiem Zugang subcorpora of the German DWDS open text corpus. The study employs three corpus tools for extracting stable collocations, diachronic collocation analysis, and tracking collocate frequency over time. Collocates were classified by dominant qualia type based on the semantics of the modified noun. The analysis reveals a stable asymmetry in the distribution of qualia roles between the two adjectives throughout the entire period under study. For Deutsch, agentive and telic qualia dominate, whereas for Russisch, formal and constitutive qualia prevail. Furthermore, diachronic analysis shows that the qualia structure of both adjectives undergoes significant changes during periods of historical catastrophes and geopolitical shifts. Specifically, the qualia structure of Deutsch changes radically after 1945 (an increase in telic qualia related to the «German question») and in 1990 (a reorientation toward European integration), while for Russisch the key bifurcation points are 1917, 1930−1950, 2014, and 2022 (dominance of negative telic qualia). It has been established that the frequency of Russisch reaches unprecedented levels in recent years. The identified asymmetry reflects deep discursive mechanisms for constructing «self» and «other» in German linguistic consciousness: the «self» is described through agency and institutionality, while the «other» is described through objectification, essentialization, and corpo-reality. The author's contribution lies in filling a gap in generative lexicon theory (applying qualia structures to the analysis of adjectives rather than nouns only), as well as in the quantitative confirmation of the stability of discursive patterns using German-language material.