Метафоричний модус англомовного лінгвоетичного концепту dignity

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the metaphorical modus of the English-language ethical concept DIGNITY. The aim of the study is to highlight the metaphorical range of the analyzed concept. The article outlines the boundaries of the three main dimensions of the concept: logical, conceptual and structural. Particular attention is paid to the distinction between the terms “concept” and “category”, the relationship between which is nonlinear. On the one hand, the category includes similar concepts. Moreover, the classifiers of the category are categorical domains, which in relation to another frame of reference – the conceptosphere, are independent concepts. On the other hand, the concept is broader than the category of the same name, as it includes those “optional” features for the category that may undergo bidirectional metaphorical rethinking. The article substantiates the conclusion that the category is a logical dimension of the concept existence. This conceptual dimension exists in the linguistic picture of the world in the form of a fixed and relatively stable information gestalt. It is noted that such stability is possible only in static existence, i.e. in the category representation in the mental lexicon and its verbalization within the language system, which is not characteristic of its real unfolding in the form of a concept during its actualization in speech. This unfolding of the category takes it out of the logical dimension into the conceptual one, transforming it from a category into a concept. In addition, the specificity of the studied abstract concept is determined. It is established that the subject of classification of ethical categories are not material objects but phenomena that have an ideal, speculative origin and are manifested in relation to other mental spaces. Also, the article defines the foundations of the theory of conceptual metaphor. It is noted that the basis of the conceptual dimension is cross-domain projections, which are based on metaphorical transfer due to the associative connections that arise between the elements of the conceptual grid (frame), which is part of a concept. The article highlights the conceptual parcels based on the analysis of lexical and semantic variants of its representative unit dignity. The metaphorical range of the DIGNITY concept is highlighted and source domains are identified, the features of which are projected onto the target domain. The frequency of involvement of individual parcels of the concept in metaphorical mappings is determined. The categorical relations of DIGNITY conceptual domains are analyzed.