Концепт кот / кошка в русском языке

Abstract

The article examines the semantic field of the concept CAT based on the lexical meaning of words and idioms, placed in dictionaries, as well as on the basis of the meaning expressed in fairy tales and lullabies. The main meanings of the studied concept are highlighted and its semantic core and periphery are determined. The relevance of the study is due to the need for conceptual research of a practical nature, allowing to confirm theoretical searches in this area. At this stage in the development of linguistic science, when it moves from the systemic study of material units of language to the mental units study, when the theory of conceptual research is just taking shape, it seems extremely important to carry out practical attempts to study concepts that will help to see where the theory works well enough and where it is unclear and requires further elaboration. The study of concepts is a primary direction in modern linguistics. The concept was developed by S. H. Vorkachov, V. I. Karasyk, O. S. Kubriakova, D. S. Likhachov, O. Selivanova and others. In linguistics, the concept is interpreted as an operational meaningful unit of memory, mental lexicon, conceptual system, the whole picture of the world reflected in the human psyche. This is information about what the individual knows, thinks, imagines about the objects of the world. As a theoretical material, the methodology of researching the concept of Z. D. Popova and I. A. Sternin is taken. The meanings of the concept CAT are distinguished on the basis of the words definitions in the “Tolkovyi slovar russkogo iazyka” by S. I. Ozhegov and N. Yu. Shvedova and in the “Bolshoi tolkovyi slovar russkogo iazyka: A-YA”. The core of the concept CAT is made up of meanings that have come from folklore: a cat evokes a dream, protects it and sometimes disturbs it; the near periphery of the concept is made up of meanings recorded mainly in the dictionaries: a cat has a female and a cub, it is a predatory mammal, it brings unpleasant surprises, it is an example of unfriendliness, quarrels; a negative trait of a cat is cunning; the cat takes the child's illness. The rest of the meanings are on the far periphery of the concept. The prospects of further studying of the concept is to attract other sources of replenishment of the content of the concept: proverbs, sayings, as well as modern poetry and prose. It is also important not only to determine the semantic center and periphery of the concept, but also the figurative, informational and interpretive field of the concept.