Color symbolism in Russian and Chinese languages and semantics of hydronyms with a color component

Abstract

The goal of this article is the characteristics of color symbolism as the means for creating imagery in a discursive aspect. In the course of this research, the following questions were addressed: 1) generalization of the semantics of color designation in the linguistic context; 2) characterization of linguistic specificity of color designations in the Chinese language, and comparison with the Russian language; 3) determination of intralinguistic and extralinguistic factors impacting the functionality of color designations in media discourse; 4) systematization of means and specificity of creation of imagery in the TV series “Story of Yanxi Palace” using the color designations; 5) characterization of metaphorical potential of Chinese words for color designation in the context of TV series “Story of Yanxi Palace”. The key color designations in the Russian language are white, black, red, blue, yellow, and green. It also suits the Chinese language. The meaning of color is closely related to people’s psychology and national culture. Although the Russians and Chinese have common understanding of the true nature of color, due to the differences in cultural traditions, customs, geographical conditions, traditional national and cultural way of thinking, prevailing religious ideas and language expressions, color designations have different symbolic meanings. Having studied the words that express “color”, the author determined that each culture has its own comprehension and interpretation of various colors, particularly, based on the example of geographical names.