Features of the semantics of adjectives of color in the Russian and English language picture of the world: the problem of translation

Abstract

This research work is carried out within the framework of the cognitive-discursive paradigm and is devoted to the analysis of the features of the semantics of adjectives of color in natural language and the identification of translation problems that translators may face. Description of the semantics of language units allows you to reproduce how colors are understood in the Russian and English worldview. The subject of the study is the peculiarities of the semantics of adjectives of color designation and possible problems in the translation of units characterizing color: "red", "orange", "yellow", "green", "blue", "blue", "purple", "white", "black". The study is based on the data of lexicographic articles and bilingual text corpora. The research method was a component analysis based on lexicographic descriptions. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the use of a new methodology that relies on the rich material of digital technologies. A refined idea of the nature of conceptualization and verbalization of the color spectrum in English and Russian is obtained; a more complete description of the semantics of the studied units and the differences in their perception and verbalization in the two linguistic worldviews. The main conclusions of this study are to determine the ways of verbalization of the color spectrum in two linguistic pictures of the world and to highlight problems in the transmission of adjectives of color meanings. When translating the units characterizing color from English into Russian, there is a discrepancy in the names of shades, which is a problem for the transmission of the color spectrum. Russian terminological combinations often correspond to English terminological correlates that preserve the semantic element that introduces information about color. When translating phraseological combinations, there is an "unfolding" of the semantics of expression using structural and lexical substitutions. Russian Russian phraseological units and the discrepancy between the shade of color in the Russian and English language picture of the world when translated from English into Russian were highlighted as the most frequent difficulties in the transmission of color meanings.