Intellect And Its Opposites In The Russian Linguistic Worldview

Abstract

Any linguistic worldview necessarily includes conceptions of intelligence, which means that the study and lexicographic description of the corresponding lexical units remains a pertinent task for linguists. We believe that a productive approach to the analysis of the lexical field 'intellect' and the words constituting this field is to consider the semantic relationships of identity and difference. Therefore, in our research, we focus on the semantic characteristics, denotative reference, synonymic and antonymic relationships of words with the semantic component 'intellect' in the Russian language. The study relies on the dictionary data, in particular the data from the dictionaries compiled by the Ural semantic school led by Prof. L.G. Babenko. Lexical units with the semantic component 'intellect' in the Russian linguistic worldview mostly refer to intellectual abilities, that is, belong to the denotative-ideographic domain 'Intellect'. These units, however, may acquire additional meanings if this domain overlaps with others, for example, 'Evaluation' or 'Science'. In these cases, such lexical units may also refer to behavioural manifestations of intelligence, cognitive performance and aptitude for certain intellectual pursuits. Our analysis of synonymic sets and antonymic oppositions, including derivatives and semantically related words, has revealed the following meanings acquired by the concept 'intellect' in the Russian linguistic consciousness: while 'intellect' is largely understood as a normal state of human consciousness, it may also be seen as a cognitive ability; as a developed intellectual ability; as an ability to critically evaluate, analyze and synthesize information; and, finally, as an ability to demonstrate logical behaviour.