Metaphor of a House/Home as the Way to Represent a National Symbol of Earth in Russian Linguistic Culture

Abstract

Considering symbols of culture makes it possible to see the world around us as our ancestors did it. This world is recorded in persistent cognitive models anchored in native speakers’ language consciousness. One of these models is a stereotypical metaphorical image of «Earth – house/home». The house / home is a well-known mythologem that is fundamental in the cultures of almost all peoples living on Earth. According to the study, the mythologema Earth – house in Russian linguistic culture is a fragment in the structure of the macroconcept «Earth». The analysed mythologem is embodied in the language in the form of house metaphors implementing the subject code in Russian linguistic culture. Several clusters can be distinguished among them. The first cluster comprises metaphors forming cognitive signs of parts in the house (a «roof», «walls», «corners», a «ceiling», a «key»). The second one includes metaphors forming signs of domestic utensils (a «pot», a «table», a
 «blanket»). The third one is represented by tenants of the house (a «father», a «mother», a «person»). The fourth cluster includes cognitive signs of the house shape
 (a «circle» – a tent, a «square» – a symbol of the Russian five-walled house). The fifth cluster is characterized by the signs of Russian traditions (hospitality). The sixth one is formed by the signs of living at home-land and leaving it. The material for study is taken from the Russian National Corpus (www.ruscorpora.ru). The main methods of research are descriptive and conceptual.