THE LINGUISTIC REPRESENTATION OF THE EMOTIVE CONCEPT OF “HAPPINESS” IN TWO OLONKHO TEXTS (“KHAN DZHARGYSTUY” AND “NURGUN BOTUR, THE SWIFT”) AS A CASE-STUDY

Abstract

The article provides a content analysis of the emotive concept of “„happiness””and its linguistic representation in the Olonkho texts titled “Khan Dzhargystuy” and “Nurgun Botur the Swift”. The aim of the study is to define the linguistic expressive means representing the concept of “„happiness””in the Olonkhonarratives. The following linguistic expressive means were identified as a result of the research: lexical means in the semantic field of “„happiness”” (yuor-kot‘to be filled with joy, to cheer’; kul-oyno ‘to be happy, to rejoice’; korulae‘to rejoice, to fool around’); figurative lexical means (ymay ‘to sneer’; yrdzhay ‘fleer’; muchuy ‘to smile timidly’); interjections (Uruy!Akhal! Ieheybin); and formulaic constructions (all-round “happiness”, a kiss after a long-time partition). It is worth mentioning the conceptual metaphors, which represent a comparison of a specific situation to another concept recognizable by the recipient of the metaphorical idea. Thus, in the Olonkho texts, the “happiness” concept is represented using a pattern of “clapping one’s hands together”, a descriptive feature typical for depicting the Lower World representatives. It can be concluded that the representation of “happiness” in the analyzed texts is hyperbolic, purposefully exaggerated, and effective in producing an emotional and evaluative effect. It also demonstrates the hierarchic relationships within the folk-epic world and the belonging to a specific group.