Verbalization of the conceptual paradigm of life / death in Ukrainian folk ballads

Abstract

The features of verbalization of an antonymic conceptual life / death paradigm are analyzed in the article, attention is paid to vocabulary and phraseology, which are actively involved in linguistic registration of the dynamics of the conflict between the characters and their subsequent resolution. According to the authors, the storyline of the ballads is built on opposition, such as «marriage – funeral», «daughter-in-law – mother», «wife – husband». Notable is the fact that the ballads are saturated with phraseologisms that represent the semantic field of «die», as well as attributes as contextual expressors of the light and dark aspects of reality. The authors of the analyzed material prove the contextual essence of synonymy and antonymy (most often attributes and substances come into synonyms and antonyms). One of the defining features is the replacement of the direct nominator of death – death tokens – by single and multiple verbatim euphemisms. The use of attributes is indicated by a stylistic purpose. In the poetic context, by specifying the denotation of blood, fire (heat) produces stable phrases red as blood, red as fire, bearing considerable psychological load. A great semantic-stylistic load is borne by florronomenos, dominant among which is viburnum, which in the course of folk traditions is used not only as a symbol of sadness and sorrow, but also as an object of comparison, while symbolizing beauty, attractiveness and splendor. In some ballads, viburnum provides a positive intonation of the story when the object of the process associated with the plant becomes human-friendly; in other works there is a negative connotation, when, in contrast to the viburnum, the floristry of maples and violets function.