This paper focuses on the cognitive foundation of the semantics of English adjectives that denote mental and moral characteristics of human beings. Research into these adjectives seems a challenging task because they denote abstract qualities that cannot be perceived through vision, hearing, or touch; and here a question arises: How are abstract qualities interpreted in English encoded through adjectives? To answer it, this study follows the idea of two-level semantics, i.e. word semantics is treated as a two-level phenomenon that comprises the semantic (external) level and the conceptual (deep) one. This study is the first to address adjectival semantics from this perspective. Here a novel approach to revealing the cognitive foundation of adjectives is introduced: given that adjectives originated from old syncretic items and a word cognitive model forms at the moment of word creation, cognitive models underlying adjectives' semantics are unearthed via analysis of their etymological data. Our contribution is two-fold. First, the approach has revealed that the image schema CONTAINER guides semantics of an array of various adjectives independent of their morphemic structure or date of origin. The examples demonstrate that abstract human qualities are interpreted via the following container features: boundary, container substance, size, hardness/softness of a container shell, etc. The semantics of affixed or compound adjectives appear to stem from the integration of concepts represented by an affix and a root or two roots, respectively. Second, the findings show that the value given to every container feature appears to predetermine the evaluation conveyed by an adjective. Container features tend to possess ambivalent value, realizing the positive or negative one due to the interaction with a frame in which the CONTAINER is incorporated, therefore the same polysemantic adjective may develop both positive and negative meanings. To reveal the whole inventory of cognitive models that govern adjectival semantics in English, further research needs to be conducted.
Background. The linguistic worldview theory stems from Humboldt’s ideas concerning the interdependence of language and its speakers. Since Humboldt’s time national linguistic worldviews remain a challenging aspect of linguistic research accounting for a significant number of publications. Since linguistic worldview is a multi-faceted phenomenon, studies differ in terms of the facets they investigate and applied methodology. The linguistic worldview research has covered a wide array of linguistic worldview fragments and utilised monolingual material as well as cross-linguistic analysis of worldview fragments. However, so far, little attention has been paid to the analysis of this ever-increasing body of research and quite few studies have attempted to review the literature in this field. Purpose. The subject field scoping review aims to overview the available literature on national linguistic worldviews and answers the three questions: What is a diachronic change of researchers’ interest in the issue? What fragments of linguistic worldview have been investigated comprehensively? What are the most frequently used methods of modelling the linguistic worldview? Methods. The literature for the scoping review was retrieved from the three electronic databases: SciVerse Scopus, Web of Science (Core Collection), and Google Scholar. Literature selection was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). To generate a list of current research directions, which rest on the analysis of fragments of linguistic worldview, the visualisation map of authors’ key words was created using the VOSviewer software. Results and Implications. The concise scoping review of the previously published literature on linguistic worldview shows that most publications date between 2015 and 2021 and the years yielding most publications are 2018 and 2019. The number of publications mentioning linguistic worldview grew each year within the study period. The analysis of linguistic worldview fragments helped to identify six directions of researchers’ interest in the linguistic worldview field which include lexical fragments, linguistic worldview and consciousness, phraseological fragments, reflection of linguistic worldview in different discourses, linguistic worldview in translation and teaching, and grammar fragments. The most frequently used methods of modelling the linguistic worldview are an associative psycholinguistic experiment, a conceptual analysis, and a comparative method.
В статье анализируются концептуальные основания семантики английских адъективных имен, обозначающих моральные качества человека. Семантика лексической единицы рассматривается как двухуровневый феномен, включающий собственно семантический (внешний) и концептуальный (глубинный) уровни. Моделирование концептуального основания проводится с учетом данных об этимологии изучаемых единиц. На конкретных примерах показано, что семантика адъективов рождается из архетипических представлений о живом и мертвом, о пространстве, о перемещении в пространстве, о «перводействиях» и др. В итоге проведенного исследования установлено, что концептуальные основания семантики данных адъективов образуют концептуальные оппозиции жизнь/смерть, движение/покой, свой/чужой, любить/не любить и др. Они обладают разной степенью активности при формировании семантики адъективов, наиболее активной является концептуальная оппозиция свой/чужой, определившая семантику 25 % единиц. Первый элемент оппозиции обычно маркирован положительно и соответственно порождает семантику положительной оценки у языковых единиц, а второй, маркированный отрицательно, обусловливает семантику отрицательной оценки. Однако при формировании семантики адъективов концепты оппозиций демонстрируют амбивалентность модуса, реализация положительного или отрицательного модуса зависит от ситуационного фрейма, который «накладывается» на концептуальное основание. Благодаря этому свойству на основе одного и того же концепта могут формироваться оценочно полярные значения как в семантике разных адъективов, так и в пределах одного, полисемантического, адъектива. Для английских
This paper presents an analysis of the deep language factors that predetermine polysemy of English adjectives denoting moral and mental qualities of human beings. In line with a well-established point of view in cognitive linguistics, this study treats the semantics of a word as a two-level phenomenon possessing the semantic (external) level and the conceptual (internal) level. Given polysemy belongs to the external level, this study aims to reveal the internal language factor allowing for umbrella adjectives to develop meanings of moral and mental qualities. This is the first research that has analyzed English adjectives from this perspective; it is proposed to unearth the deep language foundation of polysemy by modeling the conceptual foundation of polysemantic adjectives, which is undertaken via analysis of their etymological data. The choice of the adjectives encoding moral and mental qualities is substantiated by the following reasons: first, these words name the major human characteristics, whose recognition and verbalization can be traced back to the Pre-Old English period; second, they denote abstract qualities unperceivable by senses but estimated due to their indirect manifestation in individuals’ judgments, conduct and activity; third, since these adjectives convey evaluation of the quality, they reflect cultural axiological standards. The findings show that the semantics of the English adjectives in question is governed by a certain set of conceptual metaphors. The commonality of the adjectives’ conceptual basis seems to be the internal language factor that accounts for polysemy, i.e. an ability for an adjective to comprise meanings of mental and moral characteristics. In addition, the results demonstrate that the unearthed concepts form oppositions, namely, LIFE - DEATH, MOTION - STILLNESS, FRIEND - FOE. The opposed concepts are endowed with the positive or negative value that appears to determine the evaluative meaning of the adjectives. Besides, the research has shown that, while participating in the formation of adjectival semantics, the concepts can demonstrate ambiguous value, which enables a concept to underlie both the positive and negative evaluative meanings of an adjective; therefore, an adjective may comprise meanings of mental and moral characteristics that are opposite in their evaluation.
The paper focuses on the cognitive foundation of English adjectives that denote mental characteristics of human beings. Several cognitive models have been advanced in an attempt to account for the semantic structure underlying the lexical category in question. After reviewing these models, a method for determining which of them most accurately captures the "cognitive reality" of English adjectival "deep structure" is proposed. The paper concludes with arguments for the inclusion of additional "motion attributes" to Lakoff's ICM (1987), namely, "guide's support" and "speed".
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