Comparison as a method for explication of the semantic structure of concepts (taking the image of a child as an example)

S.K. Alfalke^*, N.A. Iliukhina^**

Samara National Research University, Samara, 443086 Russia

E-mail: ^*sarah.alfalke@mail.ru, ^**ilnadezhda@rambler.ru

Received September 2, 2021

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

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DOI: 10.26907/2541-7738.2021.4-5.97-108

For citation: Alfalke S.K., Iliukhina N.A. Comparison as a method for explication of the semantic structure of concepts (taking the image of a child as an example). Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki, 2021, vol. 163, no. 4–5, pp. 97–108. doi: 10.26907/2541-7738.2021.4-5.97-108. (In Russian)

Abstract

The functioning of the image of a child/children in Russian comparative constructions is analyzed as a means of figurative description of adults by analogy with children. Particular attention is paid to the embodiment of this image in the structure of the following constructions: kak rebenok ‘like a child’, kak deti ‘like children’, rebyacheskii ‘childish’, rebyacheski ‘in a puerile way’, (po-)detski ‘childlike’, kak mal’chik ‘like a boy’, kak mal’chishka ‘like a little boy’, mal’chisheskii ‘boyish’, (po-)mal’chisheski ‘mischievously’, kak devochka ‘like a girl’, kak devchonka ‘like a little girl’, devchonochii ‘girly’, (po-)devchonoch’i ‘girlishly’. The capacity of the above-listed comparative constructions in the explication of the semantic structure of the analyzed concept when it is used as a means of figurative description is considered using the materials of the National Corpus of the Russian Language. Based on the results obtained, conclusions are drawn about a wide range of semantic variations of the image of a child in the Russian speech, as well as about the universal capacity of the comparative constructions under study in the embodiment of the semantic structure of the concept in its entire volume. All the comparative constructions are based on the following four aspects of the concept structure: features of children’s appearance, psychological and intellectual qualities of children, features of their behavior, and their role in interaction with adults. The study is of relevance and crucial importance for further research on possible embodiment of the semantic structure of the concept by means of metaphor and comparison.

Keywords: conceptual framework, concept, image of child, semantic variation of concept, comparison, comparative construction, figurative description of object

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