PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE AND NEW TRENDS

IN TRANSLATION STUDIES AND LINGUISTICS

Collective monograph

Lviv-Toruń
Liha-Pres
2019
 Reviewers:

Dr Adam Wróbel, School of Polish Language and Culture of Cuiavian University

in Wloclawek (Republic of Poland);
Mgr Joanna Skiba, Director of the Center for Foreign Languages, Cuiavian
University in Włocławek (Republic of Poland).

Philosophy of language and new trends in translation studies and

linguistics : collective monograph / N. V. Chendey, A. I. Devitska, M. P. Fabian,
S. V. Holyk, etc. – Lviv-Toruń : Liha-Pres, 2019. – 164 s.
ISBN 978-966-397-149-0

Liha-Pres is an international publishing house which belongs to the

category „C” according to the classification of Research School for
Socio-Economic and Natural Sciences of the Environment (SENSE) [isn:
3943, 1705, 1704, 1703, 1702, 1701; prefixMetCode: 978966397].
Official website – www.sense.nl.

ISBN 978-966-397-149-0 © Liha-Pres, 2019

 CONTENTS

CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN G. BYRON’S POETRY

AND ITS UKRAINIAN TRANSLATIONS
Chendey N. V. ............................................................................................................. 1

ENGLISH AND SLOVAK LANGUAGE SYSTEMS

IN CONTACT: SUPRASEGMENTAL LEVEL
Devitska A. I. ............................................................................................................. 18

STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY

OF MEANING (ON THE MATERIAL
OF ADJECTIVES IN MODERN UKRAINIAN)
Fabian M. P. .............................................................................................................. 34

CONCEPT OLD AGE IN ENGLISH:

COGNITIVE-SEMANTIC ANALYSIS
Holyk S. V. ................................................................................................................. 52

TRANSLATING CULTURALLY
MARKED VOCABULARY
Palchevska O. S. ........................................................................................................ 73

CONCEPTUAL EQUIVALENCE
AS A CRITERION OF TRANSLATION
QUALITY ASSESSMENT
Popovych N. M. ......................................................................................................... 89

LEXICAL AND SEMANTIC FEATURES

OF GEOLOGY TERMS IN ENGLISH
Rohach L. V. ............................................................................................................ 105

TO THE PROBLEM OF ETHNOTHEROTYPES

AND LOCAL NICKNAMES OF THE SLAVS
IN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
Tyshchenko O. V..................................................................................................... 123

iii
THEOLOGICAL TERMS IN GERMAN:
GENERAL OVERVIEW
Veresh M. T. ........................................................................................................... 140

iv
DOI https://doi.org/10.36059/978-966-397-149-0/1-17

CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS IN G. BYRON’S POETRY

AND ITS UKRAINIAN TRANSLATIONS

Chendey N. V.

INTRODUCTION
This research examines the mechanisms of conceptual metaphors
elaboration with special reference to George Gordon Byron’s romantic
poetry and its Ukrainian translations.
Studies of metaphor have been predominantly dedicated to issues
ranging from meaning, structure, components, analogies, typology to the
role of metaphors as speech ornaments. These studies, however, neglected
the exploration of the continuous connection of metaphors as mental or
picturesque representations of the real world and the language used to
verbalize these pictures in words 1.
Despite the majority of literature available on the literary aspects of this
linguistic phenomenon, very little research has been done on a cognitive
and cultural translation of metaphors. Contemporary studies on metaphor
tend to show how metaphors reflect cognitive and cultural human
experiences encoded by language as a means of recording human
experience and how culture models and constrains this cognition 2. In
particular, this research follows a cognitive approach to poetic metaphors
elaboration and translation, especially from and into culturally distinct
languages, such as English and Ukrainian.
The most productive within an anthropologic approach to language
study proves to be the linguistic and cultural theory of metaphor. Hence, to
solve a problem of language and culture interconnection seems to be
crucial in recent multiple linguistic works. The study of metaphor has
revealed a limited number of possible metaphoric expressions found in a
given language. This fact is explained by culturally specified nature of
metaphor, advocating an idea that “only images rooted in cultural
traditions and native speakers’ consciousness can function and develop in
language” 3. Metaphor serves a prism through which human beings view

1
Lacoff G. The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor / G. Lacoff // Metaphor and Thought / Ed.
by Andrew Ortony. 2-nd edition. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1993. P. 202–251.
2
Katan D. Translating Cultures: An Introduction for Translators, Interpreters and Mediators /
D. Katan. Manchester : ST Jerome Publishing, 1999. P. 40.
3
Quinn N. The cultural basis of metaphor / N. Quinn // Beyond metaphor: the theory of
tropes in anthropology. Stanford, 1991. P. 63.
1
the world, reflecting specific national vision in an inner language form.
V. A. Maslova is a proponent of the theory that studies metaphor as
a mode of culture representation. In her opinion, a cultural component of a
lexeme presupposes a culturally marked connotation that emerges as a
result of interpretation a metaphor’s associative basis and its reference to
cultural etalons and stereotypes. Undoubtedly, metaphor is anthropologic
by its nature and to think metaphorically is an exclusively homo sapiens
capacity 4. Thus, metaphor is an inevitable mental, language and culture
element that extends and coins new senses and demonstrates a tight link of
individual experience with culture and language community experiences 5.
Following G. Lakoff and M. Johnson, “a culture may be thought of as
providing, among other things, a pool of available metaphors for making
sense of reality”; “to live by a metaphor is to have your reality structured
by that metaphor and to base your perceptions and actions upon that
structuring of reality”. 6 This is related to the fact that people of a given
culture use language to reflect their attitudes towards the world in general
and the life of the community they live in particular. This in turn gives rise
to the reason for the argument in favor of a cognitive approach in
translating conceptual metaphors, which takes into account cultural beliefs
and values especially between culturally distinct languages, like English
and Ukrainian.
It is important to distinguish the way we conceive metaphorically of
such things as life and death from the way a particular poet may express
such thoughts in language 7. General conceptual metaphors are not the
unique creation of individual poets, but are rather part of the way members
of a culture have of conceptualizing their experience. Poets, as members of
their cultures, naturally make use of these basic conceptual metaphors to
communicate with other members, their audience. However, using the
mechanisms of everyday thought, poetic mind extends them, elaborates
them and combines them in ways that go beyond the ordinary.

1. Cognitive equivalence in conceptual metaphors translation

In cognitive linguistics, metaphor is often given a cognitive function in
which human beings draw upon the experience of each other or non-
4
Маслова В. А. Лингвокультурология: учеб. пособие / Валентина Авраамовна Маслова.
М. : Академия, 2001. C. 92.
5
Опарина Е. О. Исследование метафоры в последней трети XX века / Е. О. Опарина //
Лингвистические обзоры в конце XX века. М. : Институт языкознания РАН, 2000. C. 200.
6
Lacoff G., Johnson M. Metaphors We Live By / G. Lacoff, M. Johnson. Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 1980. P. 12.
7
Lacoff G., Turner M. More than cool reason: a field guide to poetic metaphor / G. Lacoff,
M. Turner. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989. P. 16.
2
human surroundings or even other concepts or images. G. Lakoff and
M. Johnson (1980) define metaphor as a means to understand one domain
of experience (the target domain) in terms of another, a familiar one
(source domain). This usually takes the form of analogy or comparison
between two existent entities or one existent entity and another one
assumed to exist. To say that someone is a ‘lion’, for example, reveals that
a link has been established between that individual (tenor) and the ‘lion’
(vehicle) as a symbol of bravery or strength. Therefore, metaphors are
‘conceptual’ phenomena in which the source domain is mapped onto the
target domain. To put it differently, the structural components of the
source conceptual schema are transferred to the target domain 8.
A distinguishing characteristic of recent multileveled theories
of translation equivalence is a focus on semantic components, i.e.
pragmatic, semantic and syntactic aspects. Besides, a pragmatic
component refers to the sphere of adequacy, while semantic and syntactic
ones define translation equivalence 9.
Conceptual metaphor equivalence in a literary text cannot be included
into any known level of the equivalence theory. Though this category
proves to be semantic either, it also contains linguistic and psychological
components on a pragmatic equivalence level. Basically, the majority of
equivalence theories do not put to the fore an imagery language
component. Meanwhile a conceptual equivalence specification in a literary
text enables to take into account psychological and cognitive language
aspects that define not only modes of imagery in a text, but modes of
thinking in general. For instance, an association, objectified in conceptual
codes, combines single concepts into a conceptual sphere, or equivalence
of target language and source language references on the level of senses
and perception codes predicts psychological impact on a recipient.
O. A. Yasynetska in her study of metaphor translation as a means
of conceptual picture representation points out that most proponents of
cognitive theory of metaphor consider entirely its conceptual level in two
languages, totally neglecting a language level of metaphor realization in
them. However, the reproduction of senses and images, not meanings,
proves to be a necessary condition of metaphor translation 10.

8
Lacoff G., Johnson M. Metaphors We Live By / G. Lacoff, M. Johnson. Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 1980. P. 34.
9
Newmark Р. Approaches to Translation / Peter Newmark. Oxford : Pergamon Press, 1981.
P. 45.
10
Ясинецька О.А. Переклад метафори як мовна репрезентація концептуальних картин
світу / О.А. Ясинецька // Філологічні трактати. 2010. Т. 2. № 1. Вид-во СумДУ С. 96.
3
 A culture factor can play a crucial role in the way metaphors of one
language are translated into another due to various modes of perception
and categorization pertain to different language communities. It is thought
that there is no simplistic general rule for the translation of metaphor, but
the translatability of any given SL metaphor depends on 1) the particular
cultural experiences and semantic associations exploited by it; and 2) the
extent to which these can, or cannot, be reproduced non-anomalously into
the TL, depending on the degree of overlap in each particular case 11.
This view of culture suggests that, when translating a text of any other
culture, one needs to be aware not only of the patterns of thinking, and
acting in one’s own culture, but also of the TL’s cultural models of reality.
E. Nida described the ‘best’ translation as the one capable of evoking in
the TL reader the same response as the SL text does to the SL reader. 12
Although this seems to be a rather unreachable objective, some of it can be
achieved provided that the following two conditions are satisfied. First, the
translator must understand the way in which receptive readers perceive the
world and structure their experience. Second, s/he must also try their best
to find a way to accommodate a text to the experience of the target-
language reader, and to the way it is recoded in the TL. An argument in
favor of a cognitive approach to the translation of metaphors derives from
the notion of ‘cognitive equivalence’, where metaphors can be translated
from one language to another with a minimum degree of loss. 13 For this
reason, metaphors are thought to be looked at as cognitive constructs
rather than mere linguistic entities 14. Hence, it remains essential to regard
their semantic associations, typical of a given language. In other words,
metaphors represent instances of how people conceptualize their
experience and how they record it verbally in their language.
In accordance with a cognitive approach to metaphor translation, a
culture component that underlies a conceptual metaphor enables to reveal
differences in how various cultures constrain human experience.
The hypothesis is built on two scenarios:
1) if a conceptual mapping from one domain onto another is similar
in a TL metaphor, then a conceptual shift does not occur;

11
Katan D. Translating Cultures: An Introduction for Translators, Interpreters and Mediators /
D. Katan. Manchester : ST Jerome Publishing, 1999. P. 28.
12
Nida E. Towards a Science of Translation / E. Nida. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1964. 287 p.
13
Mandelblit N. The Cognitive View of Metaphor and its Implications for Translation
Theory. Translation and Meaning / N. Mandelblit. Maastricht : Universitaire Press, 1995. P. 483–
495.
14
Kövecses Z. Metaphor and Emotion: Language, Culture and Body in Human Feeling /
Z. Kövecses. Cambridge: Maison des Science de L’Homme and Cambridge University Press,
2000. P. 14.
4
 2) if a conceptual mapping from one domain onto another is different
in a TL metaphor, then a conceptual shift occurs.
Doing translation within the earlier mentioned scenarios, it is possible
to define commonalities in metaphors functioning in different languages
along with a ‘degree’ of their cultural distance.
P. Newmark suggested his classification of the possible ways
of metaphor translation:
1) an image reproduction in a TL (natural to a recipient language);
2) a SL image substitution by a standard TL image (equivalent
metaphor substitution);
3) a metaphor rendering by means of simile (when image is preserved,
but lower degree of expressiveness is inevitable);
4) a metaphor rendering by means of simile, accompanied by a vast
explanation (which assists comprehension, but leads to a loss of
expressiveness);
5) a reproduction of metaphoric meaning through a paraphrase (when a
metaphor is obscure or excessive in a TL);
6) a metaphor omission in case it is unnecessary;
7) a metaphor reproduction and its meaning specification that
intensifies an image 15.
For the translation of conceptual metaphors V. Nikonova proposed
specific linguistic and cognitive mechanisms amid which she singles
out extension, restriction, amelioration, degradation, questioning and
combination of the content of correlating metaphor concept 16.
In “Cognitive Translation Hypothesis” N. Mandelblit proposed two
schemes of cognitive mapping conditions (i.e. Similar Mapping Condition
(SMC) and Different Mapping Condition (DMC)). The author intended to
show that “the difference in reaction time is due to a conceptual shift that
the translator is required to make between the conceptual mapping systems
of the source and target languages. She found out that metaphorical
expressions take more time and are more difficult to translate if they
exploit a cognitive domain different from that of the target language
equivalent expression. According to the hypothesis, the reason for this
delay, difficulty and uncertainty in the translation of different domain
metaphors is the search for another conceptual mapping (i.e. another
cognitive domain). That is to say the fact that metaphors almost always
exploit such different cognitive domains implies the search for a cognitive

15
Newmark P. The Translation of Metaphor / P. Newmark // Babel, 1980. P. 93–l00.
16
Ніконова В. Г. Реконструкція концептуальної метафори: ідентифікація концепту-
кореляту (на матеріалі трагедій В. Шекспіра) / В. Г. Ніконова // Нова філологія: зб. наук.
праць. Запоріжжя: ЗНУ, 2007. № 31. С. 41–44.
5
equivalence for SL metaphors in the TL. In other words, the translator is
called upon to play the role of a proxy agent doing the act of conceptual
mapping on behalf of the TL reader. If they can touch upon a similar TL
cognitive domain, then their task will be fulfilled quite successfully and
easily. If not, they have to look for the cognitive domain that fits in the
TL as the SL one does. The result of the first action is often an equivalent
TL metaphor or – under the worst conditions – a TL simile. The result of
the second action, however, is open to many possibilities, of which
rendering the SL metaphor into a TL one is the least likely. Thus, a
metaphor might be rendered into a simile, a paraphrase, a footnote, an
explanation or – as a last resort – it can be omitted 17.
Therefore, the attempts of literal rendering or mere linguistic meaning
transference of the metaphoric expressions from one language to another
are deemed to result in a noticeably bad product, especially when these
expressions draw on culture-specific methods of thinking rather than on
shared or universal notions.
Referring to cultural aspects and drawing on the general guidelines of the
cognitive framework (i.e. the cognitive equivalent hypothesis) for metaphor
translation, we used two sets of original English and translated Ukrainian
poetic metaphors. The first set comprises metaphors of similar mapping
conditions reflecting shared ideas, but verbalized differently in the TL
(expressed by different lexical items). The second set contains metaphors of
different mapping conditions, which lack conceptual equivalents in the TL.

2. Metaphors of similar mapping conditions but verbalized differently

in Byron’s original poetry and its Ukrainian translations
This group includes metaphors, verbalizing basic concepts of LIFE,
LOVE, TIME and DEATH that are characteristic of any language.
They represent common conceptual mechanisms of their creation both
in original poetical texts and their Ukrainian translations.
SL “Oh, Snatched Away in Beauty’s Bloom” Oh! Snatched away in
beauty’s bloom, On thee shall press no ponderous tomb; But on thy turf
shall roses rear Their leaves, the earliest of the year; And the wild cypress
wave in tender gloom.
TL “Зірвали дивний першоцвіт” Зірвали дивний першоцвіт,
Затис його могильний лід. Але крізь прах життя зроста – Троянд

17
Mandelblit N. The Cognitive View of Metaphor and its Implications for Translation
Theory. Translation and Meaning / N. Mandelblit. Maastricht : Universitaire Press, 1995. P. 483–
495.
6
розкриваються вуста Під сутінь кипарисних віт. (Translation by
V. Bohuslavska)
In this poem a predicative metaphorical construction “on thy turf shall
roses rear their leaves, the earliest of the year” represents the author’s
original metaphor LIFE IS A ROSE, created due the cognitive mechanism
of restriction of a basic metaphor LIFE IS A PLANT. In the translated text
the same metaphor is reconstructed, but in a genitive metaphorical
construction: “але крізь прах життя зроста – троянд розкриваються
вуста”. Rose is a kind of flower that implicitly indicates the concept of
life and love in poetry. The metaphorical comparison is based on a fixed
association of the content of a source concept with a meaning of life, love
and youth. In Byron’s poetry ROSE is capable of regenerating: “roses rear
their leaves”, while in translation ROSE is personified and transferred into
“троянд розкриваються вуста”. The translator endues the rose
with anthropomorphic characteristics, aimed at the explication of its
spiritual nature. It must be said that in Ukrainian poetical texts the method
of personification of plants is very common due to the metaphoric
paradigm “a person – a plant”, taken from the national folklore.
Metaphors conceptualizing LOVE also belong to those of similar
mapping conditions in Byron’s original poetry and its Ukrainian
translations.
SL “To Caroline” Yet still, this fond bosom regrets, while adoring,
That love, like the leaf, must fall into the sear, That Age will come on,
when Remembrance, deploring, Contemplates the scenes of her youth,
with a tear;
TL “Кароліні” Та з ніжності серце порине у жаль, Бо листям
любов опадає, У згадці відлуниться юні межа, Її у сльозах виглядаю.
(Translation by V. Bohuslavska)
Individual author metaphor LOVE IS THE LEAVE is a subsidiary
model within a basic conceptual metaphor LOVE IS A PLANT,
actualizing the meaning of fugacious happy moments in life. In original
the conceptual metaphor is realized in a metaphorical comparative
construction: “That love, like the leaf, must fall into the sear”, but in
translation it is presented in a genitive metaphor: “бо листям любов
опадає”. In both cases the author’s metaphor implies a polysemantic
complex indicating not only an emotional meaning of love, but the motif
of ageing (summer is the season of blossoming that verbalizes
adolescence, while autumn symbolizes an old age). The latter meaning is
reconstructed in the following two lines: “That Age will come on, when
Remembrance, deploring Contemplates the scenes of her youth, with a

7
tear” – “У згадці відлуниться юні межа, Її у сльозах виглядаю” that
intensify the meaning of time fleeting.
Similar conceptual modeling is observed in TIME metaphorization in
English and Ukrainian.
SL “To Time” Time! On whose arbitrary wing The varying hours must
flag or fly Whose tardy winter, fleeting spring, But drag or drive us on to
die – Hail thou! who on my birth bestowed Those boons to all that know
thee known; Yet better I sustain thy load, For now I bear the weight alone.
TL “До Часу” О часе, твій політ незримий З собою все несе, мов
пил. Летючі весни, гайні зими Женуть усіх нас до могил. Хай приділив
талан жорстокий Мені до віку, часе, ти – Та легші ті вериги, доки
Мені самому їх нести. (Translation by D. Palamarchyk)
In this poem time is personified being compared to bird’s flight that
“drags or drives us on to die” “on arbitrary wing”. At this a special
emphasis is put not only on time’s continuousness, but its varying nature
as well: “the varying hours must flag or fly”, where the modal verb must
expresses the meaning of obligation, intensifying the image of fatality.
The feeling of inevitability is created by the attributive metaphorical
constructions “tardy winter”, that is associated with death, and “fleeting
spring”, that is associated with youth, and that have been adequately
transferred into “летючі весни, гайні зими” in Ukrainian translation.
The DEATH IS WINTER metaphor is a natural metaphoric conception of
life and death, since spring is the season when new plant and animal life is
born, while winter signals the dormancy or hibernation of plants and
animals. However, life and death are such all-encompassing matters that
there can be no single conceptual metaphor to comprehend them.
TL “When Coldness Wraps This Suffering Clay” Above or Love –
Hope – Hate – or Fear, It lives all passionless and pure: An age shall fleet
like earthly year; Its years as moments shall endure. Away – away –
without a wing, O’re all – through all – its thought shall fly, A nameless
and eternal thing, Forgetting what it was to die.
SL “Коли Позаземна Зима” Понад Любов, Надію, Жах Жагою
чистою зорить. І плине час, і де межа – Роки для Вічності, як мить.
Вперед, вперед – хоча без крил – Крізь простір дух сяга глибин,
Він незбагненне підкорив, Дарма, що мав померти він.(Translation by
V. Bohuslavska)
A TIME IS SOMETHING MOVING metaphor has two versions: in
both we are located at the present and are facing towards the future with
the past at our back. In the original and translation we understand change
of time as change of location: “Away – away – without a wing” –
“Вперед, вперед – хоча без крил” as resulting from an action by an
8
agent. The agent is identical to a bird and time is winged, being
personified it can fly.
Our understanding of life and death is very much bound up with our
understanding of time. This is because death is inevitable and because the
mere passage of time can be seen as bringing about inevitable events.
One of major cultural models of life is that each of us is allotted a certain
fixed time on earth. According to the conventional metaphor of death as
departure, we conceive of death as departure away from here, without
possibility of return, on a journey, perhaps in a vehicle 18. We may take it
that Byron uses this metaphor, but filling in the slots, that is elaborating it,
in an interesting way.
SL “Sun of the Sleepless” Sun of the sleepless! melancholy star!
Whose tears beam glows tremendously far, That show’st the darkness thou
canst not dispel, How like art thou to Joy remembered well! So gleams the
past, the light of other days, Which shines, but warms not with its
powerless rays: A night-beam Sorrow watcheth to behold, Distinct, but
distant – clear – but, oh how cold!
TL “Сонце безсонних” Безсонних сонце, зірко жалібна! Твій
слізний пломінь криє далина, Безсилий пітьму він перемогти. Як на
минуле щастя схожа ти! Отак нам світить відблиск інших днів,
Але не гріє, хоч би як виднів. Так в ніч сумну минувшина зійшла: Хоч
видна – та здаля, ясна – та без тепла. (Translation by H. Kochur)
Being away from here is characterized by the specific case of departure.
The vehicle is an unusual one – “the moonless air”. These ways of making
the DEATH IS DEPARTURE metaphor specific add considerable
conceptual content to the metaphor of death as departure. Eternal space, after
all, in not merely being away from here. It is “rayless and pathless”, it is
unwanted, it assumes that it is an unusual state when “sun was extinguished”
and so on. The moonless air, moreover, is not something that takes us
swiftly or securely to a given destination as it is a departure to the unknown.
It is something we are not in control of because we are at the whim of the
currents, and it leaves us exposed to the elements.
A LIFETIME IS A DAY is a metaphor in which birth is dawn,
maturity is noon, old age is twilight, the moment of death is sunset, and the
state of death is night. This metaphor implies death’s coldness in night’s
coldness, since death is naturally substituted by night.
LIFE IS A SUN – ЖИТТЯ Є СОНЦЕ is implicitly realized both in the
original and translation through a combination of associatively linked units

18
Lacoff G., Turner M. More than cool reason: a field guide to poetic metaphor / G. Lacoff,
M. Turner. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1989. P. 5.
9
that explicitly indicate the Sun’s attributes. “Sun of the sleepless!” –
„Сонце безсонних” is a genitive metaphorical construction that contains
an extended poetic image of the metaphorical composition, which is
realized in the whole text. However, the lexemes, expressing the sun’s
features, are used in a sharp contrast to all positive meanings via the
procedure of questioning of the basic concept. The poet calls the sun a
“melancholy star” – “зіркa жалібна” which lost its ability to lighten
darkness: “Whose tears beam glows tremendously far, That show’st the
darkness thou canst not dispel” – “Твій слізний пломінь криє далина,
Безсилий пітьму він перемогти”. A pessimistic feeling of reality is
created by the image of the sun with its powerless rays: “the light of other
days, Which shines, but warms not with its powerless rays” – “Отак нам
світить відблиск інших днів, Але не гріє, хоч би як виднів”.
A personified Darkness reins the universe.

3. Metaphors of different mapping conditions

in Byron’s original poetry and its Ukrainian translations
In this section the attempt has been made to establish not only the
specificity of metaphors functioning in culturally distinct languages, but to
indicate national and cultural components in metaphorical elaborations and
extensions. In English and Ukrainian poetic traditions special modes
of presenting metaphorical meanings have been formed, which causes
semantic and functional divergences in metaphorical conceptualization
of some basic universal notions. Despite the similarity of the filters in
different languages, i.e. metaphorical analogy that enables metaphorical
transformation, their metaphorical presentation does not coincide. As a
result associative and image lacunas emerge, which testify to subjective
perception and evaluation of the world by different cultural background
language communities.
TL “I Saw Thee Weep” I saw thee weep – the big bright tear Came
o’re that eye of blue; And then methought it did appear A violet dropping
dew: I saw thee smile – the sapphire’s blaze Besides thee ceased to shine;
It could not match the living rays That filled that glance of thine. As clouds
from yonder sun receive A deep and mellow dye, Which scarce the shade
of coming eve Can banish from the sky,
SL “Я бачу твої сльози” Ти плачеш – адамант сльози Затьмарює
блакить, Краплина росна від грози В барвінку мерехтить.
Всміхнешся – спалахом сапфір Сяйне з тремтливих вій. Зустрівши
твій промінний зір, Тлумить небо свій. Сховає сонце вовна хмар
В пухнастій глибині – Чи допоможе хто тягар Підважити мені?
(Translation by V. Bohuslavska)
10
 Metaphorical extension results in the reconstruction of a composition
TEAR – DEW – GEM indicating the evaluative component in the
emotional poetic image. Thus, the image of sapphire in the original, and
added by the translator an image of a diamond in Ukrainian, considerably
extends the poetic expression of emotional feeling: “I saw thee smile –
the sapphire’s blaze Besides thee ceased to shine” – “Всміхнешся –
спалахом сапфір Сяйне з тремтливих вій”. Besides, the meaning of first
love is implicitly indicated by “a violet” in the English text, which has
been correspondingly substituted in the translation by “барвінок” in the
line with the national folklore: “A violet dropping dew” – “В барвінку
мерехтить”.
The metaphorical transformation within a paradigm “an atmospheric
phenomenon” – “a substance” lies in the basis of CLOUDS ARE WOOL
metaphor in the Ukrainian translation. The nominal construction “вовна
хмар” is built on the principle of subjectivity. The clouds are seen as soft
substances creating the poetic illusion as if they were alive.
Byron’s poetry often reveals fascination with the natural world. The poet
writes perceptively of trees and flowers, oceans and rivers and uses lucid
metaphors to describe the sky and the sea. This wonderful balance between
imagination and observation is, in many ways, what makes Byron’s verse
the perfect hook for a life-long appreciation of poetry.
His nature poems divide into those that are chiefly presentations of
scenes appreciated for their liveliness and beauty, and those in which
aspects of nature are scrutinized for keys to the meaning of the universe
and human life. The distinction is somewhat artificial but still useful, for it
will encourage consideration of both the deeper significances in the more
scenic poems and of the pictorial elements in the more philosophical
poems. As we have noted, nature images and metaphors permeate Byron’s
poems on other subjects and some of those poems may be more concerned
with nature than at first appears.
The personification of an atmospheric phenomenon is laid in the poetic
image of wind in the Ukrainian translation.
SL “Stanzas For Music” There be none of Beauty’s daughters With a
magic like thee; And like music on the waters Is thy sweet voice to me:
When, as if its sound were causing The charmed Ocean’s pausing, The
waves lie still and gleaming, And the lulled winds seem dreaming: And the
midnight Moon is weaving Her bright chain o’er the deep; Whose breast is
gently heaving , As an infant’s asleep: So the spirit bows before thee,
To listen and adore thee; With a full but soft emotion, Like the swell of
Summer’s ocean.

11
 TL “Станси під музику” Ніхто із донь краси земної Не збурює
так мрій, Як лоскіт хвилі наді мною, – Солодкий голос твій. Його
чарівний звук лунає, Приборкуючи моря гомін, І зоряний принишклий
промінь На спині вітру засинає. І місяць у сріблясті персні Хвилини
засиля. І дихають світи небесні, Мов сонне немовля. Мій дух, мов
райдуга до неба, Здіймається для тебе. Обожнюю, лечу до вирію
В маю морською хвилею. (Translation by V. Bohuslavska)
The extended metaphor WIND IS A LIVING BEING THAT SINGS
CRADLE SONGS is reconstructed in the Ukrainian translation under the
strong influence of national folklore. The metaphorical concept is
represented explicitly in the genitive construction “На спині вітру
засинає”. The latter is based on the principle of personification of the air.
The predicative construction “Його чарівний звук лунає” explicates the
meaning of a cradle song along which “моря гомін” and “принишклий
промінь засинають”. The poetic metaphor creates an illusion of nature
similar to a human world.
Mixed feelings of a different kind are striking in Byron’s many poems
about storms with (and occasionally without) rain. The details of the scene
are presented in a series of vigorous personifications and metaphors.
The wind is rising and sweeping across the land. Its force makes some of
the grass stand up high and some lie down. The description of leaves
unhooking themselves and dust scooping itself animates the landscape and
conveys a sense of excitement about the release of power. Lightning is a
giant bird whose head and toe stand for its jagged sweep.
A POET IS A BIRD metaphor represents Byron’s original association
of himself with a bird: “A bird of free and careless wing Was I”. In the
Ukrainian translation this metaphor has been specified in a comparative
construction: „О, як мені з душного світу Мов голуб до свого кубла
У небо грозове злетіти”. In this context a special attention should be
paid to the image of the concept of SNARE in the original and ГНІЗДО in
the translation. The poet calls himself “a bird caught within the subtle
snare”, that is being associated with a bird, the author puts forward the
meaning of losing his freedom, caused by love.
Birds putting up bars to nests humanize their actions and parallel the
behavior of people. All the images of flight thus far, including the
description of the landscape, build up a tension which begins to ease with
the description of the drop of giant rain.
Byron’s more philosophical nature poems tend to reflect darker moods
than do his more descriptive poems and are often denser and harder to
interpret. The nature scenes in these poems often are so deeply internalized
in the speaker that a few critics deny the reality of their physical scenes
12
and insist that the poems deal exclusively with states of mind. Despite
their relative brevity, Byron’s philosophical nature poems are often quite
rich in meaning and connotation, and they can be re-read and re-
experienced from many angles.
PEOPLE ARE PLANTS. In this metaphor, people are viewed as plants
with respect to the life cycle – more precisely, they are viewed as that part
of the plant that burgeons and then withers or declines, such as leaves,
flowers, and fruit, though sometimes the whole plant is viewed as
burgeoning and then declining, as with grass or trees.
The stages of the plants and parts of plants in their yearly cycle
correspond to the stages in life. When we speak of someone as a “young
sprout”, we mean that he is in the early stages of life. Someone “in full
bloom” is mature. Someone “withering away” is approaching death. Thus,
in Byron’s poetry we can apply the PEOPLE ARE PLANTS metaphor to
read “Stanzas to Augusta”:
SL “Stanzas to Augusta” Thou stood’st, as stands a lovely tree, That
still unbroken, though gently bent, Still waves with fond fidelity Its boughs
above a monument.
TL “Станси до Августи” Кохання деревцем гінким Обом нам
зав’язало світ. Обоє ми – його гілки У вічності квітучих віт.
(Translated by V. Bohuslavska)
The metaphoric image is created in the line with a fixed folklore
association of love with a tree on the one hand “Кохання деревцем гінким
Обом нам зав’язало світ”, and a human being – on the other hand:
“Обоє ми – його гілки У вічності квітучих віт”. A tree in blossom
symbolizes a person in love, a specific harmony of man with the
surrounding world.
TL “Stanzas to August” In the Desert a fountain is springing, In the
wide waste there still is a tree, And a bird in the solitude singing, Which
speaks to my spirit of Thee.
SL “Станси до Август” Джерельце у пустелі дивовижне,
І солоспів самотній солов’я, У спеку степову розквітлу вишню
І звістку, що несе душа твоя. (Translated by D. Palamarchuk)
The poetic image of life in the desert is realized by means of a chain of
metaphoric compositions, in which numerous elaborations and cognitive
mechanisms of extensions have been made in the Ukrainian translation.
Thus, an English “fountain” has been rendered as “джерельце”, a “tree”
has been modified into “розквітлу вишню”, and finally “a bird in the
solitude singing” has been specified into “солоспів самотній солов’я”.
The same instances of modification of some basic concepts are
observed in the following poem:
13
 TL “Stanzas for Music” Light be the turf of thy tomb! May its verdure
like emeralds be! There should not be the shadow of gloom In aught that
reminds us of thee. Young flowers and an evergreen tree May spring from
the spot of thy rest: But nor cypress nor yew let us see; For why should we
mourn for the blest?
SL “Станси під музику” Надгробок твій з промінних трав! Росу
смарагдами гойдає. Тут морок дрібку світла вкрав, Яка про тебе
нагадає. Весняні квіти, зелен-лист Твій відпочинок вкрили тінню.
Та де верба, де кипарис? – Де виплачу благословення? (Translated by
V. Bohuslavska)
Byron’s “young flowers” have been substituted by “весняні квіти”,
“an evergreen tree” has been rendered as“зелен-лист”. Moreover, there is
a case of extension of a poetic image in the translation by adding a definite
type of a tree: “But nor cypress nor yew let us see” – “Та де верба, де
кипарис?” A number of poems reveal that Byron regarded nature as being
invested with symbolic and sacred meaning, indeed, that it could be the
symbolic instrument of spirit, capable of conveying grace and assurance of
spiritual regeneration.

CONCLUSIONS
The use of metaphor in poetry can hardly be avoided. First, it enables
the author to squeeze multiple images and complex senses into a dense
space due to the architectonics of a poetic genre. Second, metaphor can
structure a verse itself. Metaphor can be described as figure of speech in
which a thing is referred to as being something that it resembles. In this
way, metaphors are used in poetry to explain and elucidate emotions,
feelings, relationships other elements that could not be described
in ordinary language. Poets also use metaphor as a mode of explaining or
referring to something in a brief but effective way.
There is no simplistic general rule for the translation of metaphor, but
the translatability of any given SL metaphor depends on 1) the particular
cultural experiences and semantic associations exploited by it; and 2) the
extent to which these can, or cannot, be reproduced non-anomalously into
the TL, depending on the degree of overlap in each particular case.
What determines the translatability of a SL metaphor is not its
“boldness” or “originality”, but rather the extent to which the cultural
experience and semantic associations on which it draws are shared by
speakers of the particular TL. Moreover, the inherent difficulty of
metaphor translation is not the absence of an equivalent lexical item in the
TL, but rather the diversity of cultural conceptualization of even identical
14
objects or worlds in both communities whose languages are involved
in translation.
In the research done conceptual metaphors in Byron’s original poetry
and its Ukrainian translations have been studied from two perspectives.
Firstly, the major modes of poetic metaphors elaboration have been
examined. As it has been illustrated, poetic thought extends and elaborates
conventionalized metaphors via the mechanisms of extending, elaborating,
questioning, composing and personification. The latter mode is probably
the most effective and frequently used in Byron’s poetry since
personification permits us to use our knowledge about ourselves to
maximal effect, to use insights about ourselves to help us comprehend
such things as forces of nature, common events, abstract concepts, and
inanimate objects.
Secondly, in accordance with Mandelblit’s “Cognitive Translation
Hypothesis” poetic metaphors have been divided into two groups:
1) metaphors of similar mapping conditions but verbalized differently
in the Ukrainian translations. Although Byron’s original metaphors and
their Ukrainian counterpart metaphors belong to the same conceptual
domain, the ethnical and cultural system has led to major differences in
lexical choices.
2) metaphors of different mapping conditions. This group includes
cases of English poetic metaphors the image of which cannot be
reproduced in the TL. Therefore, the translator has no choice other than
replacing the SL image with a TL image that does not clash with the target
culture. This can only be done by resorting to the strategy of different
cognitive mapping in search for cognitive equivalence.

SUMMARY
The research is dedicated to the study of conceptual metaphors and
modes of their elaboration in Byron’s original poetry and its Ukrainian
translations. It is firmly believed that basic conceptual metaphors reflect
the universal principles of encoding human experience in language. In
poetry conventional metaphors undergo the mechanisms of elaboration
that extend the content of a correlating concept, illustrating culturally
specified nature of metaphor. In a line with this the translation of
conceptual metaphors proves to be heavily conditioned by culture aspect,
embodied in a text with purposefully selected language means or images
that accumulate national traditions and folklore.

15
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Information about the author:

Chendey N. V.,
Candidate of Philological Sciences in Comparative Linguistics,
Associate Professor at the Department of English Philology,
Uzhhorod National University
14, Universytetska str., Uzhhorod, 88000, Ukraine

17
DOI https://doi.org/10.36059/978-966-397-149-0/18-33

ENGLISH AND SLOVAK LANGUAGE SYSTEMS IN CONTACT:

SUPRASEGMENTAL LEVEL

Devitska A. I.

INTRODUCTION
Current state of formation of national and territorial variants of English,
known as New Englishes and World Englishes, is caused by the
phenomenon of globalization of English in the world 1. Each of these
variants forms a social and communicative system designed to provide
communication of its speakers 2. The term "non-English speakers" defines
the category of the speakers who speak and use English but their native
language is the other.
The need for the term "non-English speakers" is due to the emergence
of New Englishes (World Englishes), and is proved by the existence in
modern linguistics the terms Native speakers (NS) and Non-native
speakers (NNS) 3.
Considering the typology of English language variants, the researcher
B. Kachru proposed a classification of the variants and the idea of globe
separation into three regions of English proficiency ("Kachru Circles").
The first circle, called the Inner circle, includes the countries where
English is the native language; the second circle (Outer or Extended circle)
includes those countries where English is the second language; third circle
(Expanded circle) comprises the countries where English is spoken as a
foreign language. B. Kachru suggests that boundaries between these
circles are constantly changing in the direction of increasing due to the
influence of the English language.
A broader perspective has been adopted by D. Crystal, who used in his
works a similar scheme to describe the languages and language processes
that take place. It is quite natural that the newly created English versions
retain the features of the British and American variants, however, each of
them has its own cultural and linguistic features.

1
Kang O. Learners’ perceptions toward pronunciation instruction in three circles of World
Englishes. TESOL Journal. 2015. Vol. 6(1). P. 59–80. doi: 10.1002/tesj.146, http://dx.doi.org/
10.1002/tesj.146.
2
Kachru B. Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism : the English Language in the
Outer Circle. English in the World. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998. P. 11–34.
3
Toivanen J. Tone of Choice in the English Intonation of Proficient Non-native Speakers.
Phonum. 2003. Vol. 9. P. 165–168.
18
 The expansion tendency circle covers English as a foreign language
for intercultural communication of representatives of different ethnicities,
for example, Spanglish – Spanish English, Ukrainglish – Ukrainian
English, Runglish – Russian English, Polglish – Polish English,
Chenglish – Czech English, Chinglish – Chinese English, Japtish –
Japanese English, Slovglish – Slovak English, etc.
In the same vein, Esther Low suggests a slightly different pattern of
distribution of these circles: the contours of the "outer circle" interact with
the contours of the "expanding circle", thus reflecting the probability of
linguistic contacts between the speakers of the respective circles in the
process of intercultural communication 4.
Drawing on an extensive range of sources, the authors set out the
different ways in which they note that circles’ formation is different from the
development of postcolonial English, that is, an "external" circle, since
English in Europe functions as a means of communication 5. Being fluent in
English, Europeans do not identify themselves with the English-speaking
culture that countries from the "outer" circle aspire to. Overall, these cases
support the view that , English in Europe is not a matter of prestige,
but convenient, due to its versatility, tool of international communication.
One of the most up-to-date theories that reflects language contacts is
considered to be so-called "networking" developed by E. Thomas 6.
According to the theory, the language tree has many branches, and it
reflects the presence of multiple horizontal links between different
language variants, which facilitates the transfer of language features and
phonetic interference between language variants at different stages of its
development. Considering all the difficulties of multilateral contacts,
which have resulted in the emergence of new national-English variants of
the English language, a network scheme containing a description of the
individual variants and their interaction seems to be the most thorough.
It is important to note that one of the relatively recent English language
versions is rightly considered to be Euro-English or European English
language version. Particularly, scientists’ attention is drawn to Euro speak
or European Lingua Franca, ELF (European Lingua franca) and its unique
characteristics 7. The debate has gained fresh prominence with many
4
Low E. L. The Acoustic reality of the Kachruvian Circles. World Englishes. 2012.
Vol. 29(3). P. 394–405.
5
Hall G., Cook G. The English language needs and priorities of young adults in the European
Union: student and teacher perceptions. ELT Research Papers 15.01. British Council, 2015. 65 p.
6
Thomas E. Sociophonetics. An Introduction. Basingstoke. New York : Palgrave Macmillan,
2011. 272 p.
7
Salakhyan, E. The emergence of Eastern European English. World Englishes. 2012.
P. 331–350. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-971X.2012.01755.
19
arguing that Euro-English is a variant of English, serving as a lingua
franca for continental European countries. It is evident that a distinctive
feature of Euro-English is that it is originated in an environment of
educated Europeans as a means of intercultural communication in the
framework of negotiations, scientific conferences, telecommunications and
business projects, and it has become an intercultural heritage, designed to
activate the communicative processes in European languages and cultures.
In the pages that follow, it will be argued that, Euro-English variants of
English nowadays create a special interlingua environment encompassing
the "hybrid space" of intercultural communication, and reflect a "third
culture" that promotes the unification of European multilingualism and
multiculturalism in the context of the English language. Mainly, the
recognition of Euro-English as a means of international communication to
enhance communication among diverse cultures driven by the need of time
but not by the matter of prestige, but by the need to accurately convey the
contexts in the close inter-ethnic communication of a united Europe.
Recent research has suggested that the creation of the above mentioned
variants of European English takes place in the context of mutual
intercultural influence and linguistic contacts 8. Thus, the standard British
Pronunciation (RP) is also affected by the languages which are in contact.
This process can be explained by extra linguistic factors such as the
emergence of new realities related to the emigrant culture and the need for
their nomination and acculturation.
The theory of language contacts was proposed by W. Weinreich 9 in
1953 to identify the links between social and linguistic factors, although
the study of language contacts began in the late 19th century in the works
of L. Shcherba 10. Subsequently, this concept was developed in numerous
works of modern linguists Yu. Zhluktenko 11, O. Semenets 12, S.V. Sem-
chinsky 13 and other researchers. The study of language contacts has
become an independent field in linguistics. According to some researchers,
a new field in modern linguistics is forming "linguistics of language
contacts" (contact linguistics).

8
Sebba M., Mahootian Sh., Jonsson C. Language Mixing and Code-Switching 67 in Writing;
Approaches to Mixed-Language Written Discourse. Routledge, UK, 2012. P. 22–29.
9
Weinreich U. Languages in Contact. The Hague : Mouton, 1968. 411 p.
10
Щерба Л. В. Языковая система и речевая деятельность. Москва : Едиториал УРСС,
2004. 432 с.
11
Жлуктенко Ю. О. Мовні контакти. Проблеми інтерлінгвістики. Київ, 1966. 134 с.
12
Семенець О .Є. Соціолінгвістична типологія варіантів поліетнічної мови. Мово-
знавство. 1986. № 2. С. 8–14.
13
Семчинський С. В. Загальне мовознавство. Київ : АТ «ОКО», 1996. 416 с.
20
 As languages interact and enrich each other, language contacts reflect
interaction and enrichment not only in the material and spiritual cultures of
different people, the historical contacts between them, but also represent
an extremely complex and multilevel process, which reflects the
development of modern society. As a result, the linguistic term “language
contacts” has become widespread in the field of sociolinguistic research to
indicate the processes and results of socially mediated interaction of
languages. Because of this, the language changes that have taken place
have been investigated in contact languages due to external factors.
It has commonly been assumed that, the theory of language contacts
has acquired the ability to reflect the main problems of language
interaction, to identify the general and specific in this language
phenomenon, to outline the basic concepts that contribute to the study of
individual cases of language contact, to identify the general patterns of the
process under study.
Another important point is a number of debates that prevail over the
definition of the term "language contact", one of which is the multivariate
name of the term: linguistic contact, interlingua contacts, linguistic
interaction, interaction of languages, languages mixing, mutual influence
of languages, interference, code-switching, borrowing, hybridization.
Differences in the definition of the term "linguistic contact" are due to the
fact that the researchers name the same concept differently; second, the
variety of terminology is driven by methodology and the purpose of the
study; another point is, there are numerous aspects of study of this issue:
sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, linguistics.
According to the concept of E. Haugen, the term "language contact"
refers to the "alternate use of two or more languages by the same person",
while the researcher does not specify either the level of language
proficiency, or the conditions of their use or the degree of difference
between language 14. O. Akhmanova explains the meaning of "linguistic
contact" as "a collision of languages that arises because of particular
geographical, historical or social conditions that necessitate the linguistic
communication of societies speaking different languages" 15.
In contrast, Yu. Zhluktenko proposes the use of the term "language
interaction", which has a broader interpretation and encompasses "the total
dynamic processes that cause the transfer, copying or loss of units and
models that stimulate or stop certain trends and processes created in the

14
Хауген Э. Языковой контакт. Новое в зарубежной лингвистике. Москва : Прогресс,
1972. Вып. VI: Языковые контакты. С. 61–81.
15
Ахманова О. С., Минаева Л. В. Место звучащей речи в науке о языке. Вопросы
языкознания. 1977. № 6. С. 44–50.
21
language system, and cause the mutual imposition of differential features,
interaction of articulatory and prosodic characteristics, and other areas" 16.
S. Semchynskyy divides the factors that cause the appearance of language
contacts into several groups: extra-linguistic (historical and geographical,
social and political, cultural, psychological and other areas), linguistic
(genetic community, grammatical structure of languages) 17. It can be
concluded that each of these factors of language contacts is capable of
influencing the development of languages in contact: mixing languages or
absorbing one language into another as well as forming numerous
language unions.
Another main criterion for the typology of language contacts developed
by Yu. Zhluktenko is their duration and stability. According to this
classification, all language contacts can be causal, that is, temporary, or
permanent. M. Kocherhan distinguishes between the following types of
linguistic contacts: direct and indirect; between related and unrelated
languages; with one-sided and mutual influence; marginal (on adjacent
territories) and inland (within the same territory); causal and permanent;
natural (direct communication), artificial (schooling) and mixed (natural
and artificial) 18.
Based on this typology of language contacts, Slovak language
interaction with English language system in Slovakia can be classified as a
direct, related language, intra-regional, permanent, natural and artificial,
whereas mutual influence of Slovak-English language contacts in the
United Kingdom as causal, permanent and natural. As a consequence, such
Slovak-English language contacts contribute to the emergence of a variety
of linguistic phenomena. Thus, in some cases, they lead to borrowings and
various types of linguistic interference, in others the convergent
development of interacting languages, "code switching", and linguistic
assimilation can be observed 19.
J. Fishman 20 identifies four stages of the process of linguistic
assimilation characteristics of immigrants. According to his theory, the
first stage of English language acquisition is mainly done by native
language. In situations where the use of the mother tongue is impossible,
mainly when communicating in public institutions, at work and other areas
16
Жлуктенко Ю. А. Лингвистические аспекты двуязычия. Київ, 1974. 176 c.
17
Семчинський С. В. Семантична інтерференція мов. Київ : Вища школа, 1974. 256 с.
18
Кочерган, М. П. (2006). Основи зіставного мовознавства: Підручник. Київ:
Видавничий центр «Академія».
19
Гавранек, Б. К. (1972). К проблеме смешения языков. Новое в лингвистике: Языковые
контакты, VI, 94–107. Москва: Прогресс.
20
Fishman, J.А. (2003). Bilingualism With and Without Diglossia; Diglossia With and
Without Bilingualism. Sociolinguistics: the Essential Readings. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
22
the immigrant speaks mostly English. Thus, at this stage the interference
from the English language is minimal, since the level of immigrant’s
English language proficiency is low and the number of people who speak
it is small. The second stage of language assimilation tends to increase
both the number of English-speaking immigrants and the degree of its
mastering. Because English is spoken in the United Kingdom, unlike
Slovak, it is used in more communication spheres, so it is possible to
follow the process of linguistic interference, as a result of Slovak-English
language contacts’ interaction, particularly at suprasegmental level.
Finally, independent functioning of English and Slovak is observed on
the third stage. It is the process of linguistic assimilation that characterizes
English speech of the Slovaks who emigrated to the United Kingdom.
Naturally, the total number of immigrants who speak English at this stage
is the biggest. At the same time, there is a maximum blending of English
and Slovak languages in different areas of communication. The final stage
of language assimilation includes the removal or replacement of one's
native language (Slovak) by English from all spheres of communication.
In the context of the usage of English and Slovak languages, the
researchers distinguish such basic types of communication environments
as family circle, study, work, travel and other areas. 21However, the
Slovaks who live in the UK, can use Slovak mainly in their family, that is,
in a limited social environment, or during annual meetings of foreign
Slovaks, at seminars, congresses, conferences or festivals, organized in
other EU countries.

1. Prosodic characteristics of English and Slovak languages

Prosodic characteristics of speech play a decisive role in speech
making, as well as its linguistic and communicative function. The study of
prosodic characteristics of English speech of the Slovaks is extremely
relevant to linguists, since in comparison with the lexical and grammatical
aspects of the language, phonetic changes take place much faster.
Prosody has long been a question of great interest in a wide range of
fields. The focus of modern linguistic research is directed to the study of
the role of prosody while conveying the meaning, that is, not only
common models of realization, but also the limits of variability of prosodic
characteristics while creating variants of linguistic combinations are
revealed. The description of the prosodic characteristics of any language is
traditionally considered to be a difficult task, since prosody is, on the one

21
Pokrivcáková S. (2013). Bilingual education in Slovakia: a case study. Journal of Arts and
Humanities 2.5 (Jun 2013), 10–19.
23
hand, the most universal feature of speech, and on the other, it reflects the
unique and specific features that can be found in the suprasegmental level
of each language.
Violations in the prosody of English speech of the Slovaks are due to
the influence of the prosodic system and intonation skills in native
language, to an insufficient degree of command of a foreign language as
well as extra linguistic factors. The acoustic parameters of voice such as
tone, rate of speech, timbre play a leading role in forming the perception of
the speaker's personality 22. Native speaker defines the speaker's belonging
to another linguistic community, first and foremost by the nature of his
pronunciation, that is, the particular phonetic coloration of the speech
caused by the interfering influence of the phonetics of the native language.
A review of theoretical and experimental studies has led to the
conclusion that the concept of prosody is to be interpreted as a complex of
tonal, temporal, dynamic, timbre parameters, which at the perceptual level
are perceived as melody of speech, rhythm, tempo, timbre, pausing,
volume 23. The prosodic characteristics of the English-language text are
interpreted as a set of suprasegmental units of speech that form the basis of
intonation constructions and convey linguistic meanings. The speech
signal, which contains the information about the emotional state of a
person at the moment of communication is very important as well. Some
linguists have devoted a number of scientific works to the study of the
variability of intonational parameters of speech depending on emotional
state 24.
English language melody is considered to be a major component of the
intonation system and is implemented by raising or lowering the volume 25.
The composition of the melody includes: tone level, range, interval, speed.
Also, voice modulation or variation of melody, quality, intensity and
duration influence the process of conveying the meaning and indicate
individual characteristics of the speaker, such as his gender, age and
emotional state. In addition, melody conveys a considerable amount of extra
linguistic information about the speaker's emotional state, such as whether
he is calm, angry, happy, exhausted, anxious, frustrated or sad 26. In English

22
Калита А. А. Система фонетичних засобів актуалізації смислу висловлювання
(експериментально-фонетичне дослідження англійського емоційного мовлення): диc …
д-ра філол. наук: спец. 10.02.04. Київ, 2003. 566 с.
23
Cruttenden A. Intonation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
24
Brazil D. The Communicative Value of Intonation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1997.
25
Roach P. English Phonetics and Phonology. A practical course. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2001.
26
Crystal D. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2000.
24
language, the changes of the melody convey linguistic information about the
syntactic components of the expression, provide lexical information about
the meaning of the word and its grammatical function. The melody, that is
intonation of the Slovak language is divided into three main types of melody
in the statement: falling, rising, and half-falling 27.
In Slovak language, the stress is dynamic, whereas the word stress is
fixed on the first syllable, for example, Pozajtra sa s Vami stretneme.
Primary and secondary stresses are to be differentiated also. It should be
noted that primary stress in Slovak is clearly observed in compound
words, which are to be pronounced in a slower tempo, for instance,
polovodič [polo\vodič], polnohospodár [polno\hospodár], spolupráca
[spolu\práca], veľkoobchod [veľko\opxot], where upper vertical line
indicates primary stress and the lower one indicates the secondary.
Consequently, the dominance of the stressed syllable over unstressed in
Slovak language results its rhythmic organization 28.
Areas where significant differences have been found include word
stress. Slovak language is characterized by a fixed stress on the first
syllable, signaling only about the beginning of words, since it does not
change the meaning of the word unlike English 29. However, there are also
some boundary connections, in which the stress appears to be a decisive
prosodic feature and promotes better understanding of meaning perception.
Thus, the stress in Slovak language has an important delimitative function,
since it emphasizes the word and its boundaries, and becomes a basic
rhythmic and semantic unit 30.
In the same way, word meaning in Slovak is changed by means of
vowel lengthening, whereas vowel lengthening does not transmit the
stress, it remains on the first syllable. It is important to note that all vowels
and endings in Slovak should be pronounced clearly, without slurring the
endings. Another distinctive feature of Slovak language is also stressed
prepositions, as they can be both stressed and unstressed. Phrase stress as a
component of intonation both in English, and in Slovak, serves to highlight
the most semantically important word in a statement or its part, it can
completely change the meaning of a word, giving it positive or negative
connotations, signalizing the psycho physiological features of the speaker
and his sociocultural status.

27
Beňuš Š., Šimko J. Rhythm and tempo in Slovak. Proceedings of the 6th International
Conference on Speech Prosody. Chicago, 2012. P. 502–505.
28
Ibid.
29
Sabol J. Rytmická stavba reči. In: K. Buzássyová (Red.). Človek a jeho jazyk. 1. Jazyk ako
fenomén kultúry. Na počesť profesora Jána Horeckého. Bratislava: Veda, 2000. P. 319–327.
30
Ibid. P. 322.
25
 The completeness of thought, depending on the communicative type of
expression, is created by the final tone decrease or increase, which cause
an auditory impression of logical emphasis, that is, the semantic
completeness of expression is created, first of all, by means of intonation.
J. Sabol and Yu. Zimmermann point out that melody, syllable length
and intensity are the stress correlates in Slovak language 31. D. Fry
concluded from experimental studies that melody plays the main role in
English language, the second place makes syllable length, whereas
intensity is on the third 32. However, in spite of a number of common
features, there are also distinctive ones, such as the reduction of vocalism
in Slovak language which does not occur in the same amount as in
English.
Melody contour of the Slovak language as a component of melody or
as a separate component of its subsystem may be level, descending or
ascending, and may also have a complex form, such as descending-
ascending, ascending-descending or ascending-descending-ascending.
Thus, these models of meaningful tone directions in intonation groups or
in whole expressions perform the function of distinguishing the semantics
of the same expression 33.
As for the broad tonal range both in Slovak and English languages, it is
associated with excited or passionate speech. The most commonly used
type of melody contour in Slovak is considered to be descending and
ascending, while in English it is descending and descending-ascending.
Consequently, the melody of Slovak literary language is characterized by
its rising variation, whereas the English one has falling.
The alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables makes the basis of
the rhythm in Slovak language, as well as timing and melody components.
The configuration of stressed and unstressed syllables creates a primary
rhythmic wave of speech that is the movement from composition to beat.
The secondary rhythmic flow is the movement from beat to the sentence 34.
Thus, English speech of the Slovaks will be different from the standard
British variant of pronunciation because the difference in stressed and

31
Sabol J., Zimmermann J. On the Problem of the Stress in Literary Slovak. In: Z. Palková
(Red), Acta Universitatis Carolinae. Philologica. 1. Phonetica Pragensia. 9. Charisteria viro
doctissimo Přemysl Janota oblata. Prague, Karolinum, Charles University Press, 1996. Р. 245–250.
32
Fry D. B. Duration and intensity as physical correlates of linguistic stress. Journal of the
Acoustical Society of America. 1955. Vol. 27. P. 765–768.
33
Sawicka I. An Outline of the Phonetic Typology of the Slavic Languages. Toruń:
Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu M. Kopernika, 2001.
34
Eddy E. Správna výslovnosť: Základ efektívneho dorozumenia. In Z. Straková,
I. Cimermanová (Eds.). Učiteľ cudzieho jazyka v kontexte primárneho vzdelávania (rozšírené
vydanie). Prešov: Prešovská univerzita, 2013.
26
unstressed syllable length in their speech will not have the maximum rate
as native English speakers have.
Tempo in Slovak language is a suprasegmental phenomenon that
depends from the speed of articulation of separate vowels, combined with
syllables in speech. J. Sabol in his monograph "Intonation of Slovak
Literature Language" distinguishes between the use of slow and fast
tempo 35. According to his definition, tempo serves as a sensitive indicator
during articulatory and acoustic, perceptual realization, and also depends
from the speed of objective reality emphasis by means of language and the
speaker's response to a specific and immediate situation.
Tempo is also one of the main signals and regulators of the semantic
component of the speech, that is, the greater the semantic manifestation is,
the slower the tempo and vice versa. In addition, the characteristic feature
of English and Slovak languages is that the completion of the utterance is
often signaled by the slowing of articulation speed of its last part, by which
the listener is encouraged to communicate.
Regarding the characteristic features of pauses in Slovak language,
they are divided into two types: physiological and logical (determining) 36.
Physiological one appears for breathing purposes, while logical is
considered a language pause and is used to separate relatively independent
and semantic utterances, to construct a hierarchy of spoken units. Pauses in
Slovak language can be found in: 1) the boundaries of independent
sentences, separated by full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark, for
example, Srdce jej išlo puknúť.Z neopätovanej lásky? Ale kdeže! Bol
som si istý, že keď splníš všetky podmienky, stane sa z teba víťaz celej
súťaže. ; 2) in longer utterances: V malej dedinke pod horami v jedno
slnečné ráno  vybral sa susedovie Janko na roľu otcovi pomáhať.
3) direct speech:  „Mal som z toho poriadny šok,“  povedal profesor
podráždene.  Also, creative pauses while reporting unexpected facts,
transmitting certain emotions can be found in Slovak language 37.
Suprasegmental (prosodic) features, such as phrase stress, intonation,
speech tempo, pauses and rhythm in Slovak language play a crucial role in
transmitting the subjective attitude of the speaker to the utterance, as well

35
Sabol J. Intonácia spisovnej slovenčiny. Slovakistické štúdie: zborník vybraných prednášok
Letného seminára slovenského jazyka a kultúry SAS. Red. J. Mistrík. Martin: Matica slovenská,
1985. S. 465–470.
36
Sabol J. Rytmická stavba reči. In: K. Buzássyová (Red.). Človek a jeho jazyk. 1. Jazyk ako
fenomén kultúry. Na počesť profesora Jána Horeckého. Bratislava: Veda, 2000. P. 319–327.
37
Kral Á. Pravidlá slovenskej výslovnosti. 2. vyd. Bratislava: Slovenské pedagogické
nakladateľstvo, 1988.
27
as in the actual and the rhythmic division of the sentence 38. In fact,
affirmative sentences and sentences beginning with an interrogative
pronoun have a falling intonation, whereas, in interrogative sentences
without interrogative pronoun rising intonation is observed.
Therefore some particular suprasegmental features that characterize the
intonation the Slovak sentence can be observed: strong phrasal stress,
broad tone interval, the speaker's desire to make each word significant,
monotonous final beat melody, word emphasis is accomplished by syllable
lengthening or the dynamic strengthening of the preceding syllable,
stressed syllables’ lengthening. The tonal, temporal and rhythmic
organization of the phrase make it possible to detect intonation
interference as a consequence of bilingualism.
The data of the analysis made, make it possible to conclude on the
prosodic characteristics of English and Slovak languages. Each of the
components of intonation has some meaning in English speech of the
Slovaks. As a result of phonetic interference, speech accent appears,
manifesting itself as a deviation from the English pronunciation standard
(RP).
English speech of the Slovaks also reflects ethnical and specific
characteristics of the primary language (mother tongue), which is mainly
due to the complex ratio of articulation bases of native and foreign
languages, and also contains a number of extra linguistic factors such as
language competence, language ability, psychological type of the speaker,
his/her social status as well as speech situation and other areas. Since
melodic intervals (that is the difference in pitch frequency variation) are
characterized by their increase in English, English speech is perceived by
Slovaks as more singing and melodic than their mother tongue. Trying to
imitate English language standard, Slovaks try to intonate clearly, and
sometimes hyperbolize their pronunciation for better perception of their
speech by native speakers 39.
Thus, the study of the prosodic characteristics of English and Slovak
languages allows us to assert that at the suprasegmental level, the analyzed
prosodic characteristics of the Slovak language are often transferred into
English. Consequently, it hinders the perception of English by the Slovaks
as well as influences the quality of their English speech.

38
Bilá M. Duration of Pauses in Slovak and L1 Speaker's Productions of English.
A Preliminary Investigation. 6th Conference on British, American and Canadian Studies.
Conference Proceedings. Opava, Czech Republic, 2000.
39
Kraľová Z. The correlation of extraversion and L2 pronunciation quality. In: Current issues
in teaching foreign languages. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2011. P. 162–191. ISBN 978-80-
210-5608-4.
28
 2. Phonetic interference in English Speech of the Slovaks
The concept of language interference is central in the theory of
language contacts and in bilingualism theory. Since the condition of
language interference appearance is a situation of bilingualism, the
bilinguals’ speech is the place of its formation 40.
For the first time in linguistics, the term “language interference” was
used by the representative of Prague Linguistic School G. Vogt, who
defined interference as a process of deviation from the standards in contact
languages 41. However, S. Semchynsky observes that the term primarily
was used by A. Maye in the course of general lexicology 42. Therefore, the
term "interference" was acquired by A. Maye, but was widely recognized
only after the publication of W. Weinreich's monograph "Language
contacts" 43.
The definition of language interference proposed by W. Weinreich is
still generally accepted, but at different times attempts have been made to
clarify it. The phenomena of language interference are, according to
W. Weinreich, those cases of deviation from the standard of any of the
languages that take place in bilinguals’ speech as a result of mastering
more than one language, that is, through language contact.
The type of language interference, or its lack thereof, marks the degree
of foreign language mastery, as well as the degree of correctness /
incorrectness of the meaning convey in a foreign language as well as the
degree of influence of the mother tongue 44. The unit of measurement of
different degrees of language interference is considered to be interpheme.
Up to now, far too little attention has been paid to intonation interphemes
in English spoken by Slovaks.
Among the features of linguistic interference Yu. Zhluktenko
distinguishes the use of "foreign" language material in the context of
mother tongue, the formation of units from own linguistic material as the
model of the language units in contact, stimulating or delaying the effects
of language complex units on the functioning of units or models of another
one, copying models of one system by means of another system 45. Thus,
while studying language interference, the correlation of structures is
analyzed as well as their mutual influence and interaction.
40
Valian V. Bilingualism and Cognition. Bilingualism. Language and Cognition. 2015.
Vol. 18(1). P. 3–24.
41
Vogt H. Language contact. Word. 1954. Vol. 10(2–3). P. 365–374.
42
Семчинський С. В. Семантична інтерференція мов. Київ: Вища школа, 1974. 256 с.
43
Weinreich U. Languages in Contact. The Hague : Mouton, 1968. 411 p.
44
Валігура О. Фонетична інтерференція в англійському мовленні українських
білінгвів : монографія. Тернопіль : Підручники і посібники, 2008. 288 с.
45
Жлуктенко Ю. А. Лингвистические аспекты двуязычия. Київ, 1974. 176 c.
29
 The term “phonetic interference” is used here to refer to violation of
the secondary language system and its norms as a result of interaction
in the speaker's consciousness the phonetic systems and norms of
pronunciation of two and more languages. This process is observed
through the interference of listening and speaking skills formed on the
basis of the interacting systems. Phonetic interference cases are possible
when elements of a foreign language are absent or different in native
language.
During phonetic interference, the speaker encounters a range of
problems in the use of these languages, the perception and analysis of
speech. Phonetic interference can influence thought formation about the
speaker. Also, the native speaker can identify belonging of the speaker to a
particular language community, assess the correct use of linguistic norms
and the degree of compliance with the norms.

CONCLUSIONS
The process of mastering English pronunciation by Slovaks involves
learning the skills of both sensory differentiation of non-native language
sounds in the perception of oral speech, and motor differentiation of sounds
during speech production. Mutual influence of English and Slovak language
systems can occur at different stages of speech production as well as at the
level of perception. Intercultural communication of the Slovaks is a form of
communication, in which the ways of realization of different situations by
the representatives of many cultures are not identical, that is, there are
differences in their implementation and interpretation. It is important to take
into account the specificities of the process of intercultural communi-
cation in order to prevent misunderstandings and conflicts when communi-
cating with representatives of different linguistic and cultural communities
in both English and Slovak languages.
English speech of the Slovaks as a result of interaction of language
contacts in Slovakia and the United Kingdom is considered as interaction
of universal, native to any native speaker, and national specific features
formed under the influence of the phonetic system of the mother tongue.

SUMMARY
The study deals with the comprehensive study of prosodic
characteristics of English Speech of the Slovaks and the identification
of phonetic interference features. On the basis of existing theoretical and
experimental works on the study of English speech of the Slovaks, we
have qualified it as an interfered English speech formed as a result
of the interaction of phonetic systems of the English and Slovak languages.
30
 The study of English Speech of the Slovaks had a phased nature.
The first stage is devoted to the study of the theoretical foundations of the
prosodic characteristics of English Speech of the Slovaks, the analysis of
some pronunciation peculiarities, the description of prosodic characteristics
of English and Slovak languages.
The experimental research outcomes have shown that the specificity of
English pronunciation of the Slovaks at the suprasegmental level is
generated by the unconscious transfer of stable phonetic patterns of their
native language into the structure of the second language. Thus, English
pronunciation of the Slovaks forms national and specific features of the
primary language, which are clearly manifested in the rhythmic organization
of an oral expression and reflect the influence of the intonation skills of the
speakers’ native language. The phonetic interference features in English
Speech of the Slovaks are found in rhythmic law transfer, as well as the
tradition to stress all words in the utterance.

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Information about the author:

Devitska A. I.,
Candidate of Philological Sciences,
Associate Professor at the Department of Theory
and Practice of Translation,
Uzhhorod National University
45, Universytetska str., Uzhhorod, 88000, Ukraine

33
DOI https://doi.org/10.36059/978-966-397-149-0/34-51

STRUCTURAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF MEANING

(ON THE MATERIAL OF ADJECTIVES IN MODERN
UKRAINIAN)
Fabian M. P.

INTRODUCTION
In recent years, the problem of meaning has been explored
in all its manifold aspects. Philosophers, philologists, psychologists,
anthropologists, students of literature and arts, even economists and
scientists working in different spheres of human activities have joined in
the debate. Meaning seems at once the most common feature of language
and the most obscure aspect to study. It is obvious because it is what we
use language for – to communicate with each other, share knowledge,
experience, give information, advice, warn about something, etc. as well as
to convey what we mean effectively. But the steps in understanding what
has been said to us in a language we speak are so rapid, so transparent, that
we are little conscious of both principles and knowledge which underlie
this communicative ability.
Two major branches of linguistics are specially concerned with words:
etymology, the study of word origins, and semantics, the study of word
meanings. Of the two, the former is an old-established discipline whereas
the latter is comparatively new. The need for an independent science of
meaning was not felt until the XIXth century when it emerged as an
important part of linguistics and received its modern name. Two main
factors played a decisive part in the emergence of semantics: the rise of
comparative philology, more generally, the scientific linguistics in its
modern sense, and the influence of the Romantic Movement in literature.
The Romantics had an intense interest in words, and they were fascinated
by the strange as well as mysterious potencies of different words.
According to the history of semantics, it covers three distinct periods: the
first which lasted approximately half a century, was described as the
“underground period” of semantics when German scholars welcomed
Reisig’s initiative to pay attention to meaning rather than form as the latter
prevailed in philological studies of that time. The second period in the
history of semantics began in the early 1880s and lasted for almost half a
century. This time it was due to Bréal who outlined the programme
of the new science and named it the way it is used at present.
The abovementioned philologists regarded semantics as a purely historical
34
study, and so most semanticists considered that their prime task was to
study changes of meaning, their causes, to classify them according to
various (psychological, logical, etc.) criteria, and, if possible, to formulate
both general laws and tendencies underlying them. Since the turn of the
century, certain fundamental changes took place in General linguistics:
F.de Saussure’s innovative approach to the study of language which
treated the latter as an organized totality comprised of various
interdependent elements which, in their turn, derive their significance from
the system as a whole. He compared language to a game of chess where no
unit can be added, removed or displaced without altering the entire system
of relations on the chessboard. This vision of language as a system of
interdependent elements lies at the root of what is called structural
linguistics nowadays. Trier’s work on terms of knowledge in German was
the first serious attempt to introduce F.de Saussure’s principles into
semantics. The new semantics differed much from the traditional
approach: it focused on the study of the inner structure of the vocabulary,
shifted from general principles to the study of particular languages.
Contemporary semantics is a self-contained and integral department of
philology. It makes use of achievements obtained from related as well as
non-related branches of sciences. Together with traditional applications of
the study of meaning, the present research introduces structuralist
conception of meaning which makes possible to use the structural
approach to the study of adjectives in modern Ukrainian.

1. Lexical semantics of adjectives in modern Ukrainian

Semantics, the theory of meaning, is the youngest branch of modern
linguistics. Three sets of problems confront the semanticist at the very outset
of his work: the terminology and the very name of his science; its relation to
some extra-linguistic pursuits of the same name; finally, the place to which it
is entitled in the general structure of modern linguistics 1. Structural semantics
is mainly concerned with word semantics, and it is not confined to isolated
language units, but focuses on lexical fields and paradigmatic semantic
relations between them. Lexical semantics, especially the ways of its study,
belongs to less investigated issues of modern linguistics, which are open to
thought and discussion, and need their further in – depth study. Attempts have
been made to describe and analyze different lexical structures into which the
words are organized. These inquiries are conducted at the levels of single
words, conceptual spheres and vocabulary as a whole. Our approach to the

1
Ullmann S. The Principles of Semantics. Glasgow: Jackson & Co, Oxford: Basil Blackwell,
1957. P. 4.
35
study of lexical semantics is an attempt to combine the first two levels, on the
basis of which the entire vocabulary of a language can be studied. There are
many different approaches to the way in which meaning in language is
studied, but what we shall be concerned with is the semantic classification of
lexis, and it is the author’s attempt to shed light on lexical semantics’ study,
combining pure linguistic with mathematical methods. Put together, they
make up the formalized basis for the semantic classification of lexis, with the
help of which nearly all groups of lexis can be studied. Significantly, these
groups can be revealed and thoroughly analyzed not only within one language
system, but also in comparison with other both related and non – related ones.
The central idea of our structural approach to the study of meaning is that
language has to be treated as a system of interrelated and hierarchically
organized elements which, in their turn, also form a definite system.
As Geeraerts D. puts it, if you focus the study of linguistic meaning on
individual items, then you will automatically be interested in the different
meanings items may have, and in the relations that exist among those
meanings 2. The Ukrainian language as a system of signs, has its own
properties and principles which determine the functioning of these signs.
The latter are the part of the language system, and we describe them within it,
and also in their relationships to other signs in the system under study.
Moreover, the vocabulary of the language is a network of expressions that are
mutually related by all kinds of semantic links. If we consider language as a
system of signs, or, following F.de Saussure, as a structure of interdependent
elements, then we can distinguish at least two types of structure in the lexicon,
namely external (to the word) and internal (to the meaning). The term
“lexicon” is used by Lipka L. in two senses that are not always sharply
distinguished: a) for a metalinguistic level, or a subcomponent in a linguistic
model (basically compatible with a variety of theories of language); and b) in
the sense of vocabulary as seen from a systematic, synchronic point of view3.
Adjectives make up the class of inflected words. They show the extent
or degree to which the quality they express applies to the word they
modify, especially in relation to other things or conditions of the same
kind. Our research deals with structural approach to the study of lexical
semantics of adjectives denoting the property of being respected. All the
lexical units in question make up a definite system which consists of
elements (adjectives themselves) that are hierarchically placed within this
system. Moreover, they are closely interrelated and interconnected, and the
same concerns their meanings. Semantics of adjectives is studied with the
2
Geeraerts D. Theories of Lexical Semantics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.P.50.
3
Lipka L. English Lexicology: Lexical Structure, Word Semantics and Word-formation.
Tübingen: Narr, 2002. P. 13.
36
help of componential analysis which remains one of the most efficient
means of the lexical meaning study. Much attention is paid to the way
lexical meanings of the adjectives denoting the properties of being
respected in Ukrainian are structured with the help of componential
analysis as well as mathematical and statistical methods.
Great achievements of both mathematical and structural linguistics
made it possible to create a formalized basis for the semantic classification
of lexis, according to which language is treated as a system of a certain
structure where each lexical unit occupies its definite place, and stands in
certain relationships to other lexical units. Having introduced formal,
purely linguistic criterion- belonging of the words to a definite part of
speech – the adjective, an in-depth study of their semantics is carried out
on the basis of the continuous analysis of the Ukrainian explanatory
dictionary 4. Methodology of collecting, classifying and analyzing our
language material lies in the following successive steps:
▪ from the biggest Ukrainian explanatory dictionary, the adjectives, the
lexical meanings of which contain the properties of being respected,
esteemed, honoured, etc. are selected;
▪ on the basis of the obtained lists of words, the card indices are piled;
▪ both common and distinctive qualitative and quantitative analyses of
the words under study as well as their semantics are made.
The adjectives under study denote classes of qualities bound together
by some common element (the property of being respected). We agree
with Ullmann S. that the words are never completely homogeneous: even
the simplest and the most monolithic have a number of different facets
depending on the context and situation in which they are used, and also on
the personality of the speaker using them 5.
37 adjectives are widely used in Ukrainian to describe qualities
of people deserving respect due to their certain merits and everyday life
activities. Here belong the lexical units поважний, сприятливий,
обачний, ввічливий (увічливий), маститий, дорогоцінний, вельми-
шановний, величавий, статечний, вашецький (вашеський), поважаний,
святий, останній, посмертний, ґречний, побожний, земний, уклінний,
почесний, чесний, шанобливий, величний, високошановний, поштивий
(почтивий), превелебний, славетний, чемний, преславний, величальний,
священний, шановний, гідний, високоповажаний, високоповажний,
благоговійний, святобливий, добрий.

4
Словник української мови: В 11-ти т. Київ: Наукова думка,1970-1980.
5
Ullmann S. Semantics. An Introduction to the Science of Meaning. Oxford: The Alden Press
Basil Blackwell,1962. P. 124.
37
 Each of these adjectives possesses the following semantic characteristics:
поважний – 1. Який заслуговує, вартий поваги; який користується
повагою. // Відомий своєю роботою, заслугами, посадою. // Немоло-
дий. // Уживається при звертанні. 2. Який відзначається вдумливістю,
серйозністю. // Сповнений поваги, серйозності; який виражає повагу,
серйозність, вдумливість. 3. Сповнений гідності; величний. // Урочистий.
4. Авторитетний, значний. 5. Серйозний за своїм змістом, характером,
темою. 6. Який має неабияке значення. Важливий, значний. // Який
заслуговує особливої уваги внаслідок своєї важливості, значимості. //
Який може бути прийнятий до уваги; достатній для виправдання чого-
небудь. 7. Повільний, не швидкий. // Протяжний, задумливий (про
пісню, мелодію). 8. Діал. Великий (розміром, кількістю). У поважному
стані – вагітна. The word сприятливий means який позитивно впливає на
що-небудь, створює відповідні умови для здійснення, виконання і т. ін.
чогось. // Потрібний, необхідний для чого-небудь; належний. // Зручний
для чого-небудь. // У якому виражається прихильність, шанобливе
ставлення, повага до кого-небудь. The adjective обачний expresses 1. Який
діє розумно, спокійно, непередбачливо. // Який виявляє обережність
у своїх діях, не наражається на неприємність, небезпеку; обережний.
2. Який зважає на інтереси, запити інших, виявляє повагу до них;
чемний, уважний.
The next lexical units meriting our attention are ввічливий (увічливий)
and маститий. The first means який дотримується правил
пристойності, виявляє уважність, люб’язність; чемний. // В якому
проявляється уважність, люб’язність, and the latter – який заслужив
загальну повагу, визнання своєю багаторічною плідною діяльністю
(про діячів науки, мистецтва тощо).
Among the synonyms belonging to the group of adjectives under study
one can mention the following ones: вельмишановний – Гідний великої
поваги (узвичаєна форма ввічливості при звертанні до когось або при
згадуванні когось); величавий – 1. Який своїми розмірами, виглядом
або діями, вчинками викликає почуття поваги, певної урочистості. //
сповнений урочистості. 2. Який тримається з великою гідністю,
гордовитістю; вашецький (вашеський) – Гідний поваги; шановний. //
ірон. Гордовитий, пихатий; поважаний – 1. Дієпр. акт.теп. ч. до
поважати 1. 2. Якого поважають, який користується повагою в кого-
небудь. // Уживається як формула ввічливості при звертанні;
благоговійний – Сповнений найщирішої поваги, шани; безмежно
відданий; побожний; гідний – 1. Який заслуговує або вартий чого-
небудь. 2. Який відповідає вимогам часу, обставинам; належний. //
Цілком відповідний у даному випадку; потрібний. 3. Такий, що має
38
високі позитивні якості; достойний. 4. діал. Шановний; величальний –
Який вшановує, звеличує кого-небудь; шановний – Якого поважають,
шанують. // Уживається як складова частина ввічливого звертання. //
Уживається для вираження фамільярної оцінки кого-, чого- небудь.
Той, кого поважають, шанують (перев. у звертанні); чемний –
Шанобливо ввічливий до людей. // В якому виявляється ввічливість,
уважність, люб’язність; славетний -1. Який має широку славу,
популярність; знаменитий. // Добре відомий багатьом, усім. //
Прославлений героїчними ділами, подвигами і т. ін. // Пов’язаний
з героїчними ділами, подвигами. // Який прославляє кого-небудь.
2. Гідний поваги, пошани; преславний – 1. Який надзвичайно уславив
себе чим-небудь, достойний великої слави. // Відомий дуже широким
колам людей; славнозвісний. // Який приносить, приніс комусь велику
славу. 2. Який викликає велику симпатію; дуже гарний, приємний.
Який викликає велику симпатію; дуже гарний, приємний. // Який
відзначається, вирізняється чимсь особливим. 3. Вельмишановний (при
шанобливому звертанні до кого-небудь). // у знач. Преславний,
преславні. Уживається у звертанні до високоповажних осіб; поштивий
(почтивий) – 1. Який виявляє повагу до кого-небудь; чемний,
ввічливий. 2. Гідний пошани, поваги; високошановний – Гідний великої
пошани, поваги (вживається при офіційно-ввічливому звертанні до
кого-небудь або в розмові про когось); шанобливий – Сповнений
глибокої поваги, пошани до кого-, чого-небудь. // Який виявляє
глибоку повагу, пошану до кого-небудь. // Сповнений виразу глибокої
поваги, пошани до кого-, чого-небудь; уклінний – Який виражає
пошану; шанобливий. // Який виражає покору, смиренність; ґречний –
Шанобливо ввічливий у поводженні з людьми; чемний. // Який
виражає шанобливість, увічливість.
While making lexico-semantic analysis of our language material, we have
come across the words which are absolute synonyms and fully coincide in
their meanings: високоповажаний – Те саме, що високошановний and
високоповажний – Те саме, що високошановний. It means that due to this
semantic specificity they acquire the meaning of the adjective високо-
шановний – Гідний великої пошани, поваги (вживається при офіційно-
ввічливому звертанні до кого-небудь або в розмові про когось). To be
respected, one should have high standards and good personal qualities such as
fairness, honesty, responsibility for other people as well as for their deeds, etc.
Such a variety of semantic connotations is revealed by the inner structures of
the adjectives чесний, почесний and статечний. The first in this line is the
lexical unit чесний – 1. Який відзначається високими моральними
якостями. // не здатний украсти що-небудь, не схильний до крадіжки. //
39
Який виражає правдивість, прямоту характеру, відвертість (про обличчя,
погляд і т. ін.). // Властивий людині, яка має високі моральні якості. //
Який старанно, ретельно виконує свої обов’язки; сумлінний. // Той (та),
що має високі моральні якості, правдивий, відвертий. 2. Сумісний
з поняттям честі, чесності, з правилами честі. // Який випливає
з сумлінного ставлення до своїх обов’язків. // Зароблений без обману,
своєю сумлінною працею. 3. Який не заслуговує ніякої догани;
порядний, нічим не заплямований. // Яка зберігає свою жіночу честь,
дівочу невинність, цнотливість. 4. Шановний, поважний, сповнений
честі (у 2 знач.). // Який заслуговує на високу повагу, пошану.
5. Шановний за святістю і релігійністю. // При звертанні до духовної
особи. The second in the line is the word почесний – 1. Гідний поваги,
пошани. // Який користується повагою, пошаною. 2. Призначений для
вияву поваги, пошани. // Такий, що надається на знак поваги, пошани. //
Такий, що обирається на знак поваги, пошани. 3. Який робить честь
кому-небудь. // Честь або гідність якого не принижено. The third to focus
on is the adjective статечний – 1. Розсудливо-серйозний, розважливий у
вчинках; з позитивними якостями (про людину); поважний. // Властивий
розсудливо-серйозній, поважній людині, характерний для такої людини;
сповнений гідності, поважності. 2. Який справляє враження, привертає
увагу своєю зовнішністю; показний. 3. Який має достаток; заможний.
4. Немолодий, середнього віку; літній. 5. Який справляє позитивне
враження, відзначається порядністю; пристойний, добропорядний.
6. Який заслуговує поваги своїм значенням, достоїнством і т.п.
There are adjectives in our language material semantics of which is closely
connected with the characteristics of people’s qualities directed towards
religious worship, reverence, God, devotion, religious rituals, ceremony,
church, religion, cross, belief, piety and the like. To such lexical units belong:
святобливий – 1. Який вірить у бога й старанно виконує всі релігійні
обряди; побожний. // Який виражає побожність. 2. Сповнений найщи-
рішої поваги, шани; священний – 1. Пов’язаний з релігією, церквою. //
Який має божественну силу. // Який є предметом релігійного покло-
ніння. 2. Який ведуть, здійснюють в інтересах релігії. 3. Який глибоко
шанують; дорогий, заповітний. // Те, що глибоко шанують. // Якого
мають дотримуватися всі, обов’язковий для всіх. 4. На який не можна
посягати. 5. Високий, благородний. // Особливо почесний. // Метою
якого є воля, визволення, мир і т. ін. (про боротьбу, війну тощо); святий
– 1. Пов’язаний з релігією, богом, наділений божественною силою. //
Перейнятий божественною силою. // Уживається як постійний епітет до
слів, пов’язаних із місцями або предметами релігійного поклоніння. //
Освячений. // Уживається при вираженні переляку, подиву, обурення.
40
2. Який, за християнською релігією, провів життя в служінні богові й
якого після смерті церква визнала небесним заступником віруючих. //
Праведний, непорочний, угодний богові. // Люди, які все життя
присвятили служінню богові й після смерті визнані церквою небес-
ними заступниками віруючих. // Те саме, що ікони. 3. Уживається як
постійний епітет до свят, визначених релігією. 4. Морально чистий,
благородний, бездоганний у житті, поведінці тощо. // Не винний у чому-
небудь, перед кимсь; безгрішний. // Людина, яка не винна ні в чому,
ні перед ким. // Чистий, благородний. // Який виражає чистоту,
благородство (про очі, обличчя і т. ін.). // Освячений високою метою. //
Особливо почесний. 5. Який глибоко шанують; дорогий, заповітний. //
Те, що глибоко шанують. // Непорушний, непохитний.//Якого мають
дотримуватися всі, обов’язковий для всіх. // Звичний, природний,
особливо бажаний.
Some adjectives under study have a big communicative potential, and
they are frequently used in both verbal and non-verbal communication.
The latter is closely connected with a man of worship, the figure of bishop,
various forms of addressing people, expressions of cult, religion, church-
service, homage, a particular system of religious worship, commemo-
ration, etc. Here belong the adjectives превелебний – 1. Титул єпископа.
2. Гідний великої поваги, пошани (часто при ввічливо-шанобливому
звертанні до когось). // Пов’язаний з вираженням великої поваги,
пошани до кого-небудь; побожний – 1. Який ревно виконує всі
релігійні обряди; віруючий. // Властивий релігійній, віруючій людині.
2. Пов’язаний з релігією; церковний. 3. Сповнений найщирішої шани,
безмежно відданий; благоговійний, шанобливий; посмертний –
1. Який буває, відбувається після чиєїсь смерті (перев. для вшану-
вання його пам’яті). // Який був опублікований або став відомим
після смерті автора (про літературний твір, лист і т. ін.). // Який
приходить до кого-небудь або надається комусь після смерті (про
славу, визнання, звання і т. ін.). 2. Те саме, що загробний.
As it is seen from the meanings of the words in question, these
adjectives are characterized by their ability to be used in different contexts
as well as in various situations. In this respect of great value are those
meanings which describe not only religious notions but also the matters of
everyday importance (a literary piece of writing or letter being recognized
after its author’s death, glory and title given to somebody after his/her
death as a recognition of his/her merits, achievements, etc., something
done or performed in memory of and the like).
Certain situational meanings can be found in the semantics of the
adjectives used in collocations земний уклін – уклін до землі як вияв
41
особливої шани кому-, чому-небудь (a low bow, obeisance as an
expression of special respect, regard somebody or something is treated with)
and віддавати (віддати) останню шану (послугу і т. ін.); посилати
останній привіт кому; проводжати в останню путь – виражати
пошану до померлого, прощаючись з ним (doing homage to somebody,
showing the last respects to the dead, parting, farewell words to the
deceased). The adjective дорогоцінний is used in verbal communication as a
form of address to express one’s regards, friendliness, goodwill. Being
admired, respected and excited also lead to one’s appreciation of somebody
or something which describe people’s qualities expected in the society. For
example, the lexical unit величний has three meanings, each of which
characterizes the property of being admired, esteemed, worthy of respect,
filled with surprise, the feeling of solemnity, something important,
extraordinary, etc.: 1. Який своєю величиною, грандіозністю, силою
прояву або наявністю чогось видатного, надзвичайного викликає
подив, захоплення. // Який викликає почуття урочистості, піднесеності.
2. Сповнений гідності, поважності. 3. Який заслуговує пошани, поваги.
Such qualities of people as being held in respect, treated with honour,
deserving recognition are closely related to the positive human traits of
character, ability to reveal friendly, tactful, sincere, sympathetic, kind
attitudes to others, establish kind, cordial relationships, properties of being
full of joy, openness, kindness, sincerity (about voice, smile face, etc.), well-
bred, hard-working, polite as well as good qualities of something which
answer the required standards, volume or quantity concerning animals,
plants, objects, well and vividly represented, sharp (concerning the appetite,
sight, hearing, etc.). All the abovementioned meanings characterize
the adjective of broad semantics добрий. It possesses 9 rather extended
meanings which can be interpreted the following way: 1. Який добро-
зичливо, приязно, чуйно ставиться до людей; доброзичливий;
протилежне лихий, поганий. // Привітний, лагідний у взаєминах. // Той,
хто доброзичливо, приязно, чуйно ставиться до людей. // Який виражає
доброту, щирість; сповнений ласки, приязні (про голос, усмішку,
обличчя і т. ін.). 2. Для якого характерна взаємна прихильність,
симпатія; близький. 3. Який приносить добро, задоволення, радість. //
Корисний, потрібний, в основі якого лежить бажання добра кому-
небудь. // В якому виражається прихильність, співчуття, доброзичливе,
шанобливе ставлення, повага до людей. // Який подобається,
схвалюється; вартий наслідування. // Який свідчить про безтурботний,
веселий стан людини. 4. Який має належні знання і навики для
виконання чого-небудь; досвідчений. // Який користується повагою,
шаною. // Розумно вихований, увічливий, працьовитий. 5. Який має
42
позитивні якості або властивості, що відповідають поставленим
вимогам, задовольняють їх (про предмети, тварини, рослини). //
Вигідний, зручний для роботи, влаштування яких-небудь справ,
заробітку. 6. Значний щодо розміру, обсягу, кількості. // Кращий від
звичайного, багатий, великий, високий. // Помітно виражений, гострий
(про апетит, зір, слух). // Дуже розвинений. // Значний щодо ступеня
вияву, сили. 7. Гідний шани, похвали; незаплямований. 8. Те саме, що
смачний. 9. Уживається для підкреслення важливості, значності
кількісного визначення міри часу, простору.
Lexical semantic analysis of adjectives denoting the property of being
respected in modern Ukrainian revealed their both common and
distinctive features as well as peculiarities of their system and structural
organization.

2. Seme structure of adjectives in modern Ukrainian

The study of how meaning is encoded in a language is the subject
matter of semantics. It is generally assumed that its main concern is the
meanings of words as lexical items. But we have to note that it is not only
concerned with words as such. What is meaning? Philosophers have
debated the question, with particular reference to language, for over 2000
years. No one has yet produced a satisfactory answer to it. One reason for
this may be that the question, in the form in which it is posed, is
unanswerable. It makes two presuppositions which are, to say the least,
problematical: (a) that what we refer to, in English, with the word
“meaning” has some kind of existence or reality: (b) that everything
referred to as meaning is similar, if not identical, in nature. We may call
these, respectively: (a) the presupposition of existence and (b) the
presupposition of homogeneity. 6 According to the most widely accepted
theory of semantics, by meanings we mean ideas or concepts, which can
be transferred from the mind of the speaker to the mind of a hearer by
embodying them in the forms of one language or another. In linguistics
meaning is what a language expresses about the world we live in or any
possible or imaginary world 7.
There are many different approaches to the way in which meaning in
language is studied. Philosophers have investigated the relations between
linguistic expressions, such as the words of a language and persons, things
and events in the world to which these words refer. Linguists have
6
Lyons J. Language and Linguistics. An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1981. P. 136.
7
Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching &Applied Linguistics. Longman Group UK
Limited, 1992. P. 222.
43
studied the way in which meaning in a language is structured and have
distinguished between different types of meanings. The complexity of
word meaning is manifold. Various attempts have been made to work out
efficient procedures for the analysis and interpretation of meaning. Our
lexico-semantic analysis of adjectives in modern Ukrainian presupposes
the all-round study of their meanings. The latter, like the lexical units
themselves, are treated as a system which is composed of hierarchically
placed semes. To describe and characterize them, componential analysis is
used. It is one of the contemporary methods of semantic research which is
applied to the study of meaning and analyses a word into a set of meaning
components or semantic features. Componential analysis provides an
inventory of the semantic features encoded in lexical forms. The essential
purpose of it is to identify certain general conceptual categories or seman-
tic principles which find expression in the particular components 8.
The meanings of words may be described as a combination of semantic
features. The latter are classified into semantic markers by which we mean
the semantic features present in the lexical meanings of other words and
distinguishers – semantic features which cannot be found in the lexical
meanings of other words. Furthermore, semantic markers refer to features
which the word has in common with other words, whereas distinguishers
refer to what differentiates or distinguishes a word from other ones.
In European semantic theory the meanings are reduced to minimal compo-
nents or semes, as they are called. Componential analysis proceeds from
the assumption that word meaning is not an unanalyzable whole but can be
decomposed into elementary semantic components, or semes. It is also
assumed that these basic semantic elements can be classified into several
subtypes thus ultimately constitute a highly structured system 9. Different
scholars suggest different terms to name this elementary constituent
of meaning: semantic component, semantic features, figures of content,
differential semantic elements, semantic primitive, semantic multiplier,
semantic function, semantic parameter, etc. There are also such types
of semes as: classeme, archeseme, differential semes, integrative semes.
A distinction is also made between denotative and connotative ones.
The former belong to the denotative component of meaning whereas the
latter are the additional semantic components representing the connotative
component of meaning. There exists the classification of semes into
contextual, implicit and explicit. The structural approach to the study of
semantics presupposes the use of componential analysis which bears
8
Widdowson H.G. Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. P. 57.
9
Sukhorolska S.M., Fedorenko O.I. Methods of Linguistic Analysis. Lviv: Publishing Centre
of Ivan Franko Lviv National University, 2006. P. 116.
44
resemblance to the mathematical process of factorizing a number, and a
useful informal method of arriving at components of meaning is suggested
by the analogy of arithmetical proportions 10.
Componential analysis in our research is carried out on the basis of
dictionary definitions (definitional analysis). In this respect the explanatory
dictionary of the Ukrainian language plays a significant role in the studies of
such types. It makes up an empirical basis of modern semantics as it presents
the whole lexical system of the language in question. Of primary importance
here are definitions of words which reveal various relations between words,
when one is explained by means of the other together with their profound
characteristics. Lexical meaning of the word is treated as an independent
entity possessing its individual linguistic quality. The structure of each
dictionary entry is conditioned by both volume and quantitative specificity
of an individual lexical meaning. As a result, in dictionary definitions
the lexical meanings are divided into rubrics and subrubrics.
Explanatory dictionary of the Ukrainian language is at the same time
the object of linguistic study and the means of carrying out both theoretical
and applied research works. It is treated as the complete fullest bank
of information concerning the language under study which had been
compiled taking into account the whole verbal and written products. Our
research of adjectives denoting the property of being respected in modern
Ukrainian is carried out on the basis of dictionary definitions by means
of applying the structural approach to the study of the adjectives’ lexical
semantics. The procedure of dividing the lexical meanings of adjectives
into semes presupposes their strict and thorough analysis. Even punctua-
tion marks in dictionary definitions matter: comma means that the semes
stand close in meaning; semi-colon denotes separation of the meaning
components. Moreover, one and the same seme may form the meanings of
more than one word. This quantitative characteristics of the semes forms
one of the regularities of their system and structural organization.
This gives grounds to consider to what extent the meanings of adjectives
are related to each other.
Seme data set contains 175 definitions, among which one can find
indications of positive human qualities, namely being respected, loyal,
kind, sincere, well-bred, polite, recognized by other people due to his/her
heroic deeds, high moral standards, everyday activities, social life, position
in the society, charity, achievements in various branches of science, the
feeling of responsibility, friendly attitude to all members of the society, etc.

10
Fabian M. Lexical Semantics: New Approach to its Study // Journal of Interdisciplinary
Philology 2013. № 1-2. P. 5–12.
45
The whole seme data set is divided into 5 subsets: 1) positive properties
of human character; 2) qualities of person’s attitude towards other people;
3) the properties of being honoured, esteemed, recognized; 4) who enjoys
popularity, glory, recognition due to his/her good name, authority,
good reputation, renown, which (who) positively influences something,
creates proper conditions for fulfilling the tasks, necessary, good
for something; who acts wisely, quietly, carefully, with great caution, takes
into account the interests of others; 5) contextual semes.
Semantic markers який виявляє глибоку повагу, пошану до кого-, чого-
небудь, сповнений виразу глибокої поваги, який виражає пошану,
гідний великої поваги, який має позитивні якості або властивості, що
відповідають поставленим вимогам characterize the semantic meanings
of nearly all the adjectives under study. The first subset contains the semes
сповнений найщирішої поваги, шани; безмежно відданий; побожний
which can be found in the semantics of the adjective благоговійний,
шанобливий, добрий, святобливий; шанобливо ввічливий до людей;
в якому виявляється ввічливість, уважність, люб’язність (чемний);
який виявляє глибоку повагу, пошану (шанобливий); який виражає
покору, смиренність (уклінний); який відзначається високими мораль-
ними якостями, не здатний украсти, не схильний до крадіжки,
який виражає правдивість, прямоту характеру, відвертість, який
старанно, ретельно виконує свої обов’язки, сумлінний, який випливає
з сумлінного ставлення до своїх обов’язків, зароблений без обману, своєю
сумлінною працею, який не заслуговує ніякої догани, порядний, нічим
не заплямований, шановний, поважний, сповнений честі (чесний), якого
поважають, який користується повагою в кого-небудь (поважаний),
який має позитивні якості або властивості, що відповідають постав-
леним вимогам, задовольняють їх, який приносить добро, задоволення,
радість, який подобається, схвалюється, вартий наслідування, розумно
вихований, увічливий, працьовитий, гідний шани (добрий), сповнений
найщирішої шани, безмежно відданий, благоговійний, шанобливий
(побожний), розсудливо-серйозний, розважливий у вчинках, з позитив-
ними якостями, поважний, сповнений гідності, поважності, який
справляє позитивне враження, відзначається порядністю, пристой-
ний, добропорядний (статечний), який має широку славу, популярність,
знаменитий, добре відомий багатьом (славетний), такий, що має
високі позитивні якості, достойний (гідний).
The second subset covers the semes which analyze the multiple ways
of expressing qualities of person’s attitude towards other people: який
доброзичливо, приязно, чуйно ставиться до людей, доброзичливий,
привітний, лагідний у взаєминах, той, хто приязно, чуйно ставиться
46
до людей, який виражає доброту, щирість, сповнений ласки, приязні,
для якого характерна взаємна прихильність, симпатія, близький,
корисний, потрібний, в основі якого лежить бажання добра кому-,
чому-небудь (добрий); який діє розумно, спокійно, передбачливо, який
зважає на інтереси, запити інших, виявляє повагу до них, чемний,
уважний, який виявляє обережність у своїх діях, не наражається на
неприємність, небезпеку, обережний (обачний), який прославляє
кого-небудь (славетний), який виявляє повагу до кого-небудь, чемний,
ввічливий (поштивий, почтивий), шанобливо ввічливий у поводженні
з людьми, який виражає шанобливість, увічливість (ґречний). As it is
seen from the research, several semes enter more than one or two subsets,
and this shows close relationships between them in the system.
The third subset contains the semes revealing the properties of
somebody or something who (that) deserve respect, regard, trust, authority,
attention, heed, consideration, is influential, answer the demands of time,
circumstances, arise surprise, admiration, wonder, the feeling of solemnity,
excitement, do not tolerate objection, etc. який заслуговує пошани, поваги,
сповнений гідності, поважності, який своєю величиною, грандіоз-
ністю, силою прояву або наявністю чогось видатного, надзвичайного
викликає подив, захоплення (величний), який користується автори-
тетом, впливовий, який заслуговує на повне довір’я, який не терпить, не
допускає заперечень (авторитетний). пов’язаний з вираженням великої
поваги, пошани до кого-небудь, гідний великої поваги (превелебний).
This adjective is frequently used as a polite and respectful form of
addressing somebody and as a title of bishop. To the subset under study also
belong the following semes: який заслуговує поваги своїм значенням,
достоїнством (статечний), гідний поваги, пошани, який обирається,
надається на знак поваги, пошани (почесний), якого поважають,
шанують, той, кого поважають, шанують (шановний), гідний великої
пошани, поваги (поштивий, почтивий, високошановний, славетний).
The words високошановний, високоповажаний, високоповажний
are used as an official polite form of address or when speaking about
somebody. Its synonym вельмишановний is a polite form of addressing
or recollecting somebody. The meanings of lexical units вашецький,
вашеський contain stylistically marked semes, on the one hand, гідний
поваги, шановний and ірон. гордовитий, пихатий (ironically – haughty,
disdainful), on the other. The semes який своїми діями, вчинками і т.ін.
викликає почуття поваги, певної урочистості, який тримається
з великою гідністю, гордовитістю characterize lexical meanings of the
word величавий. Those who due to their long-lived fruitful activity
deserve general acknowledgment and recognition are called маститий
47
(venerable). Among distinguishers in our language material one can
mention який відповідає вимогам часу, цілком відповідний у даному
випадку, потрібний (гідний), немолодий, повільний, не швидкий,
протяжний, задумливий (про пісню, мелодію), великий (розміром,
кількістю), який може бути прийнятий до уваги, достатній для
виправдання чого-небудь, який заслуговує особливої уваги внаслідок
своєї важливості, значимості (поважний), який дотримується
правил пристойності (ввічливий, увічливий), зручний для чого-небудь
(сприятливий), побожний (благоговійний), вигідний, зручний для
роботи, влаштування яких-небудь справ, заробітку, значний щодо
розміру обсягу, кількості і т. ін., кращий від звичайного, багатий,
великий, високий, який повністю забезпечує потребу в чому-небудь,
дуже розвинений, значний щодо ступеня вияву, сили, уживається
для підкреслення важливості, значності кількісного визначення міри
часу, простору (добрий), який має достаток, заможний (статечний),
який вірить у бога й старанно виконує всі релігійні обряди
(святобливий), шановний за святістю і релігійністю (чесний).
The fourth subset covers those semes which describe deeds, actions,
activities, happenings and the like leading to something special, of good
quality, positive necessary changes, respect, recognition, devotion,
connected with God, religion, church, religious rituals, love, faithfulness,
stability, freedom, peace, glory, nobility, popularity, big money, values,
something very important, the sense of dignity, place in the society, power,
business dealings and real life situations. Here belong the semes який
позитивно впливає на що-небудь, створює відповідні умови для
здійснення, виконання чогось (сприятливий), який приносить, приніс
комусь велику славу, відомий дуже широким колам людей, який
відзначається, вирізняється чимсь особливим (преславний), який
ведуть, здійснюють в інтересах релігії, високий, благородний, метою
якого є воля, визволення, мир, властивий релігійній, віруючій людині
(побожний), який вшановує, звеличує кого-небудь (величальний), який
коштує великі гроші, дуже цінний, дорогий, дуже важливий (дорого-
цінний), життєвий, реальний (земний), гордий, з виразно виявленим
почуттям власної гідності, який має добру якість, пов’язаний із
значним службовим становищем, владою (важний), який присвятив
себе чому-небудь, який, будучи пройнятий симпатією, любов’ю до
когось, чогось, відзначається постійністю, вірністю (відданий). Some
of the semes mentioned in the subsets are common for the lexical meanings
of a rather great majority of words under study. Even their division into
subsets is conventional because the semes, like lexical units, in our research
are represented as open systems which can be enlarged if further studied.
48
 The fifth subset is made up by contextual semes which characterize the
lexical meanings of the adjectives посмертний (post mortem): загробний,
святий (saint): як постійний епітет до слів, пов’язаних із місцями або
предметами релігійного поклоніння, освячений, уживається при вира-
женні переляку, подиву, обурення, праведний, непорочний, угодний
богові, стосовно до великодня, почесний (honourable): честь або
гідність якого не принижено, побожний (pious): який ревно виконує
всі релігійні обряди, віруючий, and священний (sacred): який є предме-
том релігійного поклоніння, який ведуть, здійснюють в інтересах
релігії, на який не можна посягати, високий, благородний, особливо
почесний. All the abovementioned semes can be used in the contexts
which specify the semantics of the adjectives in question. Seme in our
research identifies a minimal feature of meaning, i.e. a minimal feature of
the semantic structure of an adjective. Componential analysis in the
present research is formalized as far as the symbolic representation
of meaning components is concerned. Being applied to the study of
adjectives as a definite system of the vocabulary, the componential
analysis helped disclose the system and structural organization of the
words in question as well as reveal their lexical and seme stock together
with all their common and distinctive features.

CONCLUSIONS
Lexical semantics, especially the methods and procedures of its
analysis, belongs to less investigated problems of modern linguistics. It is
that system of language which is never stable, and, due to both lingual and
extra – lingual factors, undergoes changes of different types. It is most
sensitive to scientific and technological progress, our everyday life and
activities, global world changes, etc. Despite great achievements in various
branches of linguistics, still there are certain areas which are by no means
complete. In the first place it concerns the structural approach to the study
of lexical meaning. In the paper this problem is considered on the example
of adjectives denoting the property of being respected in modern
Ukrainian. The suggested approach in the present research makes up the
formalized basis for the semantic classification of a certain fragment
of lexis, according to which the Ukrainian language is treated as a system
of definite structure, where each lexical unit occupies its definite place,
and establishes various types of relationships with other ones within this
system. Not only adjectives themselves are looked upon this way, but also
both their meanings and semantic components. Our language material has
been collected, analyzed and classified on the basis of a continuous study
of the most authoritative Ukrainian explanatory dictionary. To choose
49
the material of the research, we have introduced formal, purely language
criterion – belonging of the lexical units to a particular part of speech –
the adjective. As a result, the property of being respected embraces
37 adjectives possessing 175 meanings. Taken together, they form an
open-ended system of elements which are interrelated and interdependent.
Nearly all the words under study are polysemantic, and their semantics is
broad: from revealing the qualitative characteristics of people, their deeds,
ways of life, behaviour and distinguishing features of character to
describing the properties of being honoured, respected, recognized and
acknowledged because of their spiritual and moral qualities. The meanings
of the adjectives in question have been studied with the help of compo-
nential analysis which is considered to be of great value in contemporary
linguistics. They are composed of components which, in their turn, also
make up a definite system, and these components (semes) are both
interrelated and interconnected. As seen from the study, they form subsets,
they enter the meanings of more than one, two, etc. lexical units, undergo
classifications, specify the shades of words’ meanings and add additional
information concerning the words’ usages. By penetrating deep into the
adjectives’ semantics and peculiarities of their inner system and structural
organization in Ukrainian, it is possible to contribute to the further study
of meaning, and open new possibilities of discussing other issues
of semantics which remain unsolved.

SUMMARY
The present research deals with the structural approach to the study of
meaning on the material of adjectives denoting the property of being
respected in modern Ukrainian. The language material is collected,
analyzed and classified with the help of a continuous analysis of the
Ukrainian explanatory dictionary. Both the words and their meanings are
divided into groups (subsets) which contain the whole semantic
characteristics of the adjectives themselves and their corresponding
meaning components (semes). Each of these groups is treated as a definite
system consisting of hierarchically placed elements, which occupy their
definite places within the system. Polysemantic adjectives under study
in many cases are synonyms which are closely interrelated and
interconnected. Their semantics is broad: from revealing the qualitative
characteristics of people, their deeds, ways of life, behaviour and
distinguishing features of character to describing the properties of being
honoured, respected, recognized and acknowledged because of their
spiritual and moral qualities. Componential analysis in this paper is carried
out on the basis of dictionary definitions to decompose the lexical
50
meanings into semes. The procedure of dividing the lexical meanings of
adjectives into semes makes it possible to classify them into certain types.
Some of the semes under study characterize the meanings of more than
one word. This quantitative characteristics of the semes forms one of the
regularities of their system and structural organization.

REFERENCES
1. Fabian M. Lexical Semantics: New Approach to its Study // Journal
of Interdisciplinary Philology 2013. № 1-2. P. 5–12.
2. Geeraerts D. Theories of Lexical Semantics. Oxford: Oxford
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3. Lipka L. English Lexicology: Lexical Structure, Word Semantics
and Word-formation. Tübingen: Narr, 2002. 244 p.
4. Lyons J. Language and Linguistics. An Introduction. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1981. 356 p.
5. Sukhorolska S.M., Fedorenko O.I. Methods of Linguistic Analysis.
Lviv: Publishing Centre of Ivan Franko Lviv National University,
2006. 342 p.
6. Ullmann S. The Principles of Semantics. Glasgow: Jackson & Co,
Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1957. 346 p.
7. Ullmann S. Semantics. An Introduction to the Science of Meaning.
Oxford: The Alden Press Basil Blackwell, 1962. 278 p.
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Information about the author:

Fabian M. P.,
Doctor of Philological Sciences in General Linguistics, Professor,
Professor at the English Philology Department,
Uzhhorod National University
14, Universytetska str., Uzhhorod, 88000, Ukraine

51
DOI https://doi.org/10.36059/978-966-397-149-0/52-72

CONCEPT OLD AGE IN ENGLISH:

COGNITIVE-SEMANTIC ANALYSIS

Holyk S. V.

INTRODUCTION
Present-day developments in the fields of medicine, genetics and
biomedical technologies have influenced the increase in the lifespan and
older people live longer and healthier than even 50 years ago. Therefore,
the problem of population ageing is gaining importance and becomes
the object of interdisciplinary study.
Old age as a social phenomenon is usually defined through the prism of
its medico-biological and socio-philosophical characteristics as a final
stage of human life with considerable physiological and psychological
changes leading to little involvement of a person in social activities 1.
This research adopts a cognitive-semantic approach when meaning is
defined as conceptualization. It aims at revealing the notional content of
concept OLD AGE in English with the focus on the definitions of the
lexeme old age in present-day lexicographical sources (both printed and
on-line). Firstly, the concept of OLD AGE as a mental unit, complex
knowledge cluster is analysed and its nominative field is defined.
The research proves that the key lexeme old age proves to have a multi-
component semantic structure representing the period or time in life when
one is old and the state or condition of being old. In the majority of
studies, the nominative field of the concept is viewed as heterogeneous
and consists of the nucleus and periphery. The nominative field is
verbalized by direct nominative units encoding the concept and making up
its nucleus, as well as nominations of separate cognitive features
disclosing both the content of the concept and attitudes to it in different
communicative situations (the periphery) 2. Furthermore, the present study
provides the cognitive-semantic analysis of synonyms to the key lexeme
old age, chosen as the name of the concept.
Present-day cognitive linguists have repeatedly emphasized that the
concept as an object of research requires a multidimensional methodological

1
Чаграк Н. І. Соціальні теорії старіння і старості у контексті освітньої геронтології.
Теоретичні питання культури, освіти та виховання : зб. наук. праць Київського
національного лінгвістичного університету. 2015. № 52. С. 154–160.
2
Попова З. Д. Когнитивная лингвистика / З. Д. Попова, И. А. Стернин. М. : АСТ :
Восток-Запад, 2007. C. 68.
52
approach. Pimenova believes that “the concept is disseminated in the lingual
signs used to verbalize it. In order to reconstruct the concept’s structure,
one needs to study the entire verbal corpus encoding it, i.e. lexical units,
idioms, paroemias etc. 3 V.Evans states that cognitive model profile is an
important construct in LCCM theory (The Theory of Lexical Concepts and
Cognitive Models), and it is essential to providing an account of meaning
construction. 4 Moreover, Evans adds that “a cognitive model is a coherent
body of multimodal knowledge directly grounded in the brain’s modal
systems, and derives from the full range of experience types processed by
the brain including sensory-motor experience, proprioception and subjective
experience including affect” 5.

1. The Nominative Field of the Concept: the Methodology

of the Research
It is common knowledge that language is one of the basic tools of
cognition and conceptualization. This means that the concept can be
encoded with lingual units.
Conceptualization, being a process of human cognition, aims at capturing
the content of concepts, while the concept description refers to special
research procedures, including definitional, componential, contextual and
etymological analyses. The composition of any concept can be revealed
through dictionary definitions of lingual units used to represent it, as well as
in speech contexts.
The analysis of lingual means contributes to the identification of
concept’s main cognitive features, the description of its content, and
modelling its structure. In linguistics, there seems to be a tendency to
believe that the concept is encoded with the help of the word, although the
analysis at the word level reveals the most important cognitive features,
but only partially. Accordingly, the analysis of concept’s verbalization
should be conducted at the levels of words, phrases, idioms, sentences,
texts, and even non-verbal means 6.
An important stage in performing the conceptual analysis is the
identification of the concept’s nominative field, usually based on the

3
Пименова М.В. Предисловие. //Введение в когнитивную лингвистику. Кемерово,
2004. C. 9.
4
Evans V. What's in a concept? Analog versus parametric concepts in LCCM Theory. //
The Conceptual Mind: New Directions in the Study of Concepts, MIT Press, 2015. P. 277.
5
Evans V. Conceptual vs. Inter-lexical polysemy. An LCCM Theory Approach.// Language
Learning, Discourse and Cognition: Studies in the tradition of Andrea Tyler. Eds. Pickering L.,
Evans V. John Benjamins Publishing House, 2018. P. 167.
6
Єсипенко Н. Г. Текстові концепти та методи їх аналізу. // Вісник Волинського націо-
нального університету імені Л. Українки. Мовознавство. Луцьк : ВНУ, 2009. Вип. 5. С. 253.
53
analysis of lexicographical sources. The nominative field, according to
Popova & Sternin, is defined as “a set of lingual means which express the
concept at a particular time period in society and are represented by
different parts of speech” 7. Sternin is the first to describe the structure of
the nominative field as a two-component unity with its nucleus and
periphery. However, in this research the idea of nominative field
subdivision into the three constituent parts (nucleus, medial zone and
periphery) is applied. The notional content of the nucleus is made up of the
set of sememes representing the key lexemes of the concept. Cognitive
scientists state that seme analysis provides a link to the ideal sphere in
language and, thus, we reveal the content of concepts and objectify their
verbalization 8. It is the word semantics that principally displays conceptual
features. Therefore, in their studies of concepts the majority of linguists
proceed from the meaning of the lingual sign to the content of the
corresponding concept 9. Kolegaeva assumes that the use of dictionary
entries facilitates the identification of smaller lingual units, such as
definitional features. These are said to be the smallest autonomous verbal
constituents of the nominative field 10.
In order to study concept’s verbal expression, the researcher should
start with the analysis of its name (or in other terminology key lexeme),
followed by the analysis of its meanings. The study of dictionary
definitions, said to commonly index and catalogue the language means
of concept’s expression, provides the researcher with the systemic choice
of lexical material for further analysis.
Evans believes that “it stands to reason that representations in the
linguistic system – semantic structure – is qualitatively distinct from
representations in the conceptual system – conceptual structure”. “From
the present perspective, the linguist concludes, words are in fact cues that
index or point to body-based states processed and stored by the brain” 11.
Describing the stages in constructing the nominative field of any
verbalized concept, cognitive linguists assume that the selection of
7
Попова З. Д. Когнитивная лингвистика / З. Д. Попова, И. А. Стернин. М. : АСТ :
Восток-Запад, 2007. C. 66.
8
Бабушкин А.П. Концепты разных типов в лексике и фразеологии и методика их
выявления. // Методологические проблемы когнитивной лингвистики. Воронеж: Изд-во
Воронеж, гос. ун-та, 2001. С. 52.
9
Алефиренко Н. Ф. Современные проблемы науки о языке: Учебное пособие. М. :
Флинта: Наука, 2005. C. 183.
10
Колегаєва І.М. Конструювання номінативного поля концепту: етапи та одиниці . //
Записки з романо-германської філології. 2018. N 1(40). С. 122.
11
Evans V. Conceptual vs. Inter-lexical polysemy. An LCCM Theory Approach // Language
Learning, Discourse and Cognition: Studies in the tradition of Andrea Tyler. Eds. Pickering L.,
Evans V. John Benjamins Publishing House, 2018. P. 163.
54
nominative units (such as, sememes together with their defenitions,
collocations and phraseological units and paroemias) semantically related to
the name of the concept from lexicographical sources is the first step in the
research. Another stage is the definitional analysis that aims at identifying
key semes which can have different definitional features in several
lexicographical sources 12. Similar to this idea, Nikitin specifies: “The seme
is an unnominated part of the meaning” 13. It is expressed via definitional
features selected from dictionary entries of corresponding lexical units.
The seme, being a non-material, purely semantic element, is materialized in
the form of definitional features, indexed in dictionary entries. 14 In addition,
researchers claim that “the arrangement of key lexemes as to their notional
potential provides the material of “WHAT is named, HOW it is
characterized and WHAT types of transformations are observed within the
field under research” 15.
Thus, the study of concepts via language proves to be the most reliable
method of linguistic analysis which helps to define conceptual features and
present the concept’s structure. The analysis starts with the selection of
lingual units encoding the concept, and proceeds with their dictionary
definitions and dicourses. The semantic features, defined in the course
of the research into the meanings within the units of the nominative field,
are commonly referred to as cognitive features of the concept.

2. Definitional Analysis of the Lexeme Old Age

The nucleus of the nominative field of the concept OLD AGE is formed
by the sememes of the noun old age, which is used as the concept’s name to
encode it. The medial zone is represented by the derivatives of the key
lexeme old age, its synonyms and free word combinations. Bound word
combinations (or idioms) and paroemias constitute the periphery.
The first stage of our research is the definitional analysis which belongs
to traditional methods of semantic analysis. Its main objective is to
disclose the notional content of the concept as an abstract constituent
through the analysis of meanings of the concept’s name as indexed in
different lexicographical sources.

12
Колегаєва І.М. Конструювання номінативного поля концепту: етапи та одиниці //
Записки з романо-германської філології. 2018. № 1(40). С. 125.
13
Никитин М. В. Курс лингвистической семантики. Санкт-Петербург: Научный центр
проблем диалога, 1996. C.117.
14
Смаглій В. М. Ядро номінативного поля концепту LANGUAGE. Вчені записки ТНУ
імені В. І. Вернадського. Серія: Філологія. Соціальні комунікації. Том 30 (69). № 2. Ч. 1.
2019. С. 119.
15
Колегаєва І.М. Конструювання номінативного поля концепту: етапи та одиниці //
Записки з романо-германської філології. 2018. № 1(40). С. 126.
55
 The study of dictionary definitions, which commonly register lingual
means used to represent the concept, helps to systematically select the
lexical material for further research, because “despite all the weaknesses
in the lexicographical procedure of defining semantic components, it still
remains one of the easiest and most effective methodologies of compo-
nential analysis” 16. In semasiology, dictionary definitions have been used as
the source of defining word semantic components since the theoretical
works by Arnold, Karaulov, Levytskii and many others. However, in terms
of Sternin, dictionary definitions are not build according to the seme
principle, their components require further interpretation and reformulation
into the format of semes 17. In this sense, he adds that preliminary generali-
zation of dictionary definitions selected from different lexicographical
sources might be an important prerequisite for further definitional analysis
aimed at defining the semes. This procedure is important, since different
definitions complement one another and add to the list of word meanings, as
well as semantic components making up these meaning.
Moreover, dictionary definitions appear to be a sufficient and objective
material to encode the structure of the word meaning. Different dictionaries
provide different, both in their character and structure, definitions.
According to Kubriakova, “the definitional analysis of the word and
defining the structure of knowledge represented in it, as well as the
conceptual analysis seem to be partially interrelated, although they represent
different levels of analysis. The dictionary aims at providing such a defi-
nition that will identify the word both in the text and in discourse; cognitive
analysis presents a wider scope of meanings of the nominated object and
reflects knowledge necessary for understanding the object by speakers with
different educational backgrounds. Usually, this knowledge is shared by
a certain community. Whereas the conceptual analysis pursues the aim to
define the conceptual structure which is verbalized and substantiate
its verbalization” 18.
In this chapter, I provide the analysis of the semantic structure of the
key lexeme representing the concept OLD AGE. It is the noun old age,
which meets the requirements for defining the name of the concept,
according to Popova and Sternin, because it is a common noun,
stylistically neutral, fully nominates the concept and gives material for its
cognitive interpretation 19. The semantic structure of the lexeme old age is
16
Левицкий В.В. Семасиология. Винница: Нова книгаю 2006. C. 91.
17
Стернин И. А. Методы описания семантики слова. Ярославль: Истоки, 2013.
18
Кубрякова Е. С. К определению понятия имиджа / Е. С. Кубрякова // Вопросы
когнитивной лингвистики. 2008. № 1. С. 8.
19
Попова З. Д. Когнитивная лингвистика / З. Д. Попова, И. А. Стернин. М. : АСТ :
Восток-Запад, 2007. C. 177–178.
56
defined by selecting the sememes (or lexico-semantic variants) from
dictionaries and this helps to designate the notional components of the
concept OLD AGE. The definitions selected from 16 different English
dictionaries and thesauri (both printed and electronic) provide the material
for defining the most common meanings (sememes) forming the
significatum of the concept OLD AGE. The algorithm of their compilation
can vary in different dictionaries, i.e. certain meanings may occupy
primary positions in dictionary entries, while, in some other sources, they
could be secondary. However, what we aim at is describing the holistic
picture, including the number and availability of sememes in each of the
lexicographical sources under analysis.
The material of the research presents the selection from British and
American dictionaries: I – Webster's New World Dictionary, II – Oxford
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, III – Cambridge Dictionary Online, IV –
Collin's English Dictionary, V – Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary, VI –
Dictionary. Com, VII – MacMillan Online Dictionary, VIII – CoBuild, IX –
Free Dictionary, X – Oxford English Living Dictionary, XI – Urban
Dictionary, XII – Wordsmyth Dictionary Online, XIII – Ultralingua, XIV –
Word Net Dictionary Online, XV – Your Dictionary, XVI – Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary English. The research findings are shown
in Table 1.
In cognitive linguistics, it is widely recognized that each sememe
correlates with a particular cognitive domain. “This means that words do
not represent neatly packaged bundles of meaning (the dictionary view),
but serve as ‘points of access’ to vast repositories of knowledge relating to
a particular concept or conceptual domain”, 20 which proves Langacker’s
idea that word meanings correlate with particular cognitive structures 21.
Drawing on a study of Kubriakova, the meaning of a lexical unit can be
regarded as “ the concept captured in the word” 22.
Accordingly, the analysis of dictionary definitions aims at defining
those mental structures which correlate with the verbalization of the
concept in native speakers’ mentality. In cognitive semantics (e.g., Lakoff,
Johnson, Langacker, Fillmore, Fauconnier), the meaning is usually defined
as the conventional result of categorization and conceptualization
processes by the representatives of certain ethnic or cultural groups. It is
20
Evans V., Green M. Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics. / V. Evans, M. Green. N.Y.:
Routledge, 2015. P. 160.
21
Langacker R. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar. Volume I. - Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 1987. P. 99.
22
Кубрякова Е. С. Язык и знание: на пути получения знаний о языке : части речи с
когнитивной точки зрения. Роль языка в осознании мира : [монографія]. – М. : Язык
славянской культуры. 2004. 555 с.
57
also said to encode the experience, knowledge and feelings of people that,
according to Selivanova, could contradict the reality 23.
Our research results clearly demonstrate that the nucleus of the
nominative field of the concept OLD AGE includes 20 sememes of the
noun old age.
We proceed from the assumption that dominant meanings of the key
lexeme are those which prove to be the most common in dictionary entries.
The data shown in Table 1 indicate the most frequent sememes: [the time
of life when one is old], [the (a) late (latter) time of life], [the period (stage)
after 65], [decline of strength/health and vigor] (their usage is observed
in 4 different dictionaries). These definitions might confirm the widespread
idea that OLD AGE in English is viewed as the last stage or period in hum
an life, usually after the age of 65 which is marked with the loss of strength
(or decline) and serious health problems. According to the theory of
prototypes by Rosсh (1973) 24, these sememes could be regarded as prototype
meanings that first come to mind when the noun old age is mentioned.
The sememes [advanced/-ing years] and [quality or state of being old/
older] proved to be less representative, although also meaningful for OLD
AGE conceptualization. The data in Table 1 show that a number of
different sememes, rather numerous, containing the bulk of information
and characterizing OLD AGE among native speakers of English can be
catalogued, but they are not frequently indexed in dictionary entries (found
only in 2 out of 16 dictionaries), e.g., [the period in a person’s life when
one is old], [the period of your years towards the end of your life], [the last
period of human life], [the later (latter) part of (normal) life], [quality
or state of being towards the end of your life].
These examples suggest that OLD AGE can mostly be defined as a
period in a human life, usually it is the last period, the end of the life cycle,
which comes late or later in life (in comparison with another, obviously a
younger period), it normally characterizes the stages of life and inevitably
leads to death (or the end of life).
Also, the findings of this study reveal several unique sememes, i.e.
those observed only in one of the lexicographical sources: e.g. [ideal time
when you don’t feel inhibited to say something embarrassing or
outrageous because your days are numbered], [the part of your life when
you are old], [the part after your prime], [the final stage of human life],
[past middle age], [the fact of being old], [20 years older than you are], [no
longer in good health].
23
Селіванова О.О. Сучасна лінгвістика: термінологічна енциклопедія. Полтава :
Довкілля-К, 2006. C. 305.
24
Rosch E. Natural categories / E. Rosch // Cognitive Psychology. Elsevier, 1973. V. 7.
P. 328–350.
58
59
 These diverse lexico-semantic variants
contain very interesting definitional
features. Firstly, it can be assumed that
OLD AGE is categorized as a stage,
time or part in life. Furthermore, the
definitional features [time], [stage] and
[part] are specified by providing
semantic distinctions: [final stage],
[part after your prime], [ideal time]
etc. Thus, the conceptualization of
OLD AGE in English results in
presenting it as a final stage of life,
following the middle age period and
the person in this period becomes old
or/and with serious health problems.
The list of dictionary definitions
suggests that not all the components of
meaning are represented in certain
dictionaries. It is observed that a
greater number of meanings are found
only in 2 out of 16 lexicographical
sources, namely in sources IV –
Collin's English Dictionary and XV –
Your Dictionary, where the lexeme
old age is represented with the help
of 5 sememes. The results of the defi-
nitional analysis illustrate that in
5 dictionaries, such as VIII – CoBuild,
IX – Free Dictionary, XI – Urban
Dictionary, XII – Wordsmyth Dictionary
Online the concept OLD AGE is
verbalized by means of 4 sememes.
Three sememes can be identified in the
structurer of the noun old age in
source XIV – Word Net Dictionary
Online. Other four dictionaries repre-
sent 2 lexical-semantic variants each:
I – Webster's New World Dictionary,
V – Merriam Webster's Online Dictio-
nary, X – Oxford English Living
Dictionary, XIII – Ultralingua.
60
Similarly, only 5 sources, such as II – Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary, III – Cambridge Dictionary Online, VI – Dictionary. Com, VII –
MacMillan Online Dictionary, XVI – Longman Dictionary of Contemporary
English disclose only one meaning of the lexeme old age.
The results of the preliminary analysis might serve as a basis for further
subdivision of the nuclear zone of the nominative field into 2 main
segments: 1) Period and 2) State.
Firstly, the segment Period implies that OLD AGE is said to be a
period of human age, one of the life stages, usually the final one, the end
of human life. Pimenova adds that “the conceptual structure is made up of
primary (or basic) and secondary features. Basic features are verbalized in
dictionary definitions of the corresponding lexeme serving as the concept’s
name in the form of its semantic components – semes and sememes”.
In Lipka’s words, the seme is a semantic feature and the sememe is
defined as a “complex or configuration of semes, which corresponds to a
single sense of a lexeme” 25.
However, it is the definitional feature that could be regarded as the
smallest component of the nominative field that is represented
in lexicographical sources. 26 Accordingly, dictionary definitions of the
lexeme old age prove to comprise such common definitional features, as
[period], [time], [years], [stage], [part]. For instance:
1) The definitional feature [period] is observed in the following
sememes – [the period in a person’s life when one is old], [the period
of your years towards the end of your life], [the last period of human life],
[the period (stage) after 65];
2) The definitional feature [time] is represented in the sememes – [the
time of life when one is old], [the (a) late (latter) time of life], [the ideal
time when you don’t feel inhibited to say something embarrassing or
outrageous because your days are numbered];
3) Another definitional feature [part] is found in the sememes –
[the part of your life when you are old], [the later (latter) part of (normal)
life], [the part after your prime];
4) The definitional feature [years] is observed in the dictionary entry
[advanced/-ing years] to talk about this period of human life;
5) Finally, the definitional feature [stage] is highlighted when old age
is defined as [the final stage of human life], [the last stage when you stop
lying about your age and start dragging about it], [the stage after 65].

25
Lipka L. English Lexicology: Lexical Structure, Word Semantics and Word-Formation.
Gunter Narr Verlag, 2002.
26
Колегаєва І.М. Конструювання номінативного поля концепту: етапи та одиниці //
Записки з романо-германської філології. 2018. № 1(40). С. 122–123.
61
 In this research, we hypothise that the main feature – [period] – is
further specified and clarified in the definitions of every sememe, thus
adding to the nuclear zone of the concept OLD AGE. The seme Period is
complemented with the qualificational semes that explain the nature of this
period. Consequently, it is [last period], [end of life], [final stage],
[advanced years], [last stage], [late (latter) time]. These semes (in italics)
describe OLD AGE as the end of human life, its last or late/later period.
Relative qualificational semes chronologically refer the period to a certain
point in time: e.g., the period when you reach 65 [the period after 65].
Conversly, the feature [past middle age] defines it as following the middle
age period without mentioning the exact chronological age.
Relative qualificational feature [part after prime] leads to understan-
ding old age as the period of decline which comes after the period of the
greatest strength or vigour, consequently it helps to reveal negative
evaluative component in the semantic structure of the lexeme old age.
There is also a unique definition of old age in Urban Dictionary –
[20 years older than you are]. This sememe defines old age by applying a
relative feature [20 years older] and comparing this period with the
speaker’s age. This leads to understanding that anyone, who is 20 years
older than you are, is believed to be old. Due to this fact, the beginning of
old age is not linked to a chronological age, but is rather floating, when
“being aged” means “being older than yourself”. Such approaches are
especially typical of the younger generation and might represent some
of the social ageist attitudes. Moreover, the example in Urban Dictionary
is used to explain that old age is not fixed to a certain age, not “demarcated
as the period of life occurring after sixties or seventies” 27, on the contrary,
it is a flexible notion: e.g. “When you are 10, 30 is old. When you reach
30, 50 seems old. When you reach 50, 70 seems old and so on. So it is a
shifting scale where nobody ever thinks they are old” 28.
Also, the interpretation of dictionary definitions discloses one more
characteristic feature of OLD AGE when it can be treated as an ideal time.
The definitional feature [ideal time] is used to conceptualize the period
when you are free to express your feelings and emotions. Sememes 3 and
13 (see Table 1), in a rather extravagant way, define the lexeme old age,
adding to its evaluative component of meaning, because it is a period
which makes you free in your expressions, no more limits and taboos –
[stop lying about your age] and one can be really abusive – [don’t feel
inhibited to say something embarrassing]. And the reason for this is that

27
New definition for old age. Science Daily. URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com.
28
Urban Dictionary. https://www.urbandictionary.com.
62
[your days are numbered] and you no longer depend on or care about
social norms of behaviour accepted in your community.
The nucleus of the concept OLD AGE includes another segment –
State, with the definitional features [state], [quality] and [fact]:
1) The [state] proper and [quality] – [quality or state of being old/
older], [quality or state of being towards the end of your life];
2) Existential feature [fact] – [the fact of being old];
3) The state of having health problems and related issues – [no longer
in good health], [decline of strength/health and vigor].
The sememes mentioned above provide the definitions of old age by
using the adjective old – the state, quality, fact of [being old/older]. As
Evans (2015) suggests, the grammatical distinction between the adjective
and noun appears to relate to a semantic distinction between the notion of
property versus thing. 29 The words old and old age, while indexing the
same (or similar) perceptual state, also encode schematic concepts:
property versus thing. Thus, old age might be regarded as the property of
being old. This contributes to disclosing the notional component of OLD
AGE concept by the stylistically neutral lexical unit old as a constituent of
its nuclear zone (which could be the object of further research).
Another conceptual feature in this segment is represented by the
sememe [decline of strength/health and vigor], specifying old age as a state
of poor health because of being old. This semantic component of meaning
proves the dominant ageist stereotype when being old equals to being
seriously ill, when ageing is usually viewed as a process of inevitable
decline (e.g., Gual, 2015) 30. The analysis of the dictionary definitions
demonstrates that old age is regarded as the state when your health is
no longer strong enough, you are feeble and in poor condition.

3. The Synonyms to the Noun Old Age:

Cognitive-Semantic Analysis
A very important stage in our research is cognitive-semantic analysis
of synonyms to the key lexeme, which are subdivided into the
corresponding synonymic groups: the temporal group Life Period,
representing old age as a life stage/period, and the classificational group
State, expressing a qualitative feature.

29
Evans V. What's in a concept? Analog versus parametric concepts in LCCM Theory. //
The Conceptual Mind: New Directions in the Study of Concepts, MIT Press, 2015. P. 271.
30
Gual N. Ambivalent Pathways of Progress and Decline: The Representation of Aging and
Old Age in Joanna McClelland Glass’s Drama. // Theatre Research in Canada / Recherches
théâtrales au Canada, 2015. 36 (1).
63
 The first synonymic group Life Period characterizes old age as a period
in human life. The analysis of individual dictionary definitions of the
synonyms helps to define their common definitional features [period,
years, time, stage, age], which are further specified. These verbal units can
be grouped as to their semantic components:
1) The first group encodes old age as the period when one is old or
elderly: e.g., advanced /advancing years [the period of being elderly],
agedness [the period of advanced years], ageing [growing older], Anno
Domini [advancing old age] informal, autumn of one’s life [the period
of being elderly, old age], elderliness [the stage of life well past middle
age], evening of one’s life [the period of being elderly], oldness [period of
being elderly].
These synonyms provide a neutral characteristic of old age, describing
it as a life period with the generalized meaning when a person is old,
elderly or in advanced years. The analysis of these sememes helps to
highlight the definitional features [old], [elderly], [past middle age],
[advanced years], [advancing].
2) The second group represents OLD AGE as the final stage of life, the
last years of age: age [a late time of life, the latter years of life], decline
[the last part of life], declining years [the last years of someone’s life],
eld archaic [a late time of life], extremity [the end of life, dying] archaic,
Fourth Age [starting at about age 80 or 85, includes the last years of
adulthood], geezerhood [a late time of life], senectitude [the final stage of
normal life span], twilight/twilight years [the last years of life], winter of
one’s life, years [a late time].
The analysis of dictionary definitions of the synonymic units in this
group reveals a negative-evaluative semantic component of their
specificational definitional features – [the final stage], [the last years],
[the last part of life], [a late time], [the end of life, dying]. The semes final,
last, late, end provide the verbalization of what is labelled as “decline
ideology”, 31 i.e. the prevailing social attitude to old age and ageing as the
last period, the last stage in the lifespan when old age is considered to be a
problem causing decline. Furthermore, the lexeme extremity, with archaic
stylistic connotation, encodes the meaning of dying, thus representing a
gloomy picture of old age that inevitably leads to death. The lexeme
Fourth Age defines old age chronologically as the period starting at about
age 80 or 85. Sociologists state that “<…> the fourth age embodies all the
fears of old age; it brings fragility, helplessness and loss of autonomy” 32.
31
Gullette Margaret M. Aged By Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. P. 7.
32
Petrová Kafková M. The „Real“ Old Age and the Transition between the Third and Fourth
Age / Sociológia 48, 2016. № 6 . P.623.
64
For active people in the third age, fourth agers represent „the others“ 33.
Moreover, they suggest a dual view of old age, discriminating between the
concepts of the young-old and old-old, e.g. Neugarten (1974). 34 However,
it is Laslett who introduces the terms “third and fourth age” and
characterizes the fourth age as a period of final infirmity, decrepitude and
death 35. Thus, the sememe [starting at about age 80 or 85, includes the last
years of adulthood] indexes not only the chronological marker 80 +, but
also the evaluative connotational feature of decline.
The lexeme senectitude originates from Latin senect(ūs) meaning “old
age” and is first recorded in English in the period 1790–1800. The
dictionary definition shows the specificational definitional feature [the
final/last stage].
Another group of synonyms describes OLD AGE as the period of
delight, happines and enjoyment of life: e.g., green old age [a period
when you might not be able to do all the things you used to do, as well as
you used to do them, but there are also likely to be fewer demands
on you and less stress], Indian Summer [the final period of a person’s
life regarded as tranquil, serene], [a pleasant or successful time nearly at
the end of your life].
Firstly, we can observe the presence of the hyperseme period in these
sememes together with its equonymic seme time. Also, these semes are
specified with the definional features [tranquil, serene], [pleasant or
successful], [fewer demands on you and less stress], which help to reveal
positive evaluative component in the semantic structure of the nominative
units green old age and Indian Summer. This goes in line with “the
narrative of success ignoring the physical dimensions of aging” (Gual
2005) and the notion of ''successful aging'' that combines life satisfaction,
happiness, good health and longevity.
Moreover, a number of synonyms describe old age chronologically by
decades: sixties [the period when a person is aged from 60 to 69],
seventies [the period when a person is aged from 70 to 79], eighties [the
period when a person is aged from 80 to 89], nineties [the period when a
person is aged from 90 to 99]. The seme period is specified in each of
these sememes by indicating the corresponding decade [from 60 to 69],
[from 70 to 79], [from 80 to 89] and [from 90 to 99].

33
Gilleard C., Higgs P. Cultures of Ageing: Self, Citizen, and the Body. Essen: Perason
Education, 2000.
34
Neugarten B. L. Age Groups in American Society and the Rise of the Young-Old. // The
ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 415 (1), 1974. P. 187–198.
35
Laslett P. A Fresh Map of Life: The Emergence of the Third Age. Harvard University
Press, 1991.
65
 A special attention should be paid to stylistically neutral
lexemes of Latin origin representing OLD AGE chronologically: e.g.,
sexagenarianism [the state of being sexagenarian], septuagenarians [the
state of being septuagenarian], octogenarianism [the state of being
octogenarian], nonagenarianism [the state of being nonagenarian].
Further definitional analysis reveals the onomasiological basis of these
lexical units, used to denominate a state of a person whose age is in the
sixties (sexagenarian – from Latin sexagenarius of or containing sixty,
sixty years old), seventies (septuagenarian – from Latin septuagenarius of
or containing seventy, seventy years old), eighties (octogenarian – from
Latin octogenarius containing eighty), nineties (nonagenarian – from Latin
nonagenarius containing ninety).
One of the prevailing social perceptions of old age and older adults is
that they are retired and receive pensions from the government. This
meaning is encoded in the following synonymic units: e.g., golden years
[the time of life retirement from active work], [the years after the
retirement], pension (pensionable) age, retirement [the years after retire-
ment]. The semes time, years are specified as the the time of [retirement
from active work], [after retirement] with the hyponymic seme retirement
encoding the meaning of the period when a person stops working. The
definitions of the synonym golden years [the term used by old folks who are
too attached to their youth to admit that they are in fact: old, senile, and
wrinkly], [the ages during retirement toward the end of one's life, but enough
to still enjoy the remainder; typically 65 and up] in the entries of Urban
Dictionary index old age, pointing to its positive and negative aspects
simultaneously. On the one hand, the definitional features [attached to their
youth], [still enjoy] encode the semantic component of enjoyment with
the verb enjoy and the period when a person still feels young by using
the antonym youth. On the other hand, the definitional features [the ages
during retirement] [old, senile, and wrinkly], [toward the end of one's life]
add to the negative evaluation of old age. Also, the definitional feature
[typically 65 and up] defines the chronological limits of old age.
Lexical units within the synonymic group State represent old age
in different ways.
Firstly, it is defined as the state of being old: e.g., age [the state of
being old or becoming old], advanced age [the age of someone who is
old], antiquity [great age], elderhood [the state, quality, or condition of
being an elder], geromorphism [a condition of appearing prematurely old
or aged], grand old age [the state when a person is very old], senescence
[the state of being old, aged]. As a result of the definitional analysis the
seme state with its equonyms quality, age, or condition is revealed in
66
every sememe, and it is specified by means of hyposemes old, elder, aged.
Thus, all these synonyms index old age as the state when you are
old/aged/elder. The definitions of the nominative units antiquity,
geromorphism, grand old age include the evaluative definitional features
[prematurely old or aged], [very old], [great age] expressing the
intensifying connotational meaning.
A great number of synonyms define old age as a state of being ill:
Alzheimer’s disease [showing poor mental health; a loss of mental faculties
because of old age], [deterioration of mental faculties], anecdotage [old
age, especially in someone who is inclined to be garrulous], [senility, as
characterized by the telling of rambling anecdotes], anility [the condition
of behaving like an old woman, used especially of men], [the quality
resembling a doddering old woman; old-womanishness; dotage],
caudicity [senility – physical and mental decline associated with old age],
decay [deterioration], dementia [a state of serious mental deterioration],
dotage [mental infirmity as a consequence of old age shown by foolish
infatuations]; [feeble and childish state due to old age]; [senile decay
marked by decline of mental poise and alertness], infirmity, senility
[the quality of being senile, i.e. showing poor mental ability because of old
age]; [confused, unable to look after themselves, no longer
remember things], second childhood [when someone starts to behave like
a child, esp. because of mental weakness caused by old age], sundowning
[agitation or anxiety at night by elderly patients].
All these sememes are characterized by the presence of the hyperseme
state or its synonyms condition and quality that are specified with the
qualificational features [poor mental health], [a loss of mental faculties],
[deterioration of mental faculties], [mental infirmity], [being senile],
[mental weakness], [no longer remember things], [poor mental ability],
[mental decline], [decline of mental poise and alertness]. These semantic
components encode the social stereotypes and focus on age related
diseases, primarily mental decline, contributing to a negative ageist view
of old age as a state of deterioration and decadence. Negative components
of meaning in such definitional features [confused, unable to look after
themselves], [foolish infatuations], [doddering old woman] are quite
obvious and these units provide the verbalization of the negative
perception of old age. Two synonymic units, second childhood and
dotage, compare old age with another life stage, the period of childhood,
by providing the definitional features [childish state], [behave like a child].
This also helps to disclose another conceptual feature of old age, such as
dependence, similar to children who usually depend on their parents or
guardians. The lexical unit anecdotage is defined as [old age, especially
67
in someone who is inclined to be garrulous], [senility, as characterized
by the telling of rambling anecdotes] with the specificational features
[garrulous] and [the telling of rambling anecdotes] which at the second
level of definitional analysis are defined as [excessively talkative,
especially on trivial matters] and rambling [lengthy and confused or
inconsequential]. Thus, anecdotage is used to index that constituent part of
the concept OLD AGE which labels it derogatorily.
Also, one of the synonyms coined not long ago (the earliest mention in
1986) 36 is sundowning which refers to the state of anxiety and agitation or
nervous excitement and is said to be the symptom of Alzheimer's disease
and other forms of dementia. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary gives the
following medical definition [a state of increased agitation, confusion,
disorientation, and anxiety that typically occurs in the late afternoon or
evening in some individuals affected with dementia] 37. The specificational
features explicitly index old age as the state of serious illness, with the
semes confusion, disorientation and anxiety adding to its negative
psychological and emotional characteristics.
The biomedicalization of old age has led to its categorization as the
state of weakness. The following goup of synonyms are united on the basis
of this specificational feature: decline [smb’s old and becoming weaker],
decreptitude [the state of being old and no longer in good condition or
health]formal, feebleness [the state of being physically and mentally weak],
infirmity [poor or deteriorated vitality because of old age], sarcopenia
[the age related loss of muscle mass and strength], weakness [the state or
condition of lacking strength]. The definitional features [becoming
weaker], [no longer in good condition], [being physically weak], [poor or
deteriorated vitality], [lacking strength], [loss of strength] altogether
verbalize the conceptual feature of weakness as a state because of old age.
The sememes of another group of synonyms in their unity represent old
age as associated with changes in appearance, the bodily marker of ageing,
such as greying: e.g., grey hairs [a lightening of the hair caused by aging,
old age], greying [the state or process of becoming old], hoariness [the
state of being grey or white with age]; [the state of being white or whitish].
The examples above show that their common specificational definitional
features is [grey] with its hyponyms [lighting/white/whitish].
However, the analysis proves that some of the synonyms have
sememes that represent OLD AGE positively as longevity, experience,
possibility for self-development, respect and active lifestyle. Together they

36
Word Spy. https://www.wordspy.com/index.php?word=sundowning).
37
Merriam Webster’s Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com%2Fmedical%2Fsundowning.
68
constitute the conceptual domain Experience/Maturity with the definitional
features – [experience], [maturity], [longevity], [being energetic/in good
health]: e,g., experience [knowledge or skill in a particular job or activity,
which you have gained because you have done that job or activity for a
long time], longevity [advancement, continuence]; [living for a long time],
maturity, matureness [state of being mature]; [full development], a ripe
old age [the condition of being very old, used to talk about someone who
has a long healthy life], seniority [the state of being senior; priority of
birth; superior age], sprightliness [the quality of being energetic and in
good health, especially when you are old],Third Age [old age with
opportunities to travel and further education].

CONCLUSIONS
This research follows the cognitive-semantic paradigm which has
already become traditional in defining the notional content of verbalized
concepts. The analysis of the dictionary definitions demonstrates that the
nucleus of the nominative field of the concept OLD AGE is made up
of twenty sememes. The preliminary analysis might serve as a basis
for further subdivision of the nuclear zone into two main segments that can
be named as Period and State. Accordingly, dictionary definitions of the
lexeme old age prove to display such common definitional features, as
[period], [time], [years], [stage], [part] within the segment Period and
[state], [quality], [fact] + being old/older, and [decline] + because of old
age] in the segment State.
The results described are fairly general, however they show that OLD
AGE in English is constructed in different ways: chronologically; as a
social construct; the age of longevity, wisdom and life satisfaction,
confirming the theory of “successful ageing”; adopting a purely bio-
medical approach and indexing OLD AGE as a period of decline, mental
and physical weakness; and also as a retirement period.
Cognitive-semantic analysis of synonyms, making up the medial zone
of the nominative field, results in dividing them into similar synonymic
groups: the temporal group Life Period, representing OLD AGE as a life
stage/period, and the classificational group State, expressing a qualitative
feature.
This research provides implications for further study of old age and
ageing individuals in different types of discourses. This can help not only
to specify the notion of old age as a lingual-cultural phenomenon, but also
provide criteria for defining the conceptual model of OLD AGE
in English.

69
 SUMMARY
The present research deals with the study of the concept OLD AGE in
English with the focus on the analysis of the lexical unit old age used as its
name. The topicality of such works is quite obvious, since the concept has
recently become an object of a multidimensional linguistic study. Research
material has been selected from present-day lexicographical sources with
the analysis of dictionary definitions, as well as componential analysis.
Furthemore, one issue of this study is the cognitive-semantic analysis
of synonyms to the key lexeme old age. The research findings provide
implications for further studies of this concept in different types of
discourse that will contribute to a deeper understanding of old age as a
lingual-cultural phenomenon and provide criteria for defining the
conceptual model of the concept OLD AGE.

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Information about the author:

Holyk S. V.,
Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor,
Head of the English Philology Department
of the State University “Uzhhorod National University”
14, Universytetska str., Uzhhorod, 88000, Ukraine

72
DOI https://doi.org/10.36059/978-966-397-149-0/73-88

TRANSLATING CULTURALLY MARKED VOCABULARY

Palchevska O. S.

INTRODUCTION
The problem of the relations and connections of the language, culture
and ethnicity is an interdisciplinary one and the only possible way to
resolve it lies in the attempt to join efforts of several sciences, including
linguistics and translation. It is not new. Cultural studies are now regarded
not just as an allied sector of linguistics, but as a phenomenon without the
analysis of which one can not comprehend the mystery of man as well as
the mystery of the language and text. And that is why the problem of
translating the folk texts (folklore texts) culturally marked lexicon arises as
an indispensable phenomena for understanding the source culture.
Term folklore as a notion was coined by Briton William John Thoms
who, in 1846, proposed that the Anglo-Saxon compound folklore be used
instead of the Latinate popular antiquities to describe “the manners,
customs, observances, superstitions, ballads, proverbs” and other materials
“of the olden time” 1.Thus Folk texts are mainly described as the texts of
the unwritten literature as expressed in folk tales, proverbs, riddles, songs,
etc 2. The folk text carries the inscriptions of cultural coding in the form of
myths, legends, symbols, fantasy and dreams of the source culture. The
problem of understanding the folk text or (folklore text) lies in the sphere
of understanding cultural identity of a certain nation. Thus the folk text
carries the inscriptions of cultural coding in the form of myths, legends,
symbols, fantasy and dreams of the source culture. The main problems the
translator of the folklore text overcomes are generally connected with the
translation of the lacunae or culturally marked lexical units.
Lacunae (culturally marked lexical units) are considered as the main
difficulty for rendering from one language into another. Under lacunae
vocabulary we understand lexical units that have no verbal equivalent in
one of the languages being compared, due to the absence or concepts in a
certain lingvoculture or lexical unit expressing this concept. The definition
implies that the main lacunae vocabulary complexity is its

1
McCormick Ch., White K. Folklore. An Encyclopedia of Beliefs, Customs, Tales, Music,
and Art, ABC-CLIO 2010.
2
Collins English Dictionary. Available online: http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/
english.
73
untranslatability, which results in a process of the semantic presentation of
these lexical units. Thus, in order to demonstrate the meaning of gaps,
translators need to think carefully on the semantization techniques.

1. Translation and culture

There are lots of definitions on language which are included here
shortly. Language is used to maintain and convey culture and cultural ties.
Different ideas stem from differing language use within one's culture and
the whole intertwining of these relationships start at one's birth. Language
may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using
complex system of communication or to a specific instance of such a
system of complex communication. The human language faculty is
thought to be fundamentally different from and of much higher complexity
than those of other species. Human language is highly complex in that it is
based on a set of rules relating symbols to their meanings, thereby forming
an infinite number of possible innovative utterances from a finite number
of elements.
Culture is defined culture as the way of life and its manifestations that
are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its means of
expression. It is clearly stated that operationally he does not regard
language as a component or feature of culture in direct opposition to the
view that stated that language is part of a culture.
The term culture originally meant the cultivation of the soul or mind;
culture includes behavior such as courtship or child rearing practices
material things such as tools, clothing and shelter, institutions and beliefs.
Culture is the sum total of the ways of living built up by a group and
passed on from one generation to another. Culture is a complex whole
which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs and many
other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.
The communication of the meaning of the source-language text is by
means of an equivalent target-language text so translation consists of
language and culture. Jerome said that two things are necessary for a good
translation – an adequate understanding of the original language (source
language) and an adequate command of the language into which one is
translating (receptor language). Translation is a complicated process.
However, a translator who is concerned with transferring the meaning will
find that the receptor language has a way in which the desired meaning can
be expressed, even though it may be very different from the source
language form. Translation is no longer considered to be a mere cross-
linguistic activity but it significantly is cross-cultural communication.

74
 We came to agree on the existence of the so-called "cultural universals"
that enhance communication, change of ideas in order to achieve progress
in all life domains. Change of ideas, concentration of mutual efforts in
different directions, communication among different peoples in different
ways, all these are a constant necessity of spiritual and material life. Not
only cultural acts are achieved by means of continuity process alone, but
also being discontinuous can be as creative at certain times. Yet, this
breach is to be performed to existent models and not to a state of
nothingness. But how cultures transfer through the languages? For
answering this question we should consider the relationship between
culture and language which is deeply rooted. Translation is the only way
which does it. The fact that there is only one human species is explained
by the possibility to transfer sense, meaning from one language to the
other, by means of the word, thus, by translation. But during translation
process there are some barriers that are discussed as follows: There are
some obstacles which effect culture transferring through different
languages such as limitation and censor, culture, religion, etc.
Limitation and Censor Traditionally, there is something which is lost in
translation process. Limitation and censor as obstacles that limit translators
in conveying the "semantic" message in the receptor language.
The other limiting factor which translators encounter is moral filtering
being based on religion, family, society rules, and 84 culture, etc.
Moreover limitation related to different kinds of the audience. So it is the
time to say that culture itself is a filter in translation.
Culture Difficulties arising out of differences of cultures constitute the
most serious problems for translators and have produced the most far-
reaching misunderstanding among readers.
Culture itself has its own limitation in transferring the source text into
target text. Each society or group of people based on their historical
background, local situations, and religion with their specific language,
construct their own culture which is respected, performed and accepted
along with its limitations. Limitation in translation is one of the specific
features of culture, not necessarily imposed from outside world. Behaviors
which are acceptable will vary from location to location.
Nowadays, the major problem in translation is being certainly
influenced by different cultural norms in the source language and target
language. The translator's responsibility is to choose the norms that take
priority over others. It depends on translator's decision if the cultural
norms of the source language, target language, or a combination of both
are essential to be considered.

75
 Religion is one of those obstacles that cause problem in translation.
Religion can be understood only by its cultural language and to translate
this religious context we face with some limitations that cannot be
translated. Because religious texts are described in an implicit way, natural
and effective translation is almost impractical. Besides, religion and
culture are interwined and religion has taken its root from human mind and
soul, people accepte them by the core of their hearts. Therefore, it cannot
be changed or distorted by any one. because it leads to stimulate people
and evoke negative reaction by them. Therefore translators' job is more
difficult and must avoid such distortion or any work which is against their
religion in the process of translation.
We talked about the limitations of translation process but let's add that
translation not only transfers fundamental aspects and features of culture
but also it transfers modern science, and foreign histories. Therefore, that a
translator's job is to eliminate and destroy boundaries is not always true.
It crosses the borders to communicate cultures.
Translation plays a vital role in making a culture universal and general.
It acts as a bridge to communicate all kinds of languages specially those
similar to each other considering their linguistic features and cultural
customs in all parts of the world. So it links all units of the world in the
global network. Moreover translation presumes the existence of
boundaries between different cultures and the translator most probably is
aware of these boundaries and the inevitability of crossing them. Without
cultural similarities and universalities, there is no way for people of
different cultures to communicate with each other and translation will be
impossible. When speaking of two languages which are to be translated
equivalently, translators must convey the same referential, pragmatic and
interlinked meanings. However, due to differences between two cultures,
semantic equivalence is limited to some.
Pop culture develops within human's growth which some of those pop
culture's would be a part of our life way. Since translation transfers the
culture, unconsciously behind this culture, we get familiar with the pop
cultures and people's habits of different regions. For example, "Mother
Day" as a pop culture shows that people respect Mothers. So this special
day has become a habit for all countries in different geographical regions.
Also daily habits such as using the Internet have become so common
globally so using this is inevitable almost for all.
Each language has its own culture and religion. Each society
propagates its own specific culture through translation. Culture translation
helps to know the variety of worship of different cultures. For e.g. Muslim
pray in Masque, Christian in Church, Jewish in Synagogue or celebrating
76
"Christmas Day" has been expanded. Thus, translation link cultures as a
chain. Thus translation obviously is a cross-cultural communication; it is
beyond structures and sentences, and not simply a mere language.
A proper translation makes the reader to ponder over the cultural
context of the source language. Cultural borrowing is one of the
advantages that transfer ideas, customs, and social behaviors from another
culture. By an adequate translation readers or audience of target language
culture will acquire a lot of useful benefits for e.g. hospitality; way of
greeting and saying hello when they meet each other in Iran would be
extend in the world through translation. The other e.g. is table manner
of some nations that reflect how that nation's culture is.
The specific ways of such culturally marked lexical units translation
can be reviewed through figurative categories used in folk vocabulary
(metaphor, simile, connotation).
In case of translation with the absence of translation equivalents, i.e.
when in the target linguvoculture the corresponding concept or linguistic
sign with a similar tradition of use doesn’t exist, it is practically impossible
to establish the relationship between the folklore nomination and its
translation equivalents. In this regard, we should speak of asymmetry and
homology (a structural semantic 'resonance' between the different elements
or similarity with the fundamental differences), or of a conflict "quasi-
equivalence" (the term Yuri Sorokin) 3.
As to the translation techniques we may consider the follows:
1) the replacement of the source word (phrase) by the corresponding
equivalent of the target language;
2) the interpretation, in which in addition to the equivalent in the target
language translators give the information about the coincidence (or
divergence) in the cultural component of meaning.
The translation of the great amount of the lacuna lexicon is frequently
based on the methods of transcription / transliteration as well as by means of
the semantic translation or modeling words and constructions after foreign
patterns (e.g. personal, geographical names, mythological concepts so on).
This very often results in appearance of the target language words
having just similar sound-graphic form, but not correlating neither to the
source language notion, nor to the concept.
In case of semantic translation the lexical units of the target language are
used. The problem is that such equivalents have just the close translational
correspondence of meaning with the absence of conceptual content.

3
Сорокин Ю. А. Переводоведение: статус переводчика и психогерменевтические
процедуры. – Москва, 2003.
77
 In this regard the main interlanguage and intercultural complications
caused by the translation on micro- and macro- levels have been noted.
Translation transformations aiming to overcome different kinds of
complications, may either lead to the meaning loss or to semantic
increments in the target text.
Lingvocultural determination of the folk units initially sets the the folk
unit asymmetry in different folk traditions, reflecting the cultural identity
of the mental categorization and conceptualization processes.
Language complications on the lexical level arise due to mismatch
between the meanings of words, lack of semantic differentiation, different
pragmatic potential of words in source and target languages, the similar
notion lack or absence of interlanguage correspondences.
For example, the pragmatic potential of folklore and mythological
contexts is different and the words having the equivalents in source and
target languages have different associative realities: піч – сидіти на печі
(stove – he would sit on the stove), пампушка – cake, стодола, клуня –
shed, barn, бичок – ox, піп – Pope, шинок – tavern.
For the members of the original lingvocultural community such
conceptual and semantic features are typical indicators of the certain
situation, but in the foreign-language and under the foreign cultural
conditions they do not have these pragmatic functions: the representatives
of different linguocultural community do not have the necessary
presuppositions for the exact identification of these signs functions
because of their non-representation in the objective world and,
respectively, in folklore and mythological context. As a result, these
features can be regarded as "foreign", "alien", "unclear" and, being implied
in the other lingucultural space, tend to take the peripheral place.

2. Translating culturally marked vernacular vocabulary

Folklore, in modern usage, an academic discipline the subject matter of
which (also called folklore) comprises the sum total of traditionally
derived and orally or imitatively transmitted literature, material culture,
and custom of subcultures within predominantly literate and
technologically advanced societies; comparable study among wholly or
mainly nonliterate societies belongs to the disciplines of ethnology and
anthropology. In popular usage, the term folklore is sometimes restricted
to the oral literature tradition.
Folklore studies began in the early 19th century. The first folklorists
concentrated exclusively upon rural peasants, preferably uneducated, and a
few other groups relatively untouched by modern ways (e.g., gypsies).
Their aim was to trace preserved archaic customs and beliefs to their
78
remote origins in order to trace the mental history of mankind.
In Germany, Jacob Grimm used folklore to illuminate Germanic religion
of the Dark Ages. In Britain, Sir Edward Tylor, Andrew Lang, and others
combined data from anthropology and folklore to “reconstruct” the beliefs
and rituals of prehistoric man. The best-known work of this type is
Sir James Frazer’s The Golden Bough (1890).
As the scholarship of folklore developed, an important advance was
the classification of material for comparative analysis. Standards of
identification were devised, notably for ballads (by F.J. Child) and for the
plots and component motifs of folktales and myths (by Antti Aarne and
Stith Thompson). Using these, Finnish scholars, led by Kaarle Krohn,
developed the “historical-geographical” method of research, in which
every known variant of a particular tale, ballad, riddle, or other item was
classified as to place and date of collection in order to study distribution
patterns and reconstruct “original” forms. This method, more statistical
and less speculative than that of the anthropological folklorists, dominated
the field throughout the first half of the 20th century.
Large collections of material were amassed in the course of these
efforts. Inspired by the Grimm Brothers, whose first collection of fairy
tales appeared in 1812, scholars all over Europe began recording and
publishing oral literature of many genres: fairy tales and other types of
folktales, ballads and other songs, oral epics, folk plays, riddles, proverbs,
etc. Similar work was undertaken for music, dance, and traditional arts and
crafts; many archives and museums were founded. Often the underlying
impulse was nationalistic; since the folklore of a group reinforced its sense
of ethnic identity, it figured prominently in many struggles for political
independence and national unity 4.
While dealing with the culturally marked vernacular vocabulary in
different languages I came across the translations of some Ukrainian folklore
texts into English: “Cossack fairy tales and folk tales by Bain R. Nisbet” 5,
“Sixty folk – tales from exclusively Slavonic sources. Translated with brief
introductory notes by A. H. Wratislaw” 6, “Myths and folk-tales of the
Russians, Western Slavs, and Magyars by Jeremiah Curtin” 7, “Russian folk-
tales by W. R. S. Ralston” 8, “The songs of the Russian people, as illustrative

4
Encyclopaedia Britannica Available online www.britannica.com.
5
Bain R. N. Cossack fairy tales and folk tales 1902.
6
Wratislaw A. H. Sixty folk-tales from exclusively Slavonic sources. Translated with brief
introductory notes by A. H. Wratisla. London 1889.
7
Curtin J. Myths and folk-tales of the Russians, Western Slavs, and Magyars by Jeremiah
Curtin, Boston 1903.
8
Ralston W. R. S. Russian folk-tales, London 1873.
79
of Slavonic mythology and Russian social life” 9, “Songs of Ukraina with
Ruthenian poems translated by Florence Randal Livesay” 10. Those texts
were chosen as the material of the following research because of the high
lingvocultural potential of the folk vocabulary they contain. Our main aim
was to try show the background knowledge essence in translating
the cultural fragments from one language into another.
In the preface to “Cossak Fairy tales and folk-tales selected edited
and translated by R. Nissbet Bain” Ukrainian is identified as the
language of Cossaks: “The favorable reception given to my volume
of Russian Fairy Tales has encouraged me to follow it up with a sister
volume of stories selected from another Slavonic dialect extraordinarily
rich in folk-tales – I mean Ruthenian, the language of the Cossacks…” 11.
Feather the translator specifies “Ruthenian is a language intermediate
between Russian and Polish, but quite independent of both” 12.
Such argumentation is the example of the complete misidentification of
the Ukraine in general as the cultural surrounding as well as of its
folklore, traditional to the European folklorists, as the translations from
the Ukrainian where made through Russian. As we can see, the
translators as the representatives of a certain national lingvocultural
communities, not always have a cognitive framework that is structured in
a certain way of other national-cultural community indispensable
knowledge, and this linguocultural background, specific national cultural
mentality is not recognized.
Now we are going to stop on some folk text cultural codes. Being the
constituents of the folklore world picture they realize the cultural
asymmetry. While studying the above translations we can assume that
lacuna and culturally marked vocabulary mainly deals withwith everyday
life, like food and beverage, meal hours, etiquette; with living conditions,
such as: living conditions in the city and in the the countryside; living
standards (regional, social and ethnic group variants), chores; etiquette and
ritual behavior; abstract concepts inherited by a certain culture; traditions,
customs, superstitions realized in the mythology.

9
Ralston W. R. S. The songs of the Russian people, as illusteative of Slavonic mythology and
Russian social life, Eontton 1872.
10
Livesay R. F. Songs of Ukraina with Ruthenian poems translated by Florence Randal
Livesay, London 1916.
11
Bain R. N. Cossack fairy tales and folk tales 1902. P. 10.
12
Ibid. P. 12.
80
 Everyday life, like food and beverage,
meal hours, etiquette; chores
The folk food and beverage names are not translated but transcribed
into English. Though sometimes occur the cases of mistranslation due to
the attempt of the translator to substitute the specific cultural fragments
with the familiar to the target language users images. We’ve noticed rather
funny fragments with the use of traditional Ukrainian foods and beverages.
For example Traditional Ukrainian spirit горілка is rendered into English
by means of the lexeme brandy.
Горілка (sometimes popularly used the word горівка) (from the
burning taste) or оковита (lat. Aqua vita – the water of life, living water) –
a strong alcoholic drink from cleaned alcohol. Горілка is made from a
solution of ethanol in water, usually – 40% (by volume). Industrially
produced from high-quality cereals under alcohol purification. Beyond
Ukraine the word Горілка is used to name the Ukrainian bitter pepper
drink. Горілка, made at home, is called самогон or самогонка. The main
raw material for the manufacture of самогон is sugar beet or beet sugar.
Brandy, is an alcoholic beverage distilled from wine or a fermented
fruit mash. The term used alone generally refers to the grape product;
brandies made from the wines or fermented mashes of other fruits are
commonly identified by the specific fruit name. The name comes from the
Dutch brandewijn (“burnt wine”), referring to the application of heat in
distillation. Commercial distillation of brandy from wine originated in the
16th century. According to one story, a Dutch shipmaster began the
practice by concentrating wine for shipment, intending to add water upon
reaching home port, but the concentrated beverage immediately found
acceptance 13. Ukrainian folklore heroes, more often ordinary peasants,
never head of brandy, as a drink.

Living conditions, such as: living conditions

in the city and in the the countryside; living standards
(regional, social and ethnic group variants)
Ukrainian lexeme шинок is for some reason translated as a tavern.
Though the nature of the words as well as their etymology is quite
different. According to the Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian
Language the word шинок is an old word to denote the institution for
selling and drinking alcohol. The word is borrowed from Germain through
Polish: g. Schenke «шинок», svl. schenk(e) «the sale of the strong drinks»
connected with the word schenken «give; present wine in the korchma
13
Encyclopaedia Britannica Available online www.britannica.com/
81
(another Ukrainian name for a drinking place)», the word is close to the
English skink «to pore (wine, bier)»; germ.*skankian «to hold awry»
prodused from the adjective *skanka – «awry» 14.
The English nomination tavern, is used to name the establishment
where alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises.
Tavern keeping has paralleled the growth of trade, travel, and industry
throughout history and virtually worldwide (http://www.britannica.com/
topic/tavern). As to the etymology, the word tavern appeared in the
late 13c., with the meaning of the "wine shop," later "public house"
(mid-15c.), from Old French tavern (mid-13c.) "shed made of boards,
booth, stall," also "tavern, inn," from Latin taberna "shop, inn, tavern,"
originally "hut, shed, rude dwelling," possibly by dissimilation from
*traberna, from trabs (genitive trabis) "beam, timber," from PIE *treb-
"dwelling" (cognates: Lithuanian troba "a building," Old Welsh treb
"house, dwelling," Welsh tref "a dwelling," Irish treb "residence," Old
English ðorp "village, hamlet, farm, estate"). If so, the original meaning
probably was "wooden shed" 15.

Traditions, customs, superstitions, mythology

For example the Ukrainian Ох is transcribed as Oh, Oh is an ancient
Slavonic mythical creature, the ruler of the Forest Kingdom. Appears in
the tale called "Oh" and is described as the short old man all green with a
long beard. Appears out of nowhere on a stump after someone sitting on a
tree stump exclaims the word "oh". In the English version of the tale Ох is
described “as a little little old man, all so wrinkled and puckered, and his
beard was quite green and reached right down to his knee”. In Ukrainian
Ох is an exclamation used for the expression of physical pain, suffering,
fear, a feeling of relief and so on. In English oh is an exclamation used to
express a range of emotions including surprise, anger, disappointment, or
joy, or when reacting to a remark. The target language notion is
corresponding the source language word not only in the form but is very
close to the base concept. But the Ukrainian word мавки is translated as
water-nixies: “А за наймичок у Оха мавки – такі зелені, як рута!”.
“And Oh had water-nixies for serving-maids, and they were all as green as
rue." Мавка is Fairy forest creature in the image of a beautiful naked girl
with long flowing hair, the closest British image is the wood nymph.
The Neck, Nicor, or Nixie or Nokken (German: Nixe; Norwegian: nøkk;

14
Етимологічний словник української мови в 7-ми томах Редкол. О. С. Мельничук
(голов. ред.), Київ: Наукова думка 1982-1989. Т. 5, 345.
15
Online Etymology Dictionary Available online: http://etymonline.com.
82
Swedish: näck; Finnish:näkki) are shapeshifting water spirits in Germanic
mythology and folklore, who usually appeared in forms of other creatures.
Nixe from Old High German nihhus is a crocodile; related to Sanskrit
nijanas “washing oneself”. The male Nix (Nicker) was originally a water-
monster of an animal nature, regarded as malicious and dangerous.
In Sweden, it is known as Nack. The female Nixe is a water-sprite with a
human torso and the tail of a fish. There are similar beings in the folklore
of many nations: cf. the →Rusalka of the Slavs and the →Ningyo of the
Japanese. So it is obvious that those spirits are of different nature 16.
The word чорт is generally rendered by “demon” or “devil”, чорт is
considered to be a demon of total evil, with horns, hoofs, skinny tail, and a
pig-face in Slavic mythology (demonology). He is the son of the Slavic
god Chernobog and the goddess Mara. In Ukraine, he is also known as
гаспид, дідько, ірод і куций (haspyd, didko, irod, and kutsyi). In folk
Christianity, he is considered a minion of Satan 17.
As T. Peredriyenko observes “The feature of the nominations of the
kind is that the Slavic lingvocultural name for the concept is the lexical
unit чорт which is opposed to English, where the name standing for the
concept is the nomination devil (Ukrainian диявол)” 18. The devil is
represented in church literature just as it was introduced in Slavic
lingvocultures, that is devoid of national characteristics. The concept чорт
has come about a very significant change: it has obtained new features, as
well as managed to keep the old, absorbing the signs of the Satan and hell,
pagan and Christian devil and Satan. In the modern lingvoculture the
notion of чорт is used as genitive – to describe the ancient pre-Christian
faith evil spirit and in the Christian sense, the image of the devil.
The direct naming of the Devil, as with the deity, has been subject to
severe taboos originating in notions of word magic. There has always been
respect for diabolical power and a belief that an oath invoking the Devil
could be binding if heartfelt. Historically, however, the situation was more
complex: the name of the Devil was very current in medieval oaths, then
became euphemized, distorted, or “minced” between the Puritan and
Victorian periods, and reinstated in the twentieth century. By this time,
with the secularization of society, the name had little impact 19.

16
Online Etymology Dictionary. Available online: http://ety.monline.com.
17
Войтович В. Українська міфологія, Київ, 2005. С. 591.
18
Передриенко Т. Ю. Бог и дьявол Текст. Антология концептов. Т. З. Волгоград,
2006. С. 174.
19
Hughes G. An encyclopedia of swearing : the social history of oaths, profanity, foul
language, and ethnic slurs in the English-speaking world. Armonk: New York, 2006. Р. 118.
83
 The English modern term devil derives from Anglo-Saxon deofol,
which in turn is rooted in Greek διαβολος, “the slanderer, liar or false
accuser,” the foundation of the notion of the Father of Lies. Although
England was technically converted to Christianity in 597, Anglo-Saxon
has many compounds, such as deofol craft for “witchcraft” or “devil
worship,” deofol seocnesse for “devil sickness” or “possession by the
devil,” and deofilisc, “devilish,” all of which seemto be literal 20.
Ukrainian Див is rendered into English by means of descriptive
translation. The expression Evil Powers is used: In the olden times all
manner of Evil Powers walked abroad. The translator also gives a note:
Div. This ancient, untranslatable word (comp. Latin Deus)is probably of
Lithuanian origin, and means any malefic power. In the Ukrainian
mythology Див, Дій, Дів is first of all considered to be the God of the Sky.
The ancestors usually gave the Sky the masculine image and the Land was
associated with the feminine Goddesses. Див stands close to the main
Slavic Gods, such as Perun, and mainly is not associated with the Evil
Powers 21.

Etiquette and ritual behavior

The tradition of drinking as stereotyped behavior is one of the most
common Ukrainian traditions described in the folk texts. Ukrainian
expression випити на коня (to drink for the horse) is usually rendered
into English as to have one for the road. In the Ukrainian correlate of
this phraselogical unit we can see the updated and reinvented Cossack
trip script. It refers to certain cultural stereotypes, etiquette-labeled
behavior standards and, as a result, to rethinking of the original meal,
drinking alcohol prototype. The origin of the English phrase to have
one for the road is associated with the practice of passing death
sentences. The sentenced to death was offered a last drink in the pub on
the way to Tyburn Tree, the place public executions in London
(http://www.backroadstouring.co.uk).

Abstract concepts inherited by a certain culture

Abstract concepts and ideas met in the Ukrainian folklore text prevail
by the notions of soul (душа), happiness (щастя), fortune (доля) and so
on. Ideas of the kind mainly inherit the mythologically specified images
that cannot be translated in the word-to-word translation but demand the

20
Hughes G. An encyclopedia of swearing : the social history of oaths, profanity, foul
language, and ethnic slurs in the English-speaking world: Armonk, New York, 2006. Р. 118.
21
Войтович В. Українська міфологія: Київ, 2005. С. 146.
84
essential knowledge of the Ukrainian specific mythology, culture as well
as the folk psychology.
The peculiar feature of such concepts in Ukrainian and English is the
partial difference of their semantic structure. English fortune is more
abstract than Ukrainian щастя or доля. In the English texts the word
happiness mainly gives its name to the whole concept as a category:
fortune acquired its meaning first in 1300, "chance, luck as a force in
human affairs," from Old French fortune "lot, good fortune, misfortune"
(12 c.), from Latin fortuna "chance, fate, good luck," from fors (genitive
fortis) "chance, luck," possibly ultimately from PIE root*bher "to carry".
If so, the sense might be "that which is brought". Sense of "owned wealth"
is first found in Spenser; probably it evolved from senses of "one's
condition or standing in life," hence "position as determined by wealth,"
then "wealth, large estate" itself. Often personified as a goddess; her wheel
betokens vicissitude 22.
Thus, we can say that the pursuit of happiness often met in folklore texts
include, in its eessence, not only search for some abstract moral satisfaction,
but also wealth. People views, specifications and superstitions concerning
fortune have ethno-cultural specifications and original approach hat is
differant from one civilization to another. This seme to some extent is
implemented in the folklore texts. One can agree with S. G. Vorkachov who
said that “the conceptual component of this concept is formed, above all, by
the core definition that includes distinctive, genus-specific features that fix
the boundaries of the domain to which it belongs: fortune is a positive and
emotional evaluation of one’s own fate. Another conceptual component
formant of the fortune concept is presented by the essentialist semantics,
which is associated with the interpretation of the last within a particular
ideological concept. We can assume that the specific concept is precisely
determined by the number of culturally marked everyday representations –
everyday concepts that are shared by the ethnic society members” 23.
So based on the following determination one can make a parallel between
the English lexeme fortune, and the Ukrainian concept доля. The word доля
is partially izosemic to fortune in the meaning of material wealth. According
to the etymological dictionary of the Ukrainian language доля has the
meaning “part; fate”, and the lexemes бездолець, бездолля, бездольний,
бездольник, здольний, здольщина, знедолений, знедолити, недоля are its
derivatives. The word comes from р. bl. доля, dr. доль, p. dola, ch. dola
(from rus.), st. dole, slov. dol’a, дол(а) – psl. dolja “part”, connected with
22
Online Etymology Dictionary. Available online .
23
Воркачев С. Г. Концепт счастья в русском языковом сознании: опыт лингво-
культурологического анализа: Краснодар, 2002. С. 112.
85
děliti “divide”; – related to lit. dalìs “part”, [dalià] “fortune, happyness”,
dalýti “divide”; the semantics (“part” > “доля”) is close to the Russian удел
“part” – apanage; independent principality in mediaeval Russia, участь
(lot, destiny) 24.

CONCLUSIONS
It seems possible to conclude that the translation of the folk text
concerning its style high frequency of outdated vocabulary and a large
number of realities peculiar to a source folklore language also shows a
difficulty of transferring the historical and cultural coloring. When
translating it often occurs that some background cultural information, of a
native speaker (source language speaker) does not correspond to the
information contained in the target language. This information can turn
into unfamiliar and incomprehensible, even if it deals with an ordinal,
seemingly similar situation. Lacunae vocabulary, the words that can not be
rendered with a simple translation, being the integral part of each of the
lexical systems, depict the uniqueness of ethno-cultural group individual
perception. Such vocabulary is mainly traced while dealing with everyday
life, like food and beverage, meal hours, etiquette; with living conditions,
such as: living conditions in the city and in the the countryside; living
standards (regional, social and ethnic group variants), chores; etiquette and
ritual behavior; abstract concepts inherited by a certain culture; traditions,
customs, superstitions realized in the mythology. Thus the problem of
rendering culturally marked lexicon in the folk text depends on the level of
the translator’s background knowledge. The gaps in which bring the partial
or complete misunderstanding of the source text can as well lead to the full
misidentification of the source language culture.

SUMMARY
The paper deals with the translation of units that belong to the folk
vocabulary in Ukrainian, English taking into account specific
lingvocultural features inherent in each language. The patterns of structural
and semantic organization of the main translational models of such
vocabulary are settled. The means of verbalization and cultural coding
within "folk" world picture are traced. The conceptual basis of the linguo-
cultural semantics objectification of folk vocabulary in Ukrainian, English
texts of the XIX century are studied. Lacunae (culturally marked lexical
units) are considered as the main difficulty for rendering from one

24
Етимологічний словник української мови в 7-ми томах Редкол. О. С. Мельничук
(голов. ред.). Київ: Наукова думка, 1982–1989. Т. 2. 107.
86
language into another. The specific ways of such culturally marked lexical
units translation are reviewed through figurative categories used in folk
vocabulary (metaphor, simile, connotation). The special attention is paid to
rendering the mithological lexical and phraseological units that are singled
out as a separate layer of folk vocabulary, as well as the precedent
phenomena impact on the appearance of precedent names. The main task
of this research is to select, describe and study the folk lacunae vocabulary
of the three languages in accordance to each other (based on the texts of
the XIX century), to determine the means of lacunae compensation in the
dictionaries as well the folk texts of the XIX centuries translated.
The cause of lacunae one language units appearance in relation to the other
languages and vice a versa is determined, the selection of ethnographic
lacunae units are compared with other languages, as well as the
development of equivalence and adequacy conditions of translation at the
level of lacunae units of compared languages is studied.

REFERENCES
1. Войтович В. Українська міфологія. Київ 2005.
2. Воркачев С. Г. Концепт счастья в русском языковом сознании:
опыт лингвокультурологического анализа. Краснодар 2002.
3. Етимологічний словник української мови в 7-ми томах. Редкол.
О. С. Мельничук (голов. ред.). Київ: Наукова думка 1982–1989.
4. Передриенко Т. Ю. Бог и дьявол Текст. Антология концептов.
Т. З. Волгоград, 2006.
5. Сорокин Ю. А. Переводоведение: статус переводчика и психо-
герменевтические процедуры. Москва, 2003.
6. Bain R. N. Cossack fairy tales and folk tales 1902.
7. Collins English Dictionary. Available online:
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english.
8. Curtin J. Myths and folk-tales of the Russians, Western Slavs,
and Magyars by Jeremiah Curtin. Boston, 1903.
9. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Available online www.britannica.com.
10. Hughes G. An encyclopedia of swearing : the social history of
oaths, profanity, foul language, and ethnic slurs in the English-speaking
world. Armonk, New York, 2006.
11. Livesay R. F. Songs of Ukraina with Ruthenian poems translated
by Florence Randal Livesay. London, 1916.
12. McCormick Ch., White K. Folklore. An Encyclopedia of Beliefs,
Customs, Tales, Music, and Art. ABC-CLIO, 2010.
13. Online Etymology Dictionary. Available online http://etymonline.com.
14. Ralston W. R. S. Russian folk-tales. London, 1873.
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 15. Ralston W. R. S. The songs of the Russian people, as illusteative
of Slavonic mythology and Russian social life. Eontton, 1872.
16. Wratislaw A. H. Sixty folk-tales from exclusively Slavonic sources.
Translated with brief introductory notes by A. H. Wratisla. London, 1889.

Information about the author:

Palchevska O. S.,
Ph.D., Associate Professor at the Department
of Foreign Languages and Translation Studies,
Lviv State University of Life Safety
35, Kleparivska str., Lviv, 79007, Ukraine

88
DOI https://doi.org/10.36059/978-966-397-149-0/89-104

CONCEPTUAL EQUIVALENCE AS A CRITERION

OF TRANSLATION QUALITY ASSESSMENT

Popovych N. M.

INTRODUCTION
This study is based on the recent contributions in the fields of
translation studies and mostly translation criticism, corpus linguistics with
its corpus-based language research and collecting of different statistic data
on language use and variety, conceptual semantics that roots mostly on
R. Jackendoff’s theory of lexical concepts and other relevant to its subject-
matter fields.
J. Naudé provides six assumptions for the translation of religious texts,
i.e., (1) translation of religious texts as normal translation, (2) translation
of sacred texts as opening up of a foreign culture, (3) translations of sacred
texts for specific purposes, (4) utilising translation strategies instead of
striving towards equivalence, (5) a descriptive instead of a normative
analysis of the translations of sacred texts and (6) cultural knowledge in
the translation of sacred texts is shaped by the epistemology, hermeneutics
and religious spirituality of the translators 1. Hence, according to these
assumptions the right principles of religious text translation do not still
exist and the religious text translatability is very difficult to reach.
Many Ukrainian, Western European and American scholars contributed
to the development of the theory of equivalence and translatability.
О. О. Potebnya suggested the preservation of the unity of the external
form, content and internal form of the source text in the target language
text, V. N. Komissarov developed the hierarchical model of equivalence,
A.D. Shveitser suggested the layered model of communicative and
pragmatic equivalence, Ya. Y. Retzker in 1974 elaborated the theory of
regular correspondences (equivalence within the text units). E. Nida,
J. Catford, H. Hönig, M. Snell-Hornby, G. Jäger, use the notion of
“equivalence” as a key term for Western European and American
translation studies scientific schools. Western European scholars
differentiate full equivalence and relative equivalence. Supporters of the
first tendency were E. Naida, J. Ketford, G. Hönig, P. Kussmaul, K. Rice,

1
J. Naudé, Religious translation / J. Naudé // Handbook of Translation Studies,ed. Yves
Gambier and Luc van Doorslaer. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Vol. 1. 2010. 458 p. Р. 285–292.
89
G. Fermeer, M. Snell-Hornby. Jäger, V. Koller, J. Albrecht, and
G. Gertzimisch-Arbogas supported the second type of equivalence.
In 1965, J. Catford suggested formal and text-level equivalence.
E.Nida preferred the term "functional equivalence".What the term
"functional equivalence" suggests is not just that the equivalence is
between the function of the source text in the source culture and the
function of the target text (translation) in the target culture, but that
"function" can be thought of as a property of the text. It is possible to
associate functional equivalence with how people interact in cultures 2.
Correspondence of the source language unit to the target language unit
on the level of their conceptual sememe component correspondence which
are characterized by image, perceptual and value connotations 3.
Translated and Ukrainian religious concepts and religious terminology
were studied in various aspects by G. Baran, S. Bibla, S. Bogdan,
O. Biletsky, S. Bilyk, T. Vilchynska, L. Voronovskaya, S. Garbuz,
I. Grimalovsky, Ya. Dzoganik, G. Didyk-Meush, U. Doboshevych,
E. Zhernovy, V. Zadorozhny, L. Zakrenitska, O. Ivashchenko, Z. Kaspri-
shin, M. Kolbuch, Z. Kunch, G. Kuz, O. Kurganova, I. Lopushinsky,
T. Markotenko, O. Matushek, G. Nakonechna, V. Nimchuk, Hilarion
(Ohienko), M. Petrovich, N. Poddubna, L. Polyuga, M. Priymich,
O. Pryskoka, N. Puryaev, M. V. Skab, K. Simovich, Y. Chernyshova,
M. Fabian, L. Fedash, P. Chuchka, I. Shevchenko, M. Shtets,
A. Yasinovskyi and O. Yasinovskyi.
Corpus linguistics is relevant to the study of translatability and
translation equivalence theories, conceptual equivalence and verbalized
concepts in the target language text by means of different corpus-based
tools. FrameNet is one which gives the possibility to closer study of the
verbalized target language concepts and their componential meanings and
“is based on a theory of meaning called Frame Semantics, deriving
from the work of Charles J. Fillmore and colleagues (Fillmore 1976,
1977, 1982, 1985, Fillmore and Baker 2001, 2010). The basic idea is
straightforward: that the meanings of most words can best be understood
on the basis of a semantic frame, a description of a type of event, relation,
or entity and the participants in it” 4.

2
Nida, Eugene A., Charles R. Taber. (1969). The Theory and Practice of Translation, With
Special Reference to Bible Translating, 200. Leiden: Brill. P. 51.
3
Попович Н.М. Давньогрецька тринітарна термінологія у різномовних перекладах
(На матеріалі патристичної літератури IV століття): монографія / науковий редактор проф.
Клименко Н.Ф. Ужгород: Видавництво УжНУ «Говерла», 2018. 309 с. C. 43–50.
4
What is FrameNet? [Online]. Available: https://framenet.icsi.berkeley.edu/fndrupal/
WhatIsFrameNet.
90
 1. Main issues of religious text translatability
It is known that the problem of translatability has existed since the time
the practice of translation existed itself. There were attempts to
theoretically substantiate and address the problems of translatability by
contemporaries and even precursors of the Fathers of the Church. Such
was the experience of the famous translator Saint Jerome of Stridon. In
addition to the translation of the Gospel into Latin, i.e., the Vulgate, the
writer and translator raised the issues of translatability, recognizing the
difficulties of translating "the Chronicles" of Eusebius into Latin.
N. Kholmohorova, the translator of St. Jerome’s “Letter LVII. To
Pammachius on the Best Method of Translating” into Russian 5, underlines
that the voices of the Church Fathers remained unheard in today’s
discussions on the principles of biblical translation. Although main
translation issues and difficulties discussed by Church Fathers remain very
similar and close to nowadays’ translation issues in the field of religious
translation, they have not been completely resolved yet.
The absence of one text of the Holy Bible in Ancient Greek and Latin
recognized by all Christian Churches, different ways of translating biblical
texts suggested by the Ancient Greek philologists who had been
developing the principles and the rules of translating for centuries, the
importance of adequate biblical translations and its adaptability for every
unusual doctrine are only a few issues the translators of the 4th century
had to face and resolve. To gain the adequate translation of religious text
today’s translator faces the same difficulties and has to overcome similar
obstacles to prove that the notion of translatability is more developed and
the principles of translatability are fixed.
J. Naudé tends to divide the developmental history of Bible translation
into four Great Ages.“ The First Great Age (about 200 BCE to the fourth
century CE) has a Jewish setting (Alexandria and Western Asia) and the
target languages involved were Greek (Septuagint) and Aramaic (Targums
& Peshitta). The Second Great Age (fourth century CD to about 1500 or the
Middle/Dark Ages) was Catholic in origin with its main centers in Palestine
and the emerging Christian communities in the Roman Empire. The target
language was Latin (Jerome’s Vulgate). A salient feature of this age is the
Christianising of the Hebrew source text; thus new meaning and nuances
were read into Hebrew and Greek-Septuagint words and phrases. The Third
Great Age (about 1500–1960) has an essentially Protestant setting.

5
Иероним Стридонский. Письмо LVII. К Паммахию о наилучшем способе перевода /
Иероним Стридонский; [пер. с латыни Н. Холмогоровой, под редакцией М. Касьян и
Т. Миллер] // Альфа и Омега. № 4(7). 1995. С. 173–187.
91
The target languages were English, German, French, Dutch, Spanish, etc.
The main centers of activity were located in those regions where the
(essentially Protestant) trade communities were developing at the expense of
the old (essentially Catholic) feudalist establishments. … The Fourth Great
Age/Epoch/Phase in Bible translation introduces a significant change in the
overall philosophy of Bible translation. It shows the unprecedented attempt
on the part of the Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant communities in the
United States and Great Britain to cooperate interconfessionally” 6.
Translatability and translation assessment criteria (TAC) have been
raised for discussion by many generations of translators until now. As it
was already stated in many scientific contributions to translatability issues,
text translating as a process undergoes multilayered transformations until it
is recreated in the socio-cultural tradition of the target language. To
compare the stylistic and lexico-grammatical features of the text translated
into the target language, to assess its quality and see better and more
faithful equivalents for specific terminology etc. are the tasks of translator
himself or his colleagues, i.e. translation critics.
Multicultural differences, language similarity and dissimilarity, source
and target texts time distance, individual and very particular author’s
picture of the world, verbalized concepts of the source language text are
those obstacles, to name just few, translator has to overcome to make the
target text adequate, faithful and accessible to the target reader or listener.
The highest possible level of translatability can be defined by E. Nida
and C.R.Taber (1974) thesis. They “view translation as reproducing in the
receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source text, first in
terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. A translation is dynamic
equivalent to the source text if the message of the source text has been
transported into the receptor language in such a way that the response
of the receptor is essentially that of the original receptors” 7.

2. The Idea of Corpus-Based Concept Analysis

of the Target Religious Texts
Corpus-based language study increased tremendously during the last
two decades. Corpus tools are applied in language acquisition techniques,
support indispensably translation or interpreting activities and are of great

6
J. Naudé, Religious translation / J. Naudé // Handbook of Translation Studies,ed. Yves
Gambier and Luc van Doorslaer. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Vol. 1. 2010. 458 p. Р. 288–289.
7
1. Naudé J., Religious translation / J. Naudé // Handbook of Translation Studies,ed. Yves
Gambier and Luc van Doorslaer. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Vol. 1. 2010. 458 p. P. 289..
92
importance for specific linguistic research purposes. Corpus tools aimed
at completing different linguistic tasks can be classified into groups
in accordance with the needs of the final user. Some recent classifications
of corpus tools and corpus toolboxes has outlined the discrepancy between
real functional and desirable multifunctional adaptability of corpus tools
in resolving the above mentioned tasks.
The notion “linguistic corpus” means “electronically available
collection of texts or transcripts of audio recordings which is sampled to
represent certain language, language variety or other linguistic domain” 8.
Although optionally, text corpora and corpus tools comprise the levels of
linguistic analysis called linguistic annotation 9. The data collected into
corpus “can vary tremendously in quality and quantity depending on the
research design” “Previously proposed classifications of corpora and
corpus tools were aimed at developing the tool which, within the bulk of
mainstream corpus tools available nowadays, would be of task-based
functionality or multifunctionality and would extract that kind of
information from the text data the researcher needs for the ongoing
investigation” 10. Hence, it was suggested to classify corpora and corpus
tools into groups for better understanding of their advantages and
disadvantages and for putting forward the solutions of the underlying
problems. We divide corpus tools and corpora into four major groups:
(1) content-based, (2) functionality-based, (3) aim- or purpose-based and
(4) generation-based corpora and corpus tools. There is also a great
number of different linguistic tools, i.e., so-called corpus software tools
directed toward the accomplishment of one task either linguistic or statistic
in its nature. Among them are offline and web-based concordancers like
AntConc (v.3.5.8, February 18, 2019), WordSmith Tools (v. 7, 2019),
#LancsBox (v 4.0, 2018), JConcorder (ver. 1.beta.13, 2011), text coding,
(manual) annotation programs, text-analysis tools & search engines like
DART (ver. 3.0, 2019), Dexter and tools & resources for transcribing,
annotating or analyzing texts (inc. speech or audio-visual) like CLaRK,
ELAN (EUDICO Linguistic Annotator), GATE (General Architecture for
Text Engineering), stats tools like Log-likelihood and effect size
calculator, taggers like CLAWS, Stanford POS tagger and others 11.
8
S. Kübler and H. Zinsmeister, Corpus Linguistics and Linguistically Annotated Corpora
(Engli.sch), New York; London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015. Р. 21–156. http://dx.doi.org/
10.5040/9781472593573.
9
Ibid.
10
A. Lutskiv, N. Popovych. (8-11/10.2019). Adaptable Text Corpus Development for Specific
Linguistic Research in Proc. of 2019 IEEE International Scientific and Practical Conference
"Problems of Infocommunications. Science and Technology".
11
Ibid.
93
 Content-based corpora and corpus tools can be subdivided into
1.1. national, 1.2. professional, 1.3. parallel, 1.4. comparable, 1.5. speciali-
zed and 1.6. task-based (adaptable or mixed). The examples of English
corpora are vastly overrepresented and described in a number of English
corpus reviews, but to be named English national corpora or pretending to
be of standard English, there are only a few of them worth mentioning.
The Brown Corpus of Standard American English or the Brown Corpus by
W.N. Francis and H. Kucera, the British National Corpus managed by the
BNC Consortium and the Corpus of Contemporary American English are
the most vivid examples of national corpora of both British and American
English. Firstly, they all are monolingual, i.e., representing modern British
English or American English, but not other languages written or spoken in
those countries. Secondly, they are synchronic and general, i.e., including
many different styles and varieties, and are not limited to any particular
subject field, genre or register and containing examples of both spoken and
written language. And finally, both the British National Corpus and the
Brown Corpus are sample corpora that allow for a wider coverage of texts
within certain limit.
Ukrainian National Corpora are represented by several projects which
have been realized till nowadays. Corpus of the Ukrainian Language
(N. Dartchuk, O. Siruk, M. Langenbach, Ya. Khodakivska, V. Sorokin at
the Institute of Philology of TKU of Kyiv), Labоratory of Ukrainian
(Ukrainian) and General Regionally Annotated Corpus of Ukrainian
(GRAC) (Ukrainian), to name just a few which are the most developed
of the Ukrainian language corpora and corpus tools. The latter are not the
same in terms of quality and effectiveness in comparison to those
developed for the English language analysis and for English user. English
corpora and corpus tools have larger range of choice and are of different
content, purpose and functional capacity.
Professional corpora and corpus tools are more content-oriented and
focused on specialist language and vocabulary like Air Traffic Control
(ATC) Corpus or Carnegie Mellon Communicator Corpus.
OPUS is one of the best examples of parallel multilingual corpora
which contains converted and aligned free online data and added linguistic
annotation. OPUS project team provides the community with a publicly
available parallel corpus. It is based on open source products and the
corpus is also delivered as an open content package.
Another type of multilingual corpus is comparable corpus which
consists of original texts rather than translations where all texts are similar
in content, but they differ in languages or language varieties in the sense
that the texts of the same domain are aligned. These types of corpora are
94
aimed at comparing the languages or varieties presented in similar
circumstances of communication, without the distortions which appear in
translated texts of parallel corpora.
To specialized corpora belong BASE (British Academic Spoken
English) compiled by Hilary Nesi and Paul Thompson, BAWE (British
Academic Written English), LANCAWE (Lancaster Corpus of Academic
Written English) to name just a few.
All above named corpus groups can be also classified according to their
functional annotation set into linguistic on the word level, syntactic,
semantic and discourse. According to their aim or purpose corpora or
corpus tools are divided into corpora for linguistic research and statistical
data extraction. Language learner’s corpus is highly demandable in the L2
acquisition process. Parallel and comparable corpora and other corpus
tools are used in translation. The last type among aim-based corpora we
identified is for lexicographical language study 12.
Corpus-based concept analysis as a type of linguistic research is one of
the newest trend in the corpus linguistics language analysis. The FrameNet
project is one of the most relevant tool which could be used for corpus-
based concept analysis. It has been in operation at the International
Computer Science Institute in Berkeley since 1997 and presents a lexical
database of English that is both human- and machine-readable, based on
annotating examples of how words are used in actual texts 13.
Corpus-based conceptual seme analysis of verbalized religious
concepts would facilitate the interrelations on the level of conceptual seme
equivalence study. FrameNet project, although it can satisfy more than
13,000 word senses, which are with annotated examples that show the
meaning and usage and serve as a valence dictionary, with uniquely
detailed evidence for the combinatorial properties of a core set of
multilingual vocabulary, it is still cannot provide conceptual seme analysis
using parallel corpora as a source and extract the minimal seme meaning
of the verbalized concept. This idea found its realization in the mutual
interdisciplinary project dedicated to the adaptable corpus development
aimed at fulfillment of specific linguistic research. The software tool
comprises the quality, effectiveness, option-based functionality and is task-
based or adaptable to specific linguistic research tasks with higher level of
big data workflow capacity and less ambiguity indicator. Data analysis
process is expected to allow the automation process of finding:

12
Lutskiv A., Popovych N. (8-11/10.2019). Adaptable Text Corpus Development for Specific
Linguistic Research in Proc. of 2019 IEEE International Scientific and Practical Conference
"Problems of Infocommunications. Science and Technology".
13
About FrameNet. [Online]. Available: https://framenet.icsi.berkeley.edu/fndrupal/about.
95
1) generate – terms relevant to concepts; 2) synonyms; 3) polysems;
4) terms which are close by their meanings; 5) documents which are close
by their meaning; 6) the most important terms in the documents.
An initial successful step in this direction has been taken on the
example of the Holy Bible English translations with the analysis of more
then1140 texts and shown the relations between concepts (such as light,
road, life, heaven, temple etc.), documents and terms 14.

3. Classification of religious text information and the notion

of conceptual equivalence
(On the Example of the Ancient Greek Religious Concept “Light”)
The hypothesis of this study is based on the assumption that the
information contained in the specialist' texts of the Ukrainian language is
divided into three genera: 1. The first-class information – conceptual,
based on a conceptual schema or semantic network of interrelated concepts
and concepts of a particular field of knowledge 15; “2. The second-class
information – objectively logical and objective information in the author's
vision of the surrounding world; 3. information of the third class –
subjective information: evaluative, emotional information, i.e., feelings,
emotions, mood of the author” 16.
The percentage of all three types of information in the texts of the
seven styles of the Ukrainian literary language is different. Not all types of
information are present in the individual style texts. For example, for
the most part, scientific and technical texts do not contain the third kind
of information, since they are devoid of the emotions, feelings and moods
of the author.
On the example of the verbalized Ancient Greek religious concept
“light” we are going to demonstrate the dependency of the content of the
text on the sense power of the verbalized concept and the specificity of
conceptual componential analysis of the verbalized conceptual sememe.
The concept of light is one of the most popular verbal icons of many
cultures, religions and national traditions. There was suggested a twofold
perspective of the concept development and its inner sense changeability
by means of componential concept seme analysis. The continuity of one
14
Lutskiv A., Popovych N. (8-11/10.2019). Adaptable Text Corpus Development for Specific
Linguistic Research in Proc. of 2019 IEEE International Scientific and Practical Conference
"Problems of Infocommunications. Science and Technology".
15
Дэвидсон Д. Об идее концептуальной схемы / Д. Дэвидсон // Аналитическая философия.
Избранные тексты [Сост. А.Ф.Грязнов]. – М.: Изд-во МГУ. – 1986 – С. 144–159.
16
Некряч Т. Є. Через терни до зірок : труднощі перекладу художніх творів. Для студентів
перекладацьких факультетів вищих навчальних закладів : навчальний посібник / Т. Є. Некряч,
Ю. П. Чала. – Вінниця: Нова Книга, 2010. – 195 с.
96
and the same verbalization of different and even polar concepts is also held
as a fact not needed to be proved. The multilingual text passages rich in
verbal representation of concept “light” and descending from different
religious traditions and periods were examined for the quantitative results
of the research.
M. Arranz, F. E. Brightman, F. J. Dölger, P. H. Engberding, John R. K.
Fenwick, F.-N. Klein, V. Vojtovych, Metropolinat Ilarion (Ohiyenko)
treated the concept of light from the viewpoints of religions’ history and
Christian liturgical traditions. Many investigators studied the verbalized
concept of light from the linguistic point of view. The interdisciplinary study
of such concepts is revealed to be an effective approach that helps to make
apparent the continuity of the outer form (verbalized concept) through
changeability and variations of the inner form (key ideas of different
religions represented by one and the same verbalized concept). Hence, the
verbalized concept outer form continuity through changeability of inner
senses under the influence of different religious beliefs and traditions proved
the fact of conceptual componential analysis necessity for the icons, notions
and terms stylistically marked and concept dependent. In particular, the
excerpts from ancient Hebraic berakhot, archaic classical and neo-hellenistic
anaphoras, original and translated works of st. Basil the Great, prayers and
liturgical rite of Eastern Christian tradition of Ukraine proved the fact
of continuity through changeability of inner senses under the influence of
different religious beliefs and traditions.
According to some scholars, the prayer “Φῶς ίλαρὸν” is a one of such
vivid examples of an interrupted verbalized concept existence. It takes its
use in Hebraic berakha (thanksgiving to the evening light) through
different prayer text forms to a magnificent prayer and chant completed
by st. Basil the Great. Preserved in the Ukrainian Christian traditions of the
Eastern rite this prayer reveals the live verbalized presence of Hebraic and
Christian traditions till nowadays Although st. Basil transformed the key
idea of the prayer and the concept of light is present in the prayer text as a
simile to compare Light with one God in Trinity, a Hebraic verbalized idea
of thanksgiving to the evening light is conserved at the very beginning
of the prayer text:
The methodological foundations in the history of the translatability and
the factors that determine the translatability dynamism require clarification
of important translation concepts such as faithfulness, equivalence and
adequacy. The ideas of the faithfulness, equivalence and adequacy in
translation is based on the correlation of criteria and requirements that
have been put forward by the scientist. The main objective to pursue was
to find an approach that would preserve the integrity of the external form
97
(lexico-grammatical word form), content (lexical meaning), and internal
form (sense or conceptual meaning) of the original in translation” 17.
One approach is to trace back the translating traditions which had been
created for centuries. It is worth mentioning that in translating verbalized
Ancient Greek concepts like “φῶς” two translation traditions of the
Ancient Greek Patristic texts should be taken into consideration. These
two translating traditions made apparent through aspect comparative
translation studies analysis. One tradition, so-called “Latin tradition”, is
the translation from Greek by the mediation of Latin translations. This
translation influence is traced in the German, English and Italian
translations of the Ancient Greek Patristic texts and concepts.
The second translating tradition, so-called “Slavonic tradition”, is the
translation from Greek by the mediation of the Ancient Bulgarian
language. The second tradition is present in the Russian and Ukrainian
translations of the Greek Patristic texts. The dependence on these
traditions of the modern translations of the Ancient Greek Patristic texts is
easy to trace in Trinitarian terminology translations and verbalized
Trinitarian concepts. The source and target texts of the famous Prayer Φῶς
ἱλαρὸν, which are given below, demonstrate many cases of inadequacy in
translating verbalized concept. Word-for-word, sense-to-sense, author’s
interpretation are the examples of possible concept translation into the
target language. Concept “light” has several conceptual semes preserved in
the target language texts, i.e., (1) the Divine Light (God’s Nature), (2) the
ineffable light, and the vision of the holy and sovereign Trinity, (3) only-
begottenly from the unbegotten light, (4) His uncreated light etc.

Table 1
Original and Translations of the Prayer Φῶς ἱλαρὸν

Φῶς ἱλαρὸν ἁγίας δόξης ἀθανάτου Πατρός, οὐρανίου, ἁγίου,

μάκαρος, Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ, ἐλθόντες ἐπὶ τὴν ἡλίου δύσιν, ἰδόντες
Source
Greek

φῶς ἑσπερινόν, ὑμνοῦμεν Πατέρα, Υἱόν, καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, Θεόν.

1.

Ἄξιόν σε ἐν πᾶσι καιροῖς ὑμνεῖσθαι φωναῖς αἰσίαις, Υἱὲ Θεοῦ,

ζωὴν ὁ διδούς· διὸ ὁ κόσμος σὲ δοξάζει.
O Light gladsome of the holy glory of the Immortal Father, the
Word-for-word

Translation

Heavenly, the Holy, the Blessed, O Jesus Christ, having come

English

upon the setting of the sun, having seen the light of the evening,
2.

we praise the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: God. Worthy it
is at all times to praise Thee in joyful voices, O Son of God, Giver
of Life, for which the world glorifies Thee.

17
Коптілов В. В. Теорія і практика перекладу. Навчальний посібник / Віктор
Вікторович Коптілов.– К. : Юніверс, 2003. – 280 с. – С. 9–10.
98
 Table 1 (continuance)
Вечірня пісня Синові Божому

Literary translation
Church Ukrainian
Світе тихий святия слави безсмертнаго Отца небесного,
святаго, блаженнаго, Ісусе Христе! Пришедше на запад
солнца, видівше світ вечерній, поєм Отца, Сина і Святаго
3.

Духа, Бога. Достоїн єси во вся времена піт бити гласи

преподобними. Сине Божий, живот даяй: тім же мір Тя
славит 18.
Свiте тихий святої слави Безсмертного Отця Небесного,
Святого, Блаженного, Iсусе Христе! Доживши до Заходу
Tranlation
Ukrainian
Literary

сонця, побачивши свiтло вечiрнє, оспівуємо Отця, Сина, i

4.

Святого Духа – Бога. Достойно є повсякчас прославляти Тебе

голосами преподобними, Сину Божий, що життя даєш; тим-
то й свiт Тебе славить.
O Gentle Light of the holy glory of the immortal, heavenly, holy,
Church Outside

blessed Father, O Jesus Christ: Having come to the setting of the

Orthodox
Russian

Russia

sun, having beheld the evening light, we praise the Father, the
5.

Son, and the Holy Spirit: God. Meet it is for Thee at all times to
be hymned with reverent voices, O Son of God, Giver of life.
Wherefore, the world doth glorify Thee. 19.
O Gladsome Light of the Holy Glory of the Immortal Father,
Heavenly, Holy, Blessed Jesus Christ! Now that we have come to
Church in
Orthodox

America

the setting of the sun and behold the light of evening, we praise
.6.

God Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For meet it is at all times to
worship Thee with voices of praise. O Son of God and Giver of
Life, therefore all the world doth glorify Thee.
O Gladsome Light of the holy glory / of the Immortal Father, /
Another Orthodox

heavenly, holy, blessed, O Jesus Christ.

Tanslation

Having Come to sunset / and beholding the evening light, we

7.

hymn the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: God.

Meet it is at all times that thou be hymned / with fitting voices,
O Son of God, thou Giver of Life; wherefore the world doth
glorify thee.
O Joyful Light of the holy glory of the immortal, heavenly, holy
Tranlsation

blessed Father, O Jesus Christ. Having come to the setting of the

Orthodox
Another

sun, having beheld the evening light, we hymn the Father, Son,
8.

and Holy Spirit, God. Meet it is at all times to hymn Thee with
reverend voices, O Son of God, Giver of Life, wherefore the
whole world doth glorify Thee.

18
Вечірня пісня Синові Божому/Молитви богослужбові з вечірні. [Online]. Available:
https://parafia.org.ua/biblioteka/molytvy/pravoslavnyj-molytoslov/molytvy-bohosluzhbovi-z-
vechirni.
19
The Unabbreviated Horologion, Jordanville, New York: Holy Trinity Monastery (published
1997), 1992, pp. 192–193.
99
 Table 1 (continuance)
O Joyful Light of the holy glory of the Father Immortal, the
heavenly, holy, blessed One, O Jesus Christ, now that we have
Catholic
Church
Greek
reached the setting of the sun, and see the evening light, we sing
9.

to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (+). It is fitting at all times to
raise a song of praise in measured melody to you, O Son of God,
the Giver of Life. Therefore, the universe sings your glory. 20.
Oh, Joyful Light, of the Holy Glory of the Father Immortal.
Heavenly, Holy, Blessed, Jesus Christ, since we have come, to the
Catholic
Melkite

Church

setting of the sun, and have seen the evening light, we praise God:
10.

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (+). It is proper for you to
be praised at all times by fitting melody. Oh, Son of God, Giver of
Life, wherefore the world glorifies You.
Used in the Office of the Dead and at Evening Prayer.
O radiant light, O sun divine
Of God the Father's deathless face,
O image of the light sublime
William Storey

That fills the heav'nly dwelling place.

Translation

O Son of God, the source of life,

11.

Praise is your due by night and day;

Our happy lips must raise the strain
Of your esteemed and splendid name.
Lord Jesus Christ, as daylight fades,
As shine the lights of eventide,
We praise the Father with the Son,
The Spirit blest and with them one.
Hail, gladdening Light, of His pure glory poured
Who is the immortal Father, heavenly, blest,
Holiest of Holies, Jesus Christ our Lord!
Translation
John Keble

Now we are come to the sun’s hour of rest;

The lights of evening round us shine;
12.

We hymn the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit divine!

Worthiest art Thou at all times to be sung
With undefiled tongue,
Son of our God, Giver of life, alone:
Therefore in all the world Thy glories, Lord, they own 21.

20
"MCI – Publications of the Byzantine Catholic Church".[Online]. Available:
metropolitancantorinstitute.org.
21
Anglican Hymn Book #54 /translated by John Keble// Church Book Room Press – 1965.
[Online]. Available:. https://hymnary.org/text/hail_gladdening_light_of_his_pure_glory_
100
 Table 1 (continuance)
O gladsome light, O grace Of God the Father's face,
The eternal splendour wearing; Celestial, holy, blest,
Robert Bridges
Our Saviour Jesus Christ, Joyful in thine appearing.
Translation
Now, ere day fadeth quite, We see the evening light,
13.

Our wonted hymn outpouring; Father of might unknown,

Thee, his incarnate Son, And Holy Spirit adoring.
To thee of right belongs All praise of holy songs,
O Son of God, Lifegiver; Thee, therefore, O Most High,
The world doth glorify, And shall exalt forever.
O gracious Light,
1979 American Book of

pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,

Common Prayer

O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!

Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
14.

and our eyes behold the vesper light,

we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.
Joyous light of glory of the immortal Father,
Lutheran Vespers

Heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ,

We have come to the setting of the Sun
And we look to the evening light.
15.

We sing to God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

You are worthy of being praised with pure voices forever.
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
The universe proclaims your glory.
Light of the world in grace and beauty,
Episcopal Church

mirror of God's eternal face,

Translation

transparent flame of love's free duty,

you bring salvation to our race.
16.

Now, as we see the lights of evening,

we raise our voice in hymns of praise;
worthy are you of endless blessing,
Sun of our night, Lamp of our days.

CONCLUSIONS
The theoretical basis of this study presents the conceptual scheme
of D. Davidson, framenets and conceptual analysis based on Frame
Semantics, deriving from the work of Charles J. Fillmore, the semantic
scheme of Ch. Ogden and A. Richards, the dynamic / functional equivalence
of E. Nida, classification of literary text information into three types by
T. Nekryatch and Y.Chala, linguistic experience of componential analysis
application (R. Jacobson, M. Kochergan, A. Kuznetsov, I. Kobozeva),
101
R. Jackendoff’s conceptual semantics models, conceptual equivalence as
trnaslation quality assessment criterion.
The results of conceptual componential analysis on the example of the
concept of “light” led to the following conclusions: 1) the Ancient Greek
concept of “light” is represented in different religions and different
Christian confessions demonstrating verbal continuity through religious
and conceptual changeability, e.g., from polytheistic Slavonic paganism to
nowadays’ Christian confessions of Ukraine; 2) the verbalized concept of
“light” sometimes knit together several religions into one text, e.g.,the
prayer “Φῶς ίλαρὸν” and exists in Christian traditions as a live witness of
the former epochs; 3) the concept of “light” in a polytheistic religion is
“reincarnated” in a monotheistic one, e.g., light of the sun is a giving life
spirit of pagan god Dazhdboh (God of Sun) and the burning of the heaven
fire of Svaroh).
Corpus-based conceptual seme analysis of verbalized religious
concepts would facilitate the interrelations on the level of conceptual seme
equivalence study. This idea found its realization in the mutual
interdisciplinary project dedicated to the adaptable corpus development
aimed at fulfillment of corpus-based componential concept analysis.

SUMMARY
This chapter studies a quality assessment criterion of specialist’s
translation based on translation analysis of the 4th century religious texts.
A short historical outline of translatability issues in biblical and Christian
literature translation led to the conclusion that religious translation has
been facing mostly the same set of issues since that time till nowadays.
The division of religious text information into three types underlines
different nature of such texts themselves and proves that conceptual type
of information is the frame on which other two types are based.
Conceptual equivalence is used as an additional quality assessment
criterion to evaluate already translated texts on the level of concept
adequacy. Elements of componential and comparative analysis revealed
some inadequacies in conceptual source and target language semes. The
idea of corpus-based concept analysis with the help of parallel corpora or
similar to FrameNet tools would facilitate the comparison of two or more
texts on the level of their conceptual semes.

102
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Information about the author:

Popovych N. M.,
Doctor of Philosophy in Theory of Translation
(Candidate of Philological Sciences),
Associate Professor at the Department
of Multicultural Education and Translation
of the State University “Uzhhorod National University”
14, Universytetska str., Uzhhorod, 88000, Ukraine

104
DOI https://doi.org/10.36059/978-966-397-149-0/105-122

LEXICAL AND SEMANTIC FEATURES

OF GEOLOGY TERMS IN ENGLISH

Rohach L. V.

INTRODUCTION
Terminology has always been the object of linguistic investigation. It
can be explained by the fact that terms are always used by the speakers of
many languages, they can be found in manuals of many spheres of human
activities. Many terms have become lexical units of common language,
because of the extreme development of modern science. Terminology is a
separate subsystem of lexicology. The main tendencies of lexicology of
national language are reflected in terminology.
Semantics is central in the study of communication. As communication
becomes more and more a crucial factor in social organization, the need to
understand it becomes more and more pressing. Nowadays, undeniable is
the statement about the primacy of linguistic content over form, the
primacy of the lexical basis in the word and the possibility of applying
semantic approach to the formalized study of all levels of language 1.
The importance of the present research is dictated by the need of
investigating English terminological system of geology with application of
the methodology of formalized analysis of lexical semantics, that in our
research presupposes distinguishing the meanings of lexical units in
common language and terminological system, the study of correlation
between different terminological systems and different semantic
phenomena of terminology.
The object of the research is 74 English terms of geology with the
explanation of their special and common meanings, 77 semes that were
singled out from the meanings of the English lexical units. The subject of
the research is detecting the semantic characteristics of the English lexical
units being the members of terminological system of geology and a part of
common language lexical layer. In our investigation, we present the
characteristics of these meanings by means of describing the matrix,
constructed according to the principle of rank arrangement of the
components of meanings.

1
Сорока Т.В. Семантика найбільш багатозначних англійських аксіономерів // Сучасні
дослідження з іноземної філології. Вип 12. 2014. C. 189.
105
 The structure and system of literary language are most naturally and
extensively represented by dictionaries, where the content of lexical units is
covered in a comprehensive way. Taking into account that “in the
dictionaries modern linguistics receives the most reliable and polished
material for formalized analysis of lexical semantics” 2, we have used
English explanatory dictionaries as a basis for the research. The specificity
of terminological studies prompted the necessity of investigation of
terminological dictionaries, which helped to define the peculiarities of the
analyzed lexical units and state the characteristics of their dictionary
representation. We strongly support the statement that “terminography as an
integrative discipline about the practice and theory of special terminological
dictionaries compilation is a branch located at the intersection of
lexicography, terminology, and a specific professional discipline” 3.
Semantic analysis of geology terms is performed on the basis of
lexicographic sources, such as explanatory dictionary Longman Dictionary
of Contemporary English and terminological dictionaries McGraw-Hill
Dictionary of Earth Science and McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Geology and
Mineralogy.
Relying on dictionary definition in semantic studies has its obvious
advantages. They are as follows: 1) when paraphrasing and semantically
expanding a dictionary entry none of the components of definitions are
excluded; 2) the methodology provides the opportunity to recognize the
identities and differences of the structures of lexical units’ meanings based
on the identities and differences of their periphrases; 3) it becomes
possible to operate a great number of lexical units, practically the whole
dictionary.

1. Componential analysis as a method of semantic study

of lexical units of different structure
The phenomenon of polysemy proved to be extremely important in our
research as it is the basis of semantic structure of the majority of lexical
units under analysis. In this study we treat polysemy as both a common
language phenomenon and a terminological one.
Most English words are polysemantic, i.e. are characterized by more
than one lexical meaning or lexico-semantic variants depending on the
context of their usage. In scientific literature polysemy is viewed as
“the existence in a word of several interconnected meanings that have one
2
Пещак М.М. Специфіка формальних ознак лексикографічної обробки слова //
Формалізовані основи семантичної класифікації лексики. – Київ: Наукова думка, 1982. С. 10.
3
Іваницький Р.В. Лексикографічні аспекти нормалізації термінів (на матеріалі німецьких,
англійських, українських та російських термінологічних одиниць). – Львів, 1995. С. 6.
106
or more common semantic components” 4. Y.Kuznetsova defines a
polysemantic word as “a cluster of several semantic variants of meaning
related to one lexeme” 5. These variants or separate meanings form
a semantic word paradigm, are semantically connected and can be realized
in different typical contexts.
Any polysemantic word is characterized by the system of meanings that
develops gradually, mostly over the centuries, as more and more new
meanings are added to old ones, or some of them become extinct. Thus, the
complicated processes of polysemy development involve both the
emergence of new meanings and the loss of old ones. Yet, the general
tendency with English vocabulary at the modern stage of its history is to
increase the total number of its meanings and in this way to provide for a
quantitative and qualitative growth of expressive resources of the language.
Polysemy is inherent in the very nature of words and concepts as every
object and every notion has many features and a concept reflected in a
word always represents generalization of several features of the object.
Some of such features or components of meaning are common with other
objects. Hence the possibility of using the same name in secondary
nomination for objects possessing common features which are sometimes
only implied in the original meaning. A word when acquiring new
meaning or meanings may also retain, and most often it does retain the
previous meaning. The semantic structure of a word should be investigated
at both levels: 1) of different meanings; 2) of semantic components within
each separate meaning. For a monosemantic word (word characterized by
one meaning) the first level is naturally excluded. Semantic structure of the
words – is the unity of all its meanings: grammatical forms and each
individual meaning of polysemantic words 6.
Polysemy in our research is viewed as the phenomenon when a word
has more than one meaning that are characterized by different connections.
In this respect words are not isolated in the language system but are
interrelated with other semantic groups of words. In the course of time
meanings of lexical units acquire different shades and even change, though
retaining a certain relationship.
Modern semantics treats a separate word meaning as a complex entity
having its own structure. Elaboration of this idea in practical aspect led to
the emergence of methodology of componential analysis, which is widely
applied in the investigations dealing with lexical semantics.

4
Харитончик З.А. Лексикология английского языка. – Минск: Вышейшая школа,
1992. С. 48.
5
Кузнецова E.B.Лексикология русского языка. – М.: Высшая школа, 1989. С. 101.
6
Cruise D.A. Monosemy vs. polysemy: Linguistics. – Cambridge, 1992. Р. 256.
107
 As an independent method in linguistics componential analysis
appeared in the late 50ies of the 20 century. The term itself belongs to
W. Goodenough. This method is based on defining differential meaning
components for the opposition of the words, which have the common
semantic part 7.
Componential analysis is particularly applicable to distinguish the
meanings of lexemes that are semantically related or in the same semantic
domain. It is based on the presumption that the meaning of a word is
composed of semantic components. So the essential features that form the
meaning are elementary units on semantic level. By componential analysis,
it is possible to state the smallest indivisible units of lexis or minimal
components 8. It is often seen as a process of breaking down the sense of a
word into its minimal distinctive features; that is, into components which
contrast with other components. It refers to the description of the meaning of
words through structured sets of semantic features, which are given as
“present”, “absent”, or “indifferent with reference to feature”9.
According to different authors minimal semantic units, that are the basis
of componential analysis, are called semantic components, semantic
features, seme, plereme, noema, semantic units, and so on. The components
of meaning are viewed in componential analysis as atomic concepts.
The lexical unit, seen as an independent entity, is not put under a separate
analysis, but in its possible linguistic paradigmatic and syntagmatic links 10.
Componential analysis results in the selection of semes that are a part of
words’ lexical meanings being rigidly organized structures. A seme is a
minimal unit of sense, an atom of lexical semantics distinguished on the
basis of oppositions by method of componential analysis. A seme is not
expressed in a word in any material unit but it’s revealed and singled out
through interrelations of the word with other words on a paradigmatic and
syntagmatic levels.
In our investigation we understand a seme as a semantic
microcomponent which reflects the specific features of the notion
represented by the word. Each seme as a microcomponent of meaning is
composed of two principal parts (components) – the semantic feature and
seme specifier. The seme specifier is the part of the seme which specifies
the particular semantic feature.

7
Goodenough W.H. Componential Analysis and the Study of Meaning. Language 32(1),
1956. P. 210.
8
Aitchison Jane. Linguistics. – London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2003. P. 92.
9
Saeed, John. Semantics. – United Kingdom: Wiley Blackwell, 2009. P. 260.
10
Enesi M. Strati K Contemporary methods of semantic studies and their impact in translation //
Interdisiplinary Journal of Research and Development, Vol. 4. № 3. 2017. P. 121–122.
108
 There are two types of componential analysis: minimal and full. Minimal
componential analysis of a group of words is a simple method that defines
divergences in the semantics of words. As a rule, it is used in such cases
when it is necessary to distinguish the meanings of synonyms or groups of
semantically close words. The method is being implemented until each word
has its own set of semes. The goal of full componential analysis is not the
division of word meanings, as it is characteristic of minimal componential
analysis, but the full defining of the seme structure of a sememe. Full
componential analysis is carried out by means of dictionary definitions with
attraction of the whole lexico-semantic group of words, to which an
investigated unit belongs. In full componential analysis all the units of the
given lexico-semantic group fall under analysis.
The linguists have different viewpoints on the very essence of
componential analysis. I.V. Arnold states that componential analysis is a
procedure when the meaning of a great number of lexico-semantic variants
is described by means of limited inventory of semantic units 11.
Componential analysis is also characterized as a method of investigation
the meaningful side of lexical units of language that is elaborated within
the framework of structural semantics and aims at decomposing meanings
into minimal semantic components 12.
The essence and purpose of method of componential analysis in our
research lies in the fact that meanings of terms are segmented into features
by which some lexical units are distinguished from each other, the other,
on the contrary, are grouped or aggregated. We treat componential analysis
as one of the main ways of revealing of the inner structure of the language
especially of its lexical composition.
A seme is viewed as the minimum unit of meaning, which is not self-
sufficient, because it cannot be realized independently, but only within
another semantic size, inside sememe (which appears as an inclusive unit
as opposed to seme, as an ‘included’ unit). According to the conception,
sememe is formed by a group of semantic features 13.
The problem of investigating the mechanisms of term formation and
the links between the seme structure and the common semantic
component, studying the influence of these multilevel relationships on the
processes of functioning and evolution of the term in different
terminological systems occupies a significant place in modern semantic

11
Арнольд И.В. Семантическая структура слова в современном английском языке и
методика ее исследования. – Л.: Просвещение, 1966. С. 80.
12
Leech G. Semantics. – London: Penguin Books, 1975. P. 98.
13
Enesi M. Strati K Contemporary methods of semantic studies and their impact in translation
// Interdisiplinary Journal of Research and Development, Vol. 4, no. 3, 2017. P. 121–122.
109
research 14. In this respect it is relevant that the study of semantics of the
English geology terms as both common language and terminological units
revealed that the meanings of terms are characterized by certain semantic
features testifying to obvious dissimilarity of some terms, and, on the
contrary, the similarity of other, being thus united into groups.
A word, that in our research is both a common language lexical unit and
a term, presents not simply the totality of knowledge, but forms a genera-
lized semantic image. All the meanings taken together, the relationships
between them and the words associated with them form a certain semantic
space inside which one can distinguish separate semantic centres.
We view semantic space as a common semantic basis, which “in
combination with the acoustic-graphic image provides it with integrity,
economy of storage in memory and dynamism in communication” 15.
Semantic space of English geology terminological lexis is a continuous
and heterogeneous phenomenon. This heterogeneity reveals the potential
for the emergence of new semantic centres due to contraction or distancing
at any place of this space. As a result of this process, new terminological
vocabulary arises, which eventually becomes a lexical-semantic variant of
the semantic structure of the word.

2. Lexical peculiarities of geology terms in the English language

English terms of geology that constitute research language material
were selected from terminological dictionaries of geology and their
common language semantics was observed in the explanatory dictionaries.
Linguistic method of componential analysis was applied to examine the
geology terms’ common language and special semantics. In order to
achieve this aim we singed out semes from commonly used and
terminological meanings. Methodology of formalized analysis of lexical
units’ semantics was applied to investigate semantic peculiarities of
English terms of geology. Matrix of semantic space of English geological
terms was constructed. It presents the terms, arranged in horizontal lines
and semes, set in vertical lines order. On the crossing of the rows and
columns, we indicate the existence of seme realizations in the investigated
meanings. The ordering of the whole seme stock of the investigated
material was carried out on the basis of quantitative criterion. The most
widely occurring semes are placed at the beginning of the table, the semes
with an average degree of occurrence and monofunctional semes are found
14
Алієва О. Спільний інваріантний компонент: формування семантичної та концептуальної
структури терміна // Сучасні дослідження з іноземної філології. Вип. 13. 2015. C. 269.
15
Фабіан М.П. Етикетна лексика в українській, англійській та угорській мовах. –
Ужгород: Інформаційно-видавниче агентство «ІВА», 1998. C. 123.
110
at the end of the arranged list. The investigated English terms of geology
are placed in the decreasing order – from the most polysemantic lexical
unit to the monosemantic ones. According to the matrix three groups of
terms can be distinguished: lexical units with wide semantics, lexical units
with average degree of semantics and lexical units with narrow semantics
(monosemantic).
The group of lexical units characterized by the highest degree of
polysemy consists of the following terms bank, bar, bed, contact, aspect,
ball, basin, depression, floor, consolidation, earth, face, fan, gap.
Semantic structure of these lexical units comprise from 9 to 5 meanings in
the dictionary entry. To show the difference between common language
and special semantics of the first group of geology terminological units we
have selected the following examples.
Common language word contact denotes communication with a person,
organization, country; when two people or things touch each other; when
you meet someone or experience a particular kind of thing; a person you
know who may be able to help or advise you; an electrical part
that completes a circuit when it touches another part; contact lens 16. As a
terminological unit contact is used in the meaning the surface between two
different kinds of rocks 17. The common semantic component of these
meanings can be defined as somebody or something touching. It is quite
obvious that the term contact was formed by means of semantic way of
term formation or terminologization.
Common language meanings of the word basin are as follows:
a round container attached to the wall in a bathroom, where you wash your
hands and face; a large bowl-shaped container for liquids or food; the
amount of liquid that a basin can contain; an area of land that is lower at
the centre than at the edges; a place where the Earth’s surface is lower than
in other areas. Terminological dictionary of geology defines the term basin
as a polysemantic one meaning: a low-lying area, wholly or largely
surrounded by higher land, that varies from a small, nearly enclosed valley
to an extensive, mountain-rimmed depression; an entire area drained by a
given stream and its tributaries; an area in which the rock strata are
inclined downward from all sides toward the center; an area in which
sediments accumulate 18. In oceanography basin is understood as deep
portion of sea surrounded by shallower regions 19. The meanings included
into explanatory dictionary implicitly define this word as a term of geology.

16
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. – Longman Group Ltd, 2000.
17
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Earth Science [Electronic resource]: yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr.
18
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. – Longman Group Ltd, 2000.
19
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Earth Science [Electronic resource]: yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr.
111
 Depression in common language is used in the following meanings
a medical condition that makes you very unhappy and anxious and often
prevents you from living a normal life; a long period during which there is
very little business activity and a lot of people did not have jobs; a part of
a surface that is lower than the other parts; a mass of air under low
pressure, that usually causes rain 20. Geological term depression is fixed in
the dictionary as a hollow of any size on a plain surface having no natural
outlet for surface drainage; a structurally low area in the crust of the
earth. In meteorology it is an area of low pressure; usually applied to a
certain stage in the development of a tropical cyclone, to migratory lows
and troughs, and to upper-level lows and troughs that are only weakly
developed 21. The seme part of a surface is common in the semantic
structure of depression as a common language word and a term of
geology, what testifies to the semantic way of term formation in this case.
Consolidation is a common language lexical unit which denotes unity
of some forces and position of power or success. In business the term
consolidation is used in the meanings: 1) when companies combine
in takeovers resulting in fewer businesses; 2) when organizations or
departments become joined together; 3) when a company’s position of
power or success is made stronger and more likely to continue 22. As a
term of geology consolidation means 1) processes by which loose, soft, or
liquid earth become coherent and firm; 2) adjustment of a saturated soil in
response to increased load; involves squeezing of water from the pores
and a decrease in void ratio 23.
The analysis of the first group of lexical units of our language material
shows that the semantic structure of the English terms of geology is rather
broad containing several meanings. The conclusion can be made that
terminological meanings of these words are derived from the common
language ones on the basis of common semantic feature. Thus, terms of
geology of this group of our material were formed by means of
terminologization. A distinctive feature of geological terms of this group is
that the majority of them are polysemantic terminological units containing
at least two special meanings in their semantic structure. Semantics of
lexical units of this group is also characterized by strong scientific
character as a lot of geology terms of this group are the terms of other
branches of human activity, especially of such related spheres as
oceanography, meteorology and hydrology. The performed formalized

20
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. – Longman Group Ltd, 2000.
21
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Earth Science [Electronic resource]: yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr.
22
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. – Longman Group Ltd, 2000.
23
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Earth Science [Electronic resource]: yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr.
112
analysis allows us to state that in the semantic space of this group of
English geology terms the majority of meanings are conveyed by
multifunctional semes.
The second group of polysemantic lexemes in our language material is
the most numerous one comprising 35 units. The second group represents
the English geology terminological units with average degree of polysemy.
The common language semantic structure of these words contain from 4 to
2 meanings. It consists of the following terms: abstraction, accretion, age,
basement, bend, degradation, assimilation, axis, backbone, erosion, event,
finger, descendant, advance, deflation, bench, cap rock, cay, correlation,
arm, closure, chimney rock, clast, clay, annual layer, episode,
accumulation, basset, declivity, berm, blind etc.
The analysis showed that lexical unit accretion is not used in
common language meanings being characterized by two special
meanings in geology: 1) gradual buildup of land on a shore due to wave
action, tides, currents, airborne material, or alluvial deposits; 2) the
process whereby stones or other inorganic masses add to their bulk by
adding particles to their surfaces; and one special meaning in
meteorology: the growth of a precipitation particle by the collision of a
frozen particle (ice crystal or snowflake) with a supercooled liquid
droplet which freezes upon contact 24.
Lexical unit assimilation in the explanatory dictionary is fixed in the
following meanings: 1) the process of understanding and using new ideas;
2) politics the process of becoming an accepted part of a country or
group; 3) linguistics a phonetical process, in which two phonemes
adjacent or very near to each other acquire common characteristics or
become identical 25. In special geological dictionary assimilation denotes
incorporation of solid or fluid material that was originally in the rock wall
into a magma 26. It is clear, that this word has a strong scientific character
being the term of several sciences.
The term of geology backbone is characterized by the following
common language meanings: 1) the row of connected bones that go down
the middle of your back; 2) courage and determination 27. In geology the
term backbone originated from the common language meaning of the row
of connected bones that go down the middle of your back and denotes
1) a ridge forming the principal axis of a mountain; and 2) the principal

24
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Earth Science [Electronic resource]: yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr.
25
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. – Longman Group Ltd, 2000.
26
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Earth Science [Electronic resource]: yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr.
27
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. – Longman Group Ltd, 2000.
113
mountain ridge, range, or system of a region 28. As far as this term has two
meanings in the sphere of geology we would suggest adding these
terminological meanings to common language ones marking them by the
lexicographical note geology.
Lexical unit finger is fixed in terminological dictionary in the following
meanings: 1) one of the four long thin parts on your hand, not including
your thumb; 2) the part of a glove that covers your finger; 3) anything that
is long and thin, like the shape of a finger, especially a piece of land, an
area of water, or a piece of food 29. Terminological meaning of the lexical
unit finger originated from the capacity of fingers to move forward
irregularly (the tendency for gas which is displacing liquid hydrocarbons
in a heterogeneous reservoir rock system to move forward irregularly (in
fingers), rather than on a uniform front 30). We consider the geology term
finger to be formed by semantic way of term formation on the basis of
similarity of functions of these concepts.
Bench as a common language lexical unit has the following meanings:
1) a long seat for two or more people, especially outdoors; 2) a long heavy
table used for working on with tools or equipment 31. In our opinion these
meanings were taken as a basis when the geology term bench was formed
as far as the terminological meaning a terrace of level earth or rock that is
raised and narrow and that breaks the continuity of a declivity has a strong
resemblance to the common language ones.
In common language the word arm is used in the following meanings:
one of the two long parts of your body between your shoulders and your
hands; the part of a chair, sofa 32. The term of geology arm was formed on
the basis of similarity of the form of these two concepts as in geology arm
is a ridge or a spur that extends from a mountain. In oceanography it is a
long, narrow inlet of water extending from another body of water 33.
The most vivid features of geological terms of the second group of
average degree of polysemy are as follows:
1) terminological polysemy of the majority of terms of geology in this
group;
2) the phenomenon when terminological meaning in geology implicitly
or explicitly resembles the common language one, thus we can conclude
that such term was formed by semantic way of term formation;

28
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Earth Science [Electronic resource]: yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr.
29
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Earth Science [Electronic resource]: yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr.
30
Ibid.
31
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. – Longman Group Ltd, 2000.
32
Ibid.
33
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Earth Science [Electronic resource]: yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr.
114
 3) the possibility of introducing terminological meaning in geology into
the explanatory dictionary and labeling it by the lexicographical
note geology;
4) in the semantic space many terms of this group are united by the
semantic feature related spheres designating intersystem terminological
polysemy in such related earth sciences as oceanography, hydrology and
meteorology.
One and the same term can be used in several terminological systems.
Simultaneous usage of one term in mathematics, chemistry, medicine,
biology, jurisprudence, logic, physics, philosophy, etc. in our opinion is
the display of intersystem terminological polysemy. This can be
accounted for the similarity of semantic processes in different spheres of
human activity.
The third group of lexical units in our material contains monosemantic
terms of geology having narrow special semantics. The examples of
monosemantic lexical units of our material are as follows: base level – that
critical plane of erosion and deposition represented by river level on
continents and by wave or current base in the sea; cavern – an
underground chamber or series of chambers of indefinite extent carved out
by rock springs in limestone; cluse – a narrow gorge, trench, or water gap
with steep sides that cuts transversely through an otherwise continuous
ridge; cluse – a narrow gorge, trench, or water gap with steep sides that
cuts transversely through an otherwise continuous ridge; denudation –
general wearing away of the land; laying bare of subjacent lands.
The peculiarity of this group of words is that some of the terms are not
registered in the explanatory dictionary as they don’t have common
language meanings at all. Some of the terms are fixed in this type of
lexicographical source being implicitly defined as the terms of geology but
not labeled as the ones referring to this sphere.

3. Seme Analysis of English Terms of Geology

The matrix constructed on the basis of lexical and seme composition of
the English geology terms represents the structure of semantic space of
geology terminology in the system of common language. From the
meanings of 74 geology terms 77 semes were selected. On the basis of
quantitative criterion the semes were divided into three main groups:
polyfunctional semes, semes of average degree of occurrence and
monofunctional semes.
The analysis showed that the following semes are polyfunctional in our
material: land, ground; part of, portion; rock; process, action;
expressions; science; close sphere; something; period, time; area; ridge;
115
person. These semes are the components of meanings of from 13 to
5 geology terms.
The seme land, ground unites the meanings of 13 words in our
material: bank, bed, floor, consolidation, earth, accretion, degradation,
erosion, bench, denundation, geanticline, geocosmogony, macropore. In
the majority of meanings this seme represents terminological meaning in
the sphere of geology. For example: accretion – gradual buildup of land
on a shore due to wave action, tides, currents, airborne material, or
alluvial deposits; degradation – the wearing down of the land surface by
processes of erosion and weathering; erosion – the wearing away of the
land, chiefly by rain and running water 34. In the semantic structure of the
terms bank and earth the seme land, ground unites terminological and
common language meanings.
The seme part, portion was singled out from the meanings of 12 lexical
units: bar, contact, aspect, basin, floor, earth, face, abstraction, axis, arm,
clast, berm. In the semantics of 5 words this seme bears terminological
character. For example: clast – an individual grain, portion, fragment, or
constituent of detrital sediment or sedimentary rock produced by physical
breakdown of a larger mass; berm – a horizontal portion of a beach or
backshore formed by deposit of material as a result of wave action.
Semantics of the majority of lexical units united by this seme is of
common language character. For example: aspect – one part of a situation,
idea, plan etc that has many parts; arm – one of the two long parts of your
body between your shoulders and your hands.
The seme rock in our material unites terminological semantics of the
following words: bar, bed basin, floor, basement, assimilation, cap rock,
clast, ablation moraine, basset, allochthon. For example: ablation moraine
– a layer of rock particles overlying ice in the ablation of a glacier;
assimilation – incorporation of solid or fluid material that was originally
in the rock wall into a magma; basin – an area in which the rock strata
are inclined downward from all sides toward the center 35.
The semantic feature of process, action was singled out from the
semantics of 11 lexical units: abstraction, accretion, bend, degradation,
assimilation, erosion, deflation, correlation, abration, accumulation, ice-
rafting. In the majority of cases this seme bears terminological character.
For example: accretion – the process whereby stones or other inorganic
masses add to their bulk by adding particles to their surfaces; deflation –
the sweeping erosive action of the wind over the ground; ice-rafting – the

34
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35
Ibid.
116
process of transporting of rock and other minerals, of all sizes, on or
within icebergs, ice floes, river drift, or other forms of floating ice. In the
semantic structure of the words assimilation and erosion the seme process,
action has both terminological and common language character. For
example, terminological meaning of the word erosion is – the process by
which rock or soil is gradually destroyed by wind, rain, or the sea.
Common language meaning of this lexical unit is – the process by which
something is gradually reduced or destroyed.
Semantic feature of scientific character of the words under analysis was
marked in our language material by two semes science and close spheres
as far as geology is closely connected with such earth sciences as
meteorology, hydrology and oceanography. Thus, the seme science in our
material denotes the meanings of words in distant sciences such as politics,
linguistics, economics ect. and the seme close spheres in such sciences as
meteorology, hydrology and oceanography. The seme science unites
semantics of the following terms: bank, aspect, consolidation, earth,
assimilation, axis, deflation, dendrochronology. For example: aspect –
linguistics the form of a verb in grammar that shows whether an action is
continuing, or happens always, again and again, or once; bank –
economics a business that keeps and lends money and provides
other financial services; deflation – economics a reduction in the amount
of money in a country’s economy, so that prices fall or stop rising. The
semantic feature of close spheres unites semantics of the following terms:
bank, bed, basin, depression, accretion, arm, abration. For example:
depression in meteorology is an area of low pressure; bank in
oceanography is a relatively flat-topped raised portion of the sea floor
occurring at shallow depth and characteristically on the continental shelf
or near an island.
The seme ridge is a purely terminological one in our language material
denoting special meaning in geology. The following terms are united by
this semantic feature: bank, bar, ball, backbone, arm. For example: bar –
any of the various submerged or partially submerged ridges, banks, or
mounds of sand, gravel, or other unconsolidated sediment built up by
waves or currents within stream channels, at estuary mouths, and along
coasts; ball – a low sand ridge, underwater by high tide, which extends
generally parallel with the shoreline; usually separated by an intervening
trough from the beach; arm – a ridge or a spur that extends from a
mountain 36.

36
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117
 The second group of semantic components in our material are the
semes of average degree of occurrence. This group comprises 24 semes.
We have singled them out of the meanings of four, three and two lexical
units. They are as follows: amount of, quantity; place, position; surface;
deposit; movement; deviation, difference; money; mass; body; material;
state of, condition; layer; line, curve; mountain, slope; production;
feature; ash; furniture; sand; reef, cliff; distance, touch; base; experience.
The seme amount of, quantity unites the meanings of 4 lexical units:
bank, age, accumulation, abundance. In the semantic structure of
accumulation and abundance this seme bears both common language and
terminological character. For example: accumulation in terminology is the
quantity of snow or other solid form of water added to a glacier or
snowfield, such as by precipitation, wind drift, or avalanches and in
common language the amount of something that collects or
is collected over time. The term of geology abundance is explained as the
relative amount of a given element among other elements and as a
common language word – a large quantity of something.
The semes sport and body unite the following terms in the semantic
space of geology terms: sport – bar, ball, event; body – bank, floor, cap
rock. The characteristic feature of semantics of these terms is that sport in
the meanings of all the terms is a common language feature whereas body
– terminological one. For example: event – one of the races or
competitions that are part of a large sports competition; ball – any game
or sport played with a ball, especially baseball or basketball; cap rock –
an impervious body of anhydrite and gypsum in a salt dome; floor –
a horizontal, flat ore body.
The seme layer unites the following terms in the semantic space of
geology terms: basement, annual layer. The seme line, curve unites
terminological meanings of the words bend and axis. The semantics of
these terms is located nearby in the semantic space of English geology
terms. For example: annual layer – a sedimentary layer deposited, or
presumed to have been deposited, during the course of a year; a line
where a folded bed has maximum curvature; bend – a curve or turn
occurring in a stream course, bed, or channel which has not yet become a
meander; axis – a line where a folded bed has maximum curvature 37.
As we can see, these semes bear a purely terminological character in the
semantic space of geology terms.
The semes of the third group unite the monofunctional semantic
elements in our language material. This group contains 34 monofunctional

37
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118
semes. In our study they were detected in only one lexicographic
explanation. They are as follows: drift; form; idea; name; sediment;
direction; water; colour; appearance; erosion; subdivision; container; dog;
elevation; seat; terrace; shelter, covering; flower; bed; matter; courage;
island; chamber; column; fraction; end; gap; department; progress;
communication; determination; connection; depression; disappearance.
The majority of these semes are of terminological character.
The terms that contain the abovementioned semes in their semantic
structure have no connections with other words in our material and are
located separately in the semantic space.
The results of the performed semantic analysis are presented in the
constructed matrix of semantic space of geology terms in the English
languages. The matrix illustrates the semantic structure of geological
terminology in English on the background of common language. The first
part of the matrix is characterized by dense localization of semes. In the
left upper part the realization of frequently used semes and lexical units
with wide sematics is presented. This testifies to their significant semantic
value in the semantic space of language. In this place of the matrix one can
vividly see that the special semantics of English geology terms in many
cases coincides with that of common vocabulary one, thus the
concretization is needed for their identification. The left lower part of the
matrix presents lexical units with average and narrow degree of semantics
and correspondingly semes with average degree of occurrence and
monofunctional ones. In the right part of the matrix we can observe
relatively small number of seme realizations which are of both
terminological and common language character.

CONCLUSIONS
The research is aimed at determining semantic peculiarities of the
English terminology of geology in its different connections, in particular
specific terminological and common language ones. The achievement of
this aim preconditioned the application of componential analysis and the
methodology of formalized analysis of lexical semantics of the
investigated terminological units. The semantics of the geology terms was
performed on the basis of terminological and explanatory dictionaries.
The construction of the matrix of semantic space of geology terms
allowed us to divide terms into three groups according to the degree of
their semantics: lexical units with the highest degree of polysemy, lexical
units characterized by the average degree of polysemy and monosemantic
terms. The first group of our material is not numerous, but the elements
forming it have rather broad semantics containing a lot of meanings.
119
Terminological meanings of this group in their majority are derived from
the common language ones, thus the English geological terms of this
group were formed by means of terminologization. The most vivid
features of geological terms of the group of average degree of polysemy
are as follows: terminological polysemy of the terms; the possibility of
introducing terminological meaning in geology into the explanatory
dictionary and labeling it by the lexicographical note geology; in the
semantic space terms are united by the semantic feature related spheres
designating intersystem terminological polysemy. The third group of
lexical units in our material consists of monosemantic terms of geology
having narrow special semantics. The peculiarity of this group of words is
that some of the terms are registered in the explanatory dictionary being
implicitly defined as the terms of geology but not labeled as the ones
referring to this sphere.
The seme analysis of the language material enabled us to classify
semes according to the quantitative parameter. We distinguish
polyfunctional semes, semes with the average degree of occurrence and
monofunctional. The group of polyfunctional semes occupies the first
place in the matrix. The analysis shows that all the semes of this group
have terminological character, only in some instances their terminological
and common language functions coincide. The second and the third groups
of our language material comprise the semes that have both terminological
and common language character.
The results of the performed semantic analysis are presented in the
matrix of semantic space of the English terms of geology that illustrates
the semantic structure of geological terminology in English on the
background of common language. Dense location of seme realizations in
the left upper part of the matrix testifies to their significant value in the
semantic space of language; concretization is needed for the identification
of terminological semantics. The left lower part of the matrix presents
lexical units with average and narrow degree of semantics displaying
isolation in the semantic space.
The formalized research of English geology terms’ semantics enabled
us to define the main features of the semantic structure of these lexical
units as the elements of terminological system and common language
system and revealed the possibilities of their further semantic study.

SUMMARY
The present paper deals with the study of semantic features of the
English terminology of geology with application of methodology of
formalized analysis of lexical semantics. The object of research is the
120
English terms of geology with the explanation of their special and
common language meanings taken from lexicographical sources.
The investigation is aimed at determining special terminological meanings
of the analysed words in the connection with their common language
semantics. Application of componential analysis helped to single out
semantic components (semes) from common language and terminological
meanings of lexical units. Methodology of formalized analysis enabled us
to construct the matrix of semantic space of English terminology of
geology according to the principle of rank arrangement of the components
of meaning. The matrix provided the possibility of distinguishing three
groups of terms (lexical units with wide semantics, lexical units with
average degree of semantics and lexical units with narrow semantics) and
three groups of semes (according to the degree of their functionality).
The present research helped to define different connections of
terminological lexis inside geology terminological system, with terms of
other domains, common language lexical units and revealed the
possibilities of further semantic study of terminological lexis.

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10260338/

Information about the author:

Rohach L. V.,
Candidate of Philological Sciences,
Associate Professor at the Department of English Philology,
Uzhhorod National University
14, Universytetska str., Uzhhorod, 88000, Ukraine

122
DOI https://doi.org/10.36059/978-966-397-149-0/123-139

TO THE PROBLEM OF ETHNOTHEROTYPES AND LOCAL

NICKNAMES OF THE SLAVS IN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Tyshchenko O. V.

INTRODUCTION
The essence of the ethnos is manifested primarily in its culture 1. This
ethnographers’ statement has its undoubtedly distinctive basis in
ethnology, ethnopsychology. It finds its direct reflection in the language of
modern and traditional culture of Slavs in the form of ethnic stereotypes,
expressed in a certain system of ethnic nominations.
Ethnic names system consideration froms a pragmatic and
anthropological point of view and is necessary to understanding the
specific world vision and world devision which is typical to collective
ethnic consciousness. The stability of the people names is connected with
the very existence of the ethnic group 2. That is why the analysis of Slavic
vocabulary and phraseology for the designation of ethnic communities can
be useful both in the ethnohistory study as well as the individual ethnic
groups description, in establishing cultural relations and contacts between
peoples in their historical past.
Ukrainian ethnographer M. Tivodar admits that each ethnic community
has universal signs. Ethnic consciousness is “the totality of knowledge,
socio-psychological attitudes, ideas about one's ethnicity, its properties and
stereotypes, and its place in the modern world. It is an integrated feature
that includes knowledge or understanding of one's homeland, common
origin and shared historical fate. All this testifies that the ethnic
communities consciousness exists in mass forms of social consciousness,
that is, in language, folk art, festive rituals and everyday culture, norms of
morality and law, etc.” 3. Ethnic consciousness is also linked to the love to
the native ethnic group, its history, language, culture, religion, tradition
and way of life. The characteristic feature is its attitude to the own ethnic
community as the highest, that is, the best. Since the formation of
primitive tribes, one can speak of the first ethnic stereotypes that were
created under the influence of natural and geographical factors. Interethnic
1
Пономарьов А. Українська етнографія. Курс лекцій. Київ, 1994. С. 117.
2
Голикова Т.А. Стереотип как этнически и культурологически обусловленный
компонент менталитета / Мир языка и межкультурная коммуникация; отв. ред.
Э.Е.Курлянд. Ч.1. Барнаул: БГПУ 2001. С. 82.
3
Тиводар М. Етнологія. Львів 2004. С. 69–70.
123
conflicts of the primordial era arose mainly from ethnic bias and rejection
of alien ethnic groups.
How does an ethnic group identify itself and how are other peoples and
social groups perceived, including neighboring ones? Why do ethnic world
models fix expressive, abusive nicknames, invectives, including ethnic
nicknames? How does the principle of ethnocentrism work in the
language, folklore, customs and traditional rites of the Slavs, and how is it
reflected in the original ethnoculture and mythological consciousness?
After all, as reflected in Slavic ethnoculture, the national linguistic world
picture, the main semantic juxtaposition of own/alien, are we at the level
of the ethnic group’s religious and confessional consciousness? In our
opinion, the reflection of the semiotic principle under consideration in the
language – in its system, categories and mechanisms – should be found in
the most ancient ethnic vocabulary and in figurative and evaluative
language units, including nicknames.
It is the range of questions that we are going to address in the proposed
exploration, based on linguistic, ethnographic and folklore facts in the
Slavic linguistic and cultural continuum.

1. Ethnic nominative units specificity within the naive world picture

in anthropology, folklore, traditional folk culture
Note that the study of ethnic names within ethnology, sociology,
cultural anthropology and ethno-linguistics is closely combined with the
theory of modern onomastics and ethnonymics, which has developed a
number of terms for the ethnic communities designation (official,
informal, abusive). Researchers claim that when "an ethnic nomination,
the attribution of names to a certain type occurs by the subject of the
nomination, that is, the speaker’s national identity" 4.
To denote self-ethnicity in linguistic writings, several terms are used in
parallel: "auto-ethnonym" (N. V. Vasilyev, G. M. Lyagoshniak,
O. O. Rogach), "autoethnonym" (G. F. Kovalev), "endo-ethnonym"
(A. S. Gerd, O. I. Kuznetsov). On the other hand, thre exist the terms used
to refer to ethnic names given by other peoples, ie from outside the
country. Researchers call them differently: “exogenous ethnonym"
(N. V. Podolskaya), "ethnicon" (V. A. Nikonov), "exo-ethnonym"
(G. M. Lyagoshniak), and such terminological designation as "exonym"
(A. S. Gerd, O. I. Kuznetsov) or an external ethnonym (V. I. Suprun) 5.

4
Левицький А.Е., Святюк Ю.В. Етнономінації у дзеркалі міжкультурної комунікації.
Монографія. Київ, 2011. С. 27.
5
Ibid.
124
 Let us emphasize that the vocabulary associated with these concepts
and terms conceptualizes a universal for ethnological semantic
juxtaposition of "alien" through verbalized collective world and human
experience knowledge, and therefore is the subject of study not only in
onomastics but also in cognitive semantics, political phraseology,
intercultural communication theories, cultural anthropology and
ethnography.
O. Belova admits that in folk culture the attitude towards other ethnic
groups representatives is largely determined by the ethnocentrism notion,
when "their" traditions, "their" religion, "their" customs and "their"
language are understood as the only "correct", " the righteous, the
"normative," the "true," in contrast to the alien, who is perceived as
"unacceptable," "sinful," and the representative of the idio-ethnic group –
as being dangerous and even demonic, endowed with supernatural
properties 6. In other words, the devision of the universe into two worlds –
"one's own" and "alien" – has numerous linguistic-ethnological
interpretations and is implemented in oppositions of the type "we/they",
"this/that", "here/there", "near/far" etc. Typical in this case is the
implementation of the basic oppositions in the axiological, evaluative plan
in the form of "good/bad", with a clearly negative assessment of
everything that belongs to alien world.
Polish ethnolinguistic and ethnographic studies have covered in detail
such features of linguistic ethno-stereotypes as selectivity, evaluativeness,
associativity, generalization, and hyperbolization 7. In addition, the
ethnomarked semiotic model of "one's own and alien" is reflected in
ethnophobisms, ethnically connotated categories of onomastic variety,
case motivated texts, their semantic and communicative-pragmatic
features.
Opposition "We/They" in the process of the semiotic space self-
organization which reflects the sociogenesis basic rights is explored by
D. I. Voronin. The researcher notes that "the genetic relationship between
the consciousness formation processes and the sphere of alien domination
understanding is united in a single process the crystallization of "We" as
well as the structuring of the “They” vast space"... "We" and "They"
contactingis provided through a suggestive influence on the dominant

6
Белова О.В. Этнокультурные стереотипы в славянской народной традиции. Москва,
2005. С. 7.
7
Bartmiński J., Lappo I. U. Majer-Baranowska Stereotyp Rosjanina i jego profilowanie we
współczesnej polszczyźnie / Etnolingwistyka. 2002. №14; Bartmiński J., Panasiuk J. Stereotypy
językowe / Współczesny język polski; red. J. Bartmiński. Lublin: UMCS, 2002. S. 374–378;
Benedyktowicz Z. Portrety obcego. Od stereotypu do symbolu. Kraków, 2000.
125
guidelines and socially predetermined priorities collective national-
language views and representations” 8.
A similar opinion was followed by a Polish ethnographer J. St. Bystron
and was expressed by Z. Benediktovich, who, in connection with the
reconstruction of the "foreigner" image in the primitive and traditional folk
culture, distinguishes such dichotomies as "human/inhuman", "human/
animal", "endowed with speech-mute, deaf", physical signs, smell,
outward features/curvature, black complexion, communication of others as
beings unclean with the other side, with the world of silence, darkness,
death, etc 9. Significant in this regard is the Belarusian folklore, according
to which strangers were imagined as wild, naked, fur-covered people with
tails who do not talk but squick while drinking the blood of their victims 10.
The researcher in particular discusses the "humans/animals" opposition,
which is in turn a manifestation of the "humans/nonhumans" opposition.
The stranger was already represented in antiquity and the Middle Ages as
half human and animal (donkey with horns, human with dog's head, human
without head, with eyes on chest, one-eyed, with goat's hooves, or as a
sleeping person for six months in winter). The juxtaposition of "those who
have a language/dumb", which Z. Benedictovich also explores in the
framework of the “humans/nonhumans" opposition which is detyermined on
the basis of popular culture and etymology in the word "German"
(etymologically dumb, incomprehensible).
The aforementioned juxtapositions are closely related to the motive
of strangers’ belonging to lower mythology creatures. Polish ethnographer
Jan St. Bystron in his work “Czarność obcych” emphasizes the attribution
to aliens of supernatural features related to their appearance and
physiology. The fact that a Lutheran, for example, has six toes is
indicative. The researcher also admits the so-called internal "blackness".
In Poland, there was a belief about the black palate of the Ruthenians,
which testified their anger and emotion. The definition of "black" also
applied to the Polish gentry 11.
The characteristic feature of strangers as unclean creatures was the
blindness of born children, which brought them closer to animals. The
Poles called the blind the little Mazury children, who were credited with
blindness at the baptism time. The mentioned researcher Z. Benedictovich
notes the existence of internal contradiction in the representation of the

8
Воронін Д. І. «Ми» та «вони»: від моделі простору до моделювання соціокультурної
взаємодії (на матеріалі російської мови) / Мовознавство, 2003. № 5. С. 54.
9
Benedyktowicz Z. Portrety obcego. Od stereotypu do symbolu. Kraków, 2000. S. 121.
10
Ibid.
11
Bystroń J. S. Czarność obcych / Lud. T. 21. 1922. S. 180.
126
image of another. On the one hand, strangers are considered to be soulless
beings, restricted physically, distorted, wild, and on the other, associated
with death, empty life, silence and darkness. A similar criterea is applied
to language. The negative sign of silence and the inability to speak
(deaf/mute) are contrasted with the positive – conversation, noise, voice –
as the natural language expression, which, in fact, analyzes the Nestor
chronicle, said K. Moshinsky. These and similar ideas are embodied in
Polish and Ukrainian proverbs and sayings. So, the expression лях-
девятьденник reflects the idea that the Poles are born blind, like kittens,
and only on the ninth day do they have their eyes open. Compare the
Polish proverbs Ślepy Mazur od ciemnej gwiazdy, Mazur się ślepo rodzi,
Ślepy Mazur do dziewiętego dnia, ale jak przejrzy, to wszystkich oszuka,
Mazur ślepo się rodzi, ale jak przejrzy, to przezęę, to przezę 12, Ukr. сліпий
як мазур по полудні, Слипый мазур за горами лупить козу пазурами 13,
Polish ethnographer O. Kohlberg in Kujawy recorded such humiliating
mummies by Mazur Ty śleporod, ślepowron 14; «When a Mazur is born,
then for nine days he sees nothing and his mother holds him under a
bowel 15, W mazurze taka dusa, choć umrze, to się rusa – similar contexts
are attested in dialect dictionaries of Polish paremia 16, U Mazura czarna
rura (a teaser, which was addressed to the castors from Mazury and in
response received: "Poty czarna ovi go Litwin w dupę nie pocałuje") 17.
Even French engineer Guillaume de Boplan, in describing ancient
Ukrainian customs and everyday life, drew attention to the belief in the
puppy blindness of the Tatars for a long time after birth.
Perceptions of aliens for example Muscovites as cannibals, such
creatures that eat carrion, raw meat of dogs, cats, frogs and other animals,
are also common. All this again confirms the opinion that the alien was
associated with animality, blackness, demonism, connected with trait and
magic. For example, in Polish folklore, the devil was represented mostly in
German attire. Polish ethnographer Ya. Bistron writes that Ukrainian
peasants represented the devil in the form of a Polish nobleman 18.
12
Nowa księga przysłów i wyrażeń przysłowiowych polskich. T.1-4.Red. J.Krzyżanowski,
S.Swirko. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1969–1978. T. II. S. 420.
13
Бессараба И.В. Матеріалы для этнографии Седлецкой губерніи. Санкт-Петербург,
1903. С. 84.
14
Kolberg O. Lud, jego zwyczaje, sposób życia, mowa, podania, przysłowia, obrzędy, gusła,
zabawy, pieśni, muzyka i tańce. Serya III. Kujawy. Cz.1. Warszawa, 1867. S. 120.
15
Bajki,legendy i opowiadania ludowe, zebrane w pow.sokalskim / Lud. Kwartalnik
etnograficzny. Rocznik IX. 1903. S. 67.
16
Słownik gwar polskich. Ułożył Jan Karłowicz. Kraków 1903. T. 1-6. T. III. S. 131.
17
Nowa księga przysłów i wyrażeń przysłowiowych polskich. T.1-4.Red. J.Krzyżanowski, S.
Swirko. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1969–1978. T. II. S. 418–419.
18
Bystroń J.St. Megalomania narodowa. Warszawa: Lud, 1935. S. 264.
127
 In Eastern Slavic myths and legends, the peoples of distant, unknown
lands were depicted as unattractive. So the Amazons seemed fantastic
creatures with a dark angry face, armed with a spear and a bow with
arrows, and the devian people (most likely, the inhabitants of India)
appeared in the imagination of the Eastern Slavs as winged, multi-headed
monsters with beastly or bird heads and feet. 1993, 9) 19. Representatives of
other nations acquired negative characteristics not only at the level of
mythological but also naive embodiment of ethnic stereotypes: Ros.
Немеччина, хитрая, безверная, басурманская, У француза ножки
тоненьки, душа коротенька; the same is said of the German 20, Грек
скажет правду однажды в год, Татарин – свиное ухо (В.Даль), укр.
Обідраний як швед тощо, Злодій на костилях, як лях в кайданах,
Не дай, Боже, бугаями орати, а ляхами збірати, Польській міст,
Лютерський піст, Турецьке набоженство –то все блазенство 21;
similar contexts are attested in the Belarusian linguoculture: Знаць ляха по
холявах 22, Грек за злато себе очи вылупит, Грек одну маслинку
съест – и то пальчики обсосет 23, Калмык – Иван иванович, маханник.
Под собою кобылу съел, Калмык татарина маханиной (кониным
мясом корит), Литвины – земляники, землекопы, лопатники, Разве
лихо возьмет литвина, чтоб он не дзекнул 24, Belor. литвин як лин –
"is said about the Lithuanians who, under any business, slip up with
cunning, like slippery flax" 25, Литовский мост что немецкий пост is
about something unimportant or incomprehensible 26, Литва пошла (in
Polissia dialects it is recorded as negligible) quarrels» 27. In the "Great
Dictionary of Russian Proverbs" the paremic contexts of other ethnic
names, including ancient, ethnonym-related to Russians are repeatedly
mentioned: Русь, руснак: Немец хитер: обезьяну выдумал, На всю
Польшу один комар мозгу (глузду) принес, да и тот бабы расхватали,
19
Голубовська І.О. Етнічні особливості мовних картин світу: Монографія, 2-е вид.,
випр. і доп. Київ, 2004. С. 37.
20
В. М. Мокиенко, Т. Г. Никитина, Е. К. Николаева Большой словарь русских пословиц.
Москва: Астрель, 2010. С. 592.
21
Українські приказки, прислів‘я і таке інше. Уклав М.Номис; упоряд., прим.
М.М. Пазяка. Київ, 2004. С. 364.
22
Сборник белорусских пословиц / Записки Императорского русского географического
общества по отделению этнографии. Т.1. Санкт-Петербург 1867. С. 312.
23
В. М. Мокиенко, Т. Г. Никитина, Е. К. Николаева Большой словарь русских пословиц.
Москва: Астрель, 2010. С. 219.
24
Ibid.
25
Op. cit. С. 397, 486.
26
Сборник белорусских пословиц / Записки Императорского русского географического
общества по отделению этнографии. Т.1. Санкт-Петербург 1867. С. 337.
27
Українські приказки, прислів‘я і таке інше. Уклав М. Номис; упоряд., прим.
М.М. Пазяка. Київ, 2004. С. 838.
128
Русак до читання, казак до спеванья, поляк до сказания, Русак задним
умом крепок, Русак на трех сваях крепок: авось, небось да как-
нибудь, Русский глазам не верит – все надо пощупать, Русский и с
горя, и с радости пьет/поет, Что русскому здорово, то немцу
смерть, У руським брюхи и тапор сгниет 28. Let's compare some of the
Polish probal formations that express character traits, psyches, preferences,
attitudes to alcohol, work characteristic of different ethnicities, recorded in
the compilation Nowa księga przysłów i wyrażeń przysłowiowych
polskich (NKPPie) «Nowa księga przysłów i wyrażeń przysłowiowych
polskich» (NKPP): Kto węgierskie pije po śmierci nie gnije [NKPP III:
646], Gdzie Węgier, tam gniew, gdzie Słowak tam śpiew [NKPP III: 646],
Polak, Węgier dwa bratanki i do szabli i do szklanki [NKPP III: 646],
Tłucz Węgrzyna w moździerzu, przecie on będzie czosnkiem śmierdział po
staremu [NKPP III: 646], Namaż ty Ruska masłem, przecież on dziegciem
śmierdzi [NKPP III: 101], Rusek do czytania, Chochlak do śpiewania,
Polak do opowiadania [NKPP III: 101]. The connection of aliens with
mythological creatures and their similarity to them is evidenced by the
following Ukrainian paremie contexts, recorded in M. Nomys's Collection:
Вражі (або: чортові) Ляхи, Що чорт, що Жид, то рідниі брати, Коли
чорт та москаль що вкрали, то поминай, як звали, Москаль як
ворона, та хитріший чорта 29.

2. Stereotypical ideas about collective groups,

local and religious names of Slavs
In his work «Megalomania narodowa», Polish ethnographer J. Bistron
explains the means of naming tribal and local groups from the point of
view of ethnic and cultural contacts. They are micro-ethnonyms (ethnic
names), where the object of the name is the residents of the neighboring
border areas, which reflect the traditional ideas of strangers and aliens.
The mechanism of the emergence and comprehension of experiences about
these collective groups objectifies the "re-evaluation of oneself", reflects
the evaluative idealization of their group, leads to collective and social
megalomania, which was peculiar to the primitive peoples and by which
this, external, world, can be influenced by a certain system of ritual
actions. The claim of others reflects collective social and cultural values,
and the alien image set of traits identification is essential for the study of
the rejection or hatred psychology of certain tribes and groups in
28
Смоленский этнографический сборник. Сост. В.Н. Добровольский. Ч. III. Пословицы.
Санкт-Петербург, 1894. С. 81.
29
Українські приказки, прислів‘я і таке інше. Уклав М.Номис; упоряд., прим.
М.М. Пазяка. Київ, 2004. С.838.
129
traditional folk culture, which, in modern studies, finds its continuation in
the theory of ethno-stereotypes. "The nickname is often encountered in the
different ethnocultural groups," says J. Bystron, "for example, it concerns
the environment of Polish immigrants in America, in which immigrants
are referred to as indigenous people, in particular, pyrky (residents
of Poznan), pyry. "Potatoes") 30.
As the Russian researcher A. Zhuravlev rightly points out, local-group
names contain different features in their appearance, in particular the
designation of the location in which the carriers of the nickname reside, its
natural-geographical landscape, the characteristic natural conditions; such
micro-ethnonyms can objectify real historical events (migration processes,
local history, residents’ contacts with a particular ethnic group); anecdotal
nature events, facts and stories that make fun of something different, other
traits of occupations, crafts, material culture, cuisine, clothing and shoes
type, the manner of their wearing and use, etc 31.
In general, the stereotype (from the Greek. Stereos – solid and topos –
imprint, sample) – «word, linguistic recurrence, unchanged, as the
established formula, language pattern".
Ethnologists refer to ethnic stereotypes as "cultural standards, stamps,
and behavioral skills that, through transgenerational communication, have
shaped the unique face of ethnic groups in the course of ethnogenesis and
adaptation to the environment" 32. W. Lippman, who introduced this
concept into cognitive linguistics, views the stereotype as a one-sided,
partial and simplified image in the human head, a common mental
correlate of objects and phenomena of the world. This sociological
approach emphasizes the social aspect of stereotypes, that is, their
formation and function in social behavior.
Polish researcher K. Pisarkova points to differences in the evaluation of
the auto-stereotype (imaginative ideas about one's ethnicity) and the
stereotype of someone else. This is especially the case in the self-
identification of the ethnic stereotypes bearer, which emphasizes the
positive evaluation of one's social group and the negative evaluation of
another ethnic group representatives 33. The Polish ethnographer
A. Kempinski sees the reason for the others interest and the stereotypes
formation "by the hidden thirst of this people to increase their own internal
ethnos value sense" 34.
30
Bystroń J.St. Megalomania narodowa. Warszawa: Lud, 1935. S. 75.
Васильев М.А. Анты, словене, немцы, греки: славянский культурно-лингвистический
31

мир и его соседи в раннесредневековое время / Славяноведение. 2005. № 2. С. 14.

32
Тиводар М. Етнологія. Львів, 2004. С. 154.
33
Pisarkowa K. Tożsamość nosiciela stereotypów etnicznych / Etnolingwistyka, 2002. № 14. S. 27.
34
Kępiński A. Lach i Moskal. Z dziejów stereotypu. Warszawa – Kraków, 1990. S. 7.
130
 The stereotype is also the object of studies of ethno-linguists
(E. Bartminsky, I. Lappo, U. Mayer-Baranovska, J. Panasyuk), who
primarily interpret it not as words (as in common dictionaries) or as
corresponding to real objects (as in encyclopedias) but as a kind of
semantic correlates that stand between words and objects, otherwise –
public perceptions of the subject. Under the stereotype, which inherits a
narrower understanding of the formula, Polish linguists understand the
idea of an object that is framed in a certain social frame and determine,
"what that object is, how it looks, how it is interpreted by a person, etc.,
such an idea is embedded in the language and is accessible through
language and pertaining to collective world knowledge". E. Bartminsky
mentions of stereotypes as "stabilized in culture and language
characteristics that correlate with the name of objects". Another definition,
which is practically embodied in the concept of stereotypes and cultural
symbols of the Lublin ethno-linguistic school, is "a subjectively
conditioned view of a something which descriptive and evaluative features
exist and which results from the reality interpretation within socially
produced models ..."; its aim is to reproduce "a cultural-linguistic portrait
of the object being described and to show how it is viewed by a typical
cultural representative" 35.
According to Jerzy Bartminski, "in sociology, stereotypes are
"notorious", they are biased by the tendency of evaluation, mass
consciousness manipulation, which for the most part becomes a barrier in
human and intercultural communication. However, in linguistics,
stereotypes is a cognitive, culturally reconstructive category, aimed at the
categorization of the object, because the language not only gives a
negative assessment to someone (mother-in-law, stepmother) or for some
reason, also simplifies, generalizes and symbolizes 36.
The stereotyping of representations in individual, everyday
consciousness identifies "one's own" either with an emotionally neutral
norm or with a positive evaluation. For the most part, "alien" is rated
neutral or negative. When referring to external ethnonymics (naming by
someone) it should be noted that the means of nomination are based on the
external name characteristic or subjective assessment of ethnicity, its way
of life, social or political system, historical and spiritual development.
Such "external ethnonyms are used by hostile communities and have
disapproving characteristics, often offensive. This type of ethnic

35
Толстая С.М. Этнолингвистика Ежи Бартминьского / Языковой образ мира: очерки
по этнолингвистике. Москва: Индрик, 2005. С. 16.
36
Bartmiński J. Stereotypy mieszkają w języku. Studia etnolingwistyczne Lublin: UMCS,
2007. S. 8.
131
nomination is highlighting and sharply contrasting to certain, not always
clear or unusual, signs and brings such names closer to abusive nicknames
or even invectives" 37.
Let us consider these linguistic facts on the basis of ancient Slavic
ethnographic sources.
As the ethnographer I. Bessaraba states in the Siedlec province, they
say "Поляк зъйів… гною за трояк"; the historical confrontation between
the Masurians and the Rusyns is attested in the following contexts:
"Mazur: Rusin kobyłę zadusił – Mazur: Rusyn strangled the mare, Rusyn:
A polacy się zbiegli i kobyłę zjedli – А поляки позбігались і її з’їли» 38.
In Polish ethnographic works of XIX – XX century. O. Kolberg,
A. Fisher, E. Rulikovsky and others such ethnic surnames of Ukrainians
(Ruthenians) were recorded as барани, чуби, чубарики, хештаки,
секали, постольники 39. For example, the Russian gurals wore the
nickname цотаки (they say цо таке, sotaki), лішаки, lishaks (use lisz in
the meaning of "only"; Bukovynian Hutsuls are called баранами (rams),
because there peasants wear beards once гештаками Polishchuk (from
exclamation when referring to "Heshta" horses; in the Kholm region, синії
латки the Russian people call the Mazur постольниками 40.
Russian ethnographers D. K. Zelenin, I. Snegirev call these collective
nicknames and ethnic nicknames "folk sayings." They do not refer to a
single person, but to a group of persons that is a geographical or
ethnographic entity; in these units, "the people submit an ethnographic
division of themselves" 41. D. Zelenin considers nicknames of this type an
important element for the study of folk poetry, folklore, book writing,
cultural history of the ethnic group and its relations with neighbors and in
general for the comparative characterization of different ethnographic
groups. This unit from a linguistic point of view can be expressed by a
single-word name, phrase or whole sentence, dialogue, anecdote 42.
An example of such regional collective-regional designations is
ridicule, mockery of certain people communities, for example, in the
Russian areal space: Андозера-хайдуки – нет ни хлеба, ни муки

37
Левицький А.Е., Святюк Ю.В. Етнономінації у дзеркалі міжкультурної комунікації.
Монографія. Київ, 2011. С. 29.
38
Бессараба И.В. Матеріалы для этнографии Седлецкой губерніи. Санкт-Петербург,
1903. С. 84.
39
Rulikowski E. Zapiski etnograficzne z Ukrainy / Zbiór wiadomości do antropologii
krajowej. T. III. Kraków, 1879. S. 129.
40
Fisher A. Rusini. Zarys etnografii Rusi. Lwów-Warszawa-Kraków, 1928. S. 8.
41
Зеленин Д.К. Великорусские народные присловья как материал для этнографии /
Избранные труды. Статьи по духовной культуре 1901–1913. Москва: Индрик, 1994. С. 51.
42
Ibid. С. 39.
132
(Andozera – residents of Andozerskoye village) – mock at the fact that
they have little activity and eat only fish from their lake 43, горчичник – so
once were called the inhabitants of Samara (sown a lot of mustard),
гужатники (boiled crows instead of mushrooms), гужееды – immigrants
from different provinces of Russia; they were very poor, and from hunger
were forced to eat the harnesses from the harness 44, the кереметники –
the nickname of the Marians (from the кереметка – a nervous disease,
similar to epilepsy) 45, гуща новгородская 46, Даниловцы и романовцы
барана в зыбке закачали 47, Егорьевцы – коновалы, головотяпы,
рудометы, 48 Калязинцы – свинью за бобра купили; собаку за вола
купили, Тверитяне вприглядку с сахаром чай пьют 49. In the Ukrainian
ethnoculture, there are different toponymic nicknames, characterized by
M. Nomis: В Суражі все люди вражі, В Олику – полика, в Клевань – по
діда, в Дражню –по горшки (the first two towns, and then – the village in
Volyn, ) Ромен город на горі, по дві дурниці на дворі – thanked Romnov
visiting fair visitors, З Вересочі повилазили очі, Понірці – дурні вівці,
Dive – silly sheep, Krasnyane (Krasnokolyadinka), народ хитруватий и
рощотний,, ridicule so from Poniortsi (village Ponyra) 50.
The Belarussian folk-dialect language presents some collective-group
names for designation of preferences, occupations’ nature of, historical-
cultural, natural-geographical features of Byelorussian inhabitants, crafts
characteristics and so on: Могилевцы-кулажники кулагу на локоць
продаюць, а на палец прибавки дають – насмешка над уроженцами
города Могилева и даже могилевской губернии 51, Мсциславцы не
умирають на своей лавце – характеризует природных Мстиславских
жителей, мещан, не любящих сидеть дома 52, Оршанцы-вапенники-
насмешливое название жителей города Орши, где в большом
количестве находят известковый камень 53.
43
В. М. Мокиенко, Т. Г. Никитина, Е. К. Николаева Большой словарь русских пословиц.
Москва: Астрель, 2010. С. 43.
44
Словарь русских народных говоров. Вып.1-36. Москва-Ленинград (СПб.): Наука,
1965–2002. Вып.8. С. 204–205.
45
Ibid. Вып.13. С. 186.
46
Ibid. Вып.8. С. 251.
47
В. М. Мокиенко, Т. Г. Никитина, Е. К. Николаева Большой словарь русских пословиц.
Москва: Астрель, 2010. С. 233.
48
Ibid. С. 325.
49
Ibid. С. 397, 900.
50
Українські приказки, прислів‘я і таке інше. Уклав М.Номис; упоряд., прим.
М.М.Пазяка. Київ, 2004. С. 585
51
Сборник белорусских пословиц / Записки Императорского русского географического
общества по отделению этнографии. Т. 1. Санкт-Петербург, 1867. С. 344.
52
Ibid. С. 346.
53
Ibid. С. 392.
133
 In another ethnographic source, "Smolensk Ethnographic Collection"
recorded many Belarusian and Russian ottonymic names, often with
emotionally-expressive, disparagingly-offensive and mockingly-ironic
connotation designating the intellectual abilities of man, his exterior. For
example, арлоўцы – прабитая голова, Смаленьщина – шабашники, –
ражком сабор падперли; рязанцы телку огурцом резали; калужцы на
аршин квас прадают; самарцы на меру кишки прадають, аржаўцы
(Ельнинцы) аглоблю абпалюють и ездють в пабирашки 54.

CONCLUSIONS
Thus, the article examines some mechanisms of nominative
identification (lexical, figurative, folklore) of ethnic nominations,
individual religious stereotypes and ethnic names of Ukrainians, Russians,
Byelorussians and Poles. Some of them clearly reflect the ancient ethno –
and cultural stereotypes (ritual, custom, mythological) associated with the
idea of foreigners against the ethnic groups image background. The
semantics and pragmatics of these names, as we have seen, are caused by
stereotypical attitudes towards a certain ethnicity, the principle of
ethnocentrism, uniqueness, isolation, exclusiveness of "one's own" and
negative attitude to "alien", different names of neighboring local groups,
especially at the linguistic and cultural border. Evidence of this is
considered by some ethnic and local-group (collective-regional), including
toponymic surnames, nicknames and unofficial surnames of the character-
evaluative type.
It interesting to discuss collective-regional and ethnic nicknames
nomination models of reflected in the precedent texts (anecdotes, artistic,
folklore, including ritual texts of different genres). One can speak
separately about the ethnonyms functioning in various ritual practices,
orders, omens, folk beliefs, ritual games, calendar ceremonies, riddles, and
not only Slavic ones. For example, in the well-known collection of English
puzzles abount the world’s background and especially we can find
ethnonyms in the European, Eastern and some exotic peoples riddles about
the pot and other household items and plants. In these enigmatic texts, the
ethno-racial plan is combined with the symbolism of the parts of the
human body names, which is first and foremost related to the
anthropomorphic character of many ancient everyday artifacts of material
culture and instruments symbolism, such as spindles, coffers, sieves, etc.
For example, a black man and a tan are identified through clothing

54
Смоленский этнографический сборник. Сост. В.Н.Добровольский. Ч. III. Пословицы.
Санкт-Петербург, 1894. С. 96.
134
(wearing brown trousers) or a horse's color: A Negro in brown breeches on
a brown horse, carrying a black pot on his head 55. Even more striking are
the riddles texts with a another nation representative, a Russian whose hair
is sticking out of a pot, designates the radish that protrudes from the
ground (this puzzle has several variants): A Russian in a pot, his hair sticks
out.—Radish; White Russian in the bathhouse, his beard outside. –
Radish), Next to the bathhouse lies a White Russian, and his beard shines
outside. – Radish), My grandfather's body is in Hades, his beard is in the
world. Now, explain. – Radish) 56, Stiff standing in the bed, / Sometimes
white and sometimes red, / Every lady in the land / Takes it in her hand, /
And puts it in the hole before. – Radish.
Polish erotic sexual riddles imitate sexual intercourse when the pot
boils, which is codified by the ethnic names of gypsies: Siedzi Cygan na
Cygance, poty nie zlezie, az się osmarce. – Pot with boiling water; other
things in household use include the image of the Tartar: Szukój w polu
Tatarzyna, and Tatarzyn za łeb trzyma. Leno czasem dobry klaps, ni ma z
niego ani chaps; The German functions in the riddle about the beet: Siedzi
Niemiec w ziemi, łeb mu sie zieleni, and the German woman is onion, cf.
Przyjechała Niemka w czerwonych sukienkach. – Jak ją rozbierali, to nad
nią płakali; this is not something to complain about; instead,
the Hungarians codify the image of a cat: Chodził Węgier po węgrzynie,
nosieł dzieci w koszałczynie. Które wrzaśnie, to przyklaśnie, które piśnie,
to przyciśnie 57.
It should be noted that in other Slavic languages, the Gypsy ethnonym
implements another structural-semantic adverb 'do unnecessary vain'
proverbs, as evidenced by the contexts in one of V. Fleischans' most
ancient Czech phraseology: cikána. – literally: «wash the gypsy» 58. And in
English, the phrase with the Gypsy component to indicate the variety of
the dish is certified: Gypsy stews the rabbit Dish with onions and potatoes
(so-called because the main ingredients are readily available to gypsies) 59.
The proposed article does not claim to be a comprehensive description
of such ethnic names, but outlines possible ways of studying archaic
ethnonominations and some religious, confessional designations in the

55
Taylor A. English Riddles from Oral Tradition / A. Taylor. – Berkeley and Los Angeles,
1951. Р. 34.
56
Op. cit. Р. 196, 638.
57
Polskie zagadki ludowe. Wybrał i opracował S.Folfasiński. Warszawa: Ludowa
Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza, 1975. S. 146–147.
58
Česka přislovi. Sbirka přislovi, prupovedi lidu českeho v cechach, na Morave a v Slezsku
/vybral a uspořadal V.Flajhans, D. 1-2, Praha: Nakladem F.Simacka 1911–1913. D. 1. S. 68.
59
Wilkinson P.R. A Thesaurus of Traditional English Metaphors / P. R. Wilkinson. London ;
New York : Routledge, 1993. P. 13.
135
Slavic linguistic space by lexicographic and ethnographic data, and the
possibility of comparing them with other languages.

SUMMARY
The article deals with some mechanisms of ethnic nominations
nominative identification (lexical, figurative, folklore), individual religious
stereotypes and ethnic names of Ukrainians, Russians, Byelorussians and
Poles. Some of them clearly reflect the ancient ethno – and cultural
stereotypes (ritual, custom, mythological) associated with the idea
of foreigners with the background image of other ethnic groups.
The semantics and pragmatics of these names, as we have seen, are
conditioned by stereotypical attitudes towards a certain ethnicity, the
principle of ethnocentrism, uniqueness, isolation, exclusiveness of "one's
own" and negative attitude to "alien", the names of neighboring local
groups. This is evidenced by some ethnic and local-group (collective-
regional) considerations, including toponymic surnames and nicknames.
Ethnonyms are spoken in comparable languages not only as a part of
stable words compounds, but also reflected in folklore pragmatics – verbal
magic, healing magical practice, texts of orders, dream books, different in
intensity verbal speech acts-wishes and, of course, in rhytal, as a broader
semiotic embodiment of the manifestos of one's own and others' space.
It is promising to cover nomination models for collective-regional local
nicknames that are related to foreign or neighboring regional groups
representatives. The proposed article does not claim to be a comprehensive
description of such ethnic names, but outlines possible ways of studying
archaic nicknames. The latter constitute a significant part of the archaic
ethnonymicone and toponymicone, which is promising for consideration in
areal-typological, onomassiological and cognitive-pragmatic terms.
At present, models of nomination for collective-regional and ethnic
nicknames are reflected in the precedent texts (anecdotes, artistic, folk,
including ritual texts of different genres).

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Information about the author:

Tyshchenko O. V.,
Doctor of Philology, Professor at the Department
of Foreign Languages and Translation Studies,
Lviv State University of Life Safety
35, Kleparivska str., Lviv, 79007, Ukraine,
Professor at the Department of Russian Studies,
University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava
nam. Herdu 2, Trnava, Slovak Republic

139
DOI https://doi.org/10.36059/978-966-397-149-0/140-159

THEOLOGICAL TERMS IN GERMAN:

GENERAL OVERVIEW

Veresh M. T.

INTRODUCTION
The terminological systems of different languages for Special Purposes
(LSP) in today's multicultural and globalized world are becoming
increasingly important, since communication in the professional field
requires thorough knowledge of not only the field itself, but also the means
of its expressing. The term as a unit of a particular terminological system
is a tool for professional communication. The term Christian-theological
terminological system clearly defines the sphere of functioning – units that
define concepts and phenomena in the field of theology as the doctrine of
God and the Word of God based on Revelation.
The historical events of the 1990s, the legalization of the Catholic
Church in the post-Soviet space contributed to the growth and spread of
spirituality and made it possible to activate the church's public activities.
At the same time, the process of introducing the discipline of "theology" at
the state level was intensified.

1. Theology as a science. Theological terms from the linguistic point

of view. Languages for special purposes (LSP)
In Christian world, the term theology is the doctrine of God based on
Revelation, that is, the methodical attempt to understand and explain the
Divine Revelation of truth 1. This “Revelation is contained in the Holy
Tradition and the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and is
entrusted to the Holy Church. The pinnacle of Divine Revelation is the
incarnate of the Holy Spirit and Mary the Virgin, the Son of God – Jesus
Christ, who in his words and deeds declared the love of God the Father” 2.
In our opinion, this aspect should be emphasized.
Theology is a scientific teaching in which “the Christian mind is
confident and enlightened by the light of faith. It seeks by thought to
understand what it believes in. The object of faith is the revealed

1
Католическая Энциклопедия в 5-ти томах. – М. : Издательство Францисканцев,
2002. – Т. 1. – C. 631.
2
Катехизм Української Греко-Католицької Церкви : Христос – наша Пасха. – Львів :
Свічадо, 2011. – C. 19.
140
sacrament. Being aware of it, one realizes many consequences that
follow from it” 3. St. Thomas Aquinas thus covers the emergence of
theology as a science: “It was necessary for man's salvation that there
should be a knowledge revealed by God besides philosophical science
built up by human reason. Firstly, indeed, because man is directed to
God, as to an end that surpasses the grasp of his reason: “The eye hath
not seen, O God, besides Thee, what things Thou hast prepared for them
that wait for Thee” (Is. 66:4). But the end must first be known by men
who are to direct their thoughts and actions to the end. Hence it was
necessary for the salvation of man that certain truths which exceed
human reason should be made known to him by divine revelation. Even
as regards those truths about God which human reason could have
discovered, it was necessary that man should be taught by a divine
revelation; because the truth about God such as reason could discover,
would only be known by a few, and that after a long time, and with the
admixture of many errors. Whereas man's whole salvation, which is in
God, depends upon the knowledge of this truth. Therefore, in order that
the salvation of men might be brought about more fitly and more surely,
it was necessary that they should be taught divine truths by divine
revelation. It was therefore necessary that besides philosophical science
built up by reason, there should be a sacred science learned through
revelation” 4.
The term “bohoslovya” in the Ukrainian language is synonymous with
the terminological unit “heology”, which is used in many languages,
derived from the Greek words: λόγος – word, concept, doctrine, and θεός –
God. θεολογία – the doctrine of God, theology (or as it can also be called
in Ukrainian “богослов’я”, i. e. “bohoslovya”) 5. We should point out that
the term “bohoslovya” derives from two words: Boh – God and slovo –
word, concept, doctrine. Thus, one can easily see that both terms point to
the same reality. However, in certain circles there is a tendency to supplant
the assimilated Church Slavonicism “bohoslovya” with the new Greek
word “theology”. Authors who use the term “bohoslovya” generally focus
on Eastern Christian tradition, while those who use the term “theology”
focus on Western Christian ones 6 .
3
Стасяк С.-Я. Основи догматичного богослов’я / о. С.-Я. Стасяк, о. Р. Завіла. – Львів :
Місіонер, 1997. – C.5
4
St. Thomas Aquinas : [Електронний ресурс]. – Режим доступу : https://dhspriory.org/
thomas/summa/FP/FP001.html#FPQ1OUTP1
5
Греческо-русский словарь / [под ред. А.Д. Вейсмана]. – С. Петербург, 1899. – C. 601.
6
Термінологічно-правописний порадник для богословів та редакторів богословських
текстів. – Львів, вид. Інституту богословської термінології та перекладів Українського
Католицького Університету, 2005. – C. 26.
141
 Early Christian apologists, namely Origen and Eusebius of Caesarea,
first used the terminological unit “theology” 7. According to Origen,
theology is the doctrine of God, in a special way about the Savior Jesus
Christ. So, doing theology means acknowledging and praising God in
Christ. <...> Theology also researches The Word of God, which the
scholar (theologian) seeks to properly perceive and interpret, the faith and
its effect on man and society (dogmatic and moral theology), Jesus Christ
(Christology), man (theological anthropology) 8.
When considering the terms of the Christian-theological terminological
system, one should understand the concept of theology in the light of
Catholic teaching, since it is interpreted differently. The Catechism of the
Catholic Faith provides the following explanation: “The Fathers of the
Church distinguish between theology (theologia) and economy
(oikonomia). Theology refers to the mystery of God's inmost life within
the Blessed Trinity and economy to all the works by which God reveals
himself and communicates his life. Through the oikonomia the theologia is
revealed to us; but conversely, the theologia illuminates the whole
oikonomia. God's works reveal who he is in himself; the mystery of his
inmost being enlightens our understanding of all his works” 9.
With the emergence of the first universities in the 12th century, including
Bologna in 1088 and Paris in 1215, the sacred doctrine began to be called
theology. Great credit goes to Pierre Abelard, a French philosopher and
theologian who introduced the term "theology" in the title of his scholarly
work “Theologia christiana” (Christian theology) 10 [87, p. 632]. The term
“theology” (Theologie) in German is a borrowing from the Greek language
and dates from the 15th century. It denotes the doctrine of God and
His revelation, as well as the faith and essence of the church11.
Theology as a science has formed certain special disciplines in the
course of historical development : ascetic (spiritual) theology, moral,
fundamental, dogmatic and biblical theology, the theology of the Fathers
of the Church, catechetic, homiletics, pastoral theology, liturgical and
canon law12, each containing the relevant lexical units.

7
Стасяк С.-Я. Основи догматичного богослов’я / о. С.-Я. Стасяк, о. Р. Завіла. – Львів :
Місіонер, 1997. – C. 5.
8
Католическая Энциклопедия в 5-ти томах. – М. : Издательство Францисканцев,
2002. – Т. 1. – C. 632.
9
Catechism of the Catholic Church : [Електронний ресурс]. – Режим доступу :
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P17.HTM#7X.
10
Католическая Энциклопедия в 5-ти томах. – М. : Издательство Францисканцев,
2002. – Т. 1. – C. 632.
11
Duden, Etymologie : Herkunftswörterbuch der deutschen Sprache / [bearb. von
G. Drosdowski]. – Mannheim, Leipzig, Wien, Zürich : Dudenverlag, 1997. – S. 743.
12
Обер о. Ж.-М. Моральне богослов’я / о. Жан-Марі Обер : [переклад з італ. о. д-ра
М. І. Любачівського] : [2-ге вид, виправ.]. – Львів : Стрім, 1997. – C. 8–10.
142
 The concepts of “Languages for Special Purposes” (LSP) and
“terminological system” in linguistics are interrelated. In order to clarify
the relationship between these concepts, it is necessary to dwell on their
definitions. According to L. Hoffmann, “LSP is the unity of all linguistic
means used in the professionally limited communication field to ensure
understanding between individuals in a particular field of activity” 13.
Languages for Special Purposes are also “means of optimal understanding
of the subject area for professionals. They are characterized by a specific
vocabulary and special rules for the choice, use and frequency of
commonly used lexical and grammatical means. They do not exist as an
independent form of realization in language, but is actualized in
professional tests, which, in addition to the elements of the professional
text, always contain elements of the common language” 14. Languages for
Special Purposes are “a set of all language means used in a professionally
closed field of communication to ensure mutual understanding between
people working in this field” 15. “Languages for Special Purposes
are means of cognition and conceptual definition of a specific reality
of the profession, as well as a means of mutual understanding in the field,
and thus takes into account the specific needs of communication within
the profession” 16.
Although there is no clear definition of the term “Languages for
Special Purposes”, the definitions of the term “LSP” given here make it
possible to distinguish their main task, “which is to create accurate
and economical meaningful tools for understanding the subject area or
field of activity and serve mainly to meet the needs of professional
communication” 17. According to L. Hoffmann, professional communi-
cation is an externally or internally motivated or stimulated external and
internal system of knowledge aimed at a chain of professional events that
change the knowledge system of both one specialist and a group of
specialists 18. Three concepts proposed by T. Roelcke became the basis
13
Hoffmann L. Kommunikationsmittel Fachsprache / L. Hoffmann // Forum für Fachsprachen-
Forschung. – [2., völlig neu bearb.]. – Tübingen : Narr, 1985. – B. 1. – S. 53.
14
Schmidt S. J. Bedeutung und Begriff : Zur Fundierung einer sprachphilosophischen
Semantik / S. J. Schmidt. – Braunschweig : Vieweg, 1969. – S. 17.
15
Кияк Т. Р. Перекладознавство (німецько-український напрям) : [підруч. для студ.
вищ. навч. закл.] / Т. Р. Кияк, А. М. Науменко, О. Д. Огуй. – К. : Київський нац.
університет, 2009. – C. 55.
16
Möhn D. Fachsprachen. Eine Einführung / D. Möhn, R. Pelka. – Tübingen, Max Niemeyer
Verlag, 1984. – S. 26.
17
Міщенко А. Л. Лінгвістика фахових мов та сучасна модель науково-технічного
перекладу : монографія / А. Л. Міщенко. – Вінниця : Нова Книга, 2013. – C. 15.
18
Hoffmann L. Kohärenz und Kohäsion in wissenschaftssprachlichen Texten: ein
Analysebeispiel // Fachsprachen. Ein internationales Handbuch zur Fachsprachenforschung und
Terminologiewissenschaft. – Berlin – New York, 1998. – S. 614.
143
for the study of Languages for Special Purposes. The first regards
professional language as a system of linguistic signs. The second is aimed
at professional text, as well as its contextual links that make professional
communication possible. The third concept is related to the producer and
the recipient of professional communication, thereby defining the
cognitive properties of humans as the basis of linguistic research 19.
Languages for Special Purposes can be represented in horizontal and
vertical structuring. The horizontal division follows the principle of
division according to the disciplines and specialist areas. Thus, there are
LSP of consumption and trade, which include, in particular, beekeeping,
shipping, book printing, hunting, animal husbandry and more. The next
group consists of technical and LSP of applied sciences: computer science,
telecommunications, electrical engineering and more. The third group of
horizontal division is the LSP of the sciences, which include, in particular,
law, physics, chemistry, biology, pharmacology, mathematics, pedagogy,
linguistics, as well as theology. The fourth group includes the languages of
institutions: politics, governance, etc. 20 The vertical structuring does not
adhere to the professional principle, but takes into account the level of
abstractness. Thus, LSP differ in the level of the highest degree of
abstraction (artificial symbols, formulas – basic theoretical sciences), the
level of very high degree of abstractness (experimental sciences –
communication between scientists, technicians), high degree of abstraction
(languages with a very high proportion of professional terminology and
clear syntax – applied sciences), low abstractness (languages with a fairly
high proportion of professional terminology and relatively unrelated
syntax – the sphere of material production) and very low level of
abstraction (languages with few professional terms and unrelated syntax –
the sphere of consumption and trade) 21. Vertical structuring manifests
itself, in particular, in the pragmatic conditions of the professional
communication functioning and in linguistic selection (stylistics).
Therefore, theology finds its place in the horizontal structuring and
belongs to the LSP of science.
It should be noted that some LSP use specific language means that may
be available in other LSP. Multiple subgroups can form larger classes with
their common features. Yes, it is possible to distinguish a hierarchical
system of LSP of theology and its sublanguages within the national

19
Roelcke T. Fachsprachen / T. Roelcke – Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag, 2005. – S. 16–17.
20
Ibid. – S. 37–38.
21
Кияк Т. Р. Перекладознавство (німецько-український напрям) : [підруч. для студ.
вищ. навч. закл.] / Т. Р. Кияк, А. М. Науменко, О. Д. Огуй. – К. : Київський нац.
університет, 2009. – C. 57.
144
language, in particular, the professional language of moral theology,
pastoral theology, homiletics, liturgy, etc.
Languages for Special Purposes are primarily targeted at specialists in
a particular field. Each profession has its own linguistic variability.
E.S. Movchun, sharing the opinion of the representatives of the German
School for the Study of LSP K. Baumann, L. Hoffmann, D. Möhn,
R. Pelka, T. Roelcke and H.-R. Fluck, believes that “not only lexical but
also syntactic features are inherent in every LSP”. The use of certain
syntactic constructions and a much smaller proportion of figurative
terminological units distinguish Languages for Special Purposes from
professional jargon (slang)” 22. Professional communication “is closely
related to human speech and is the subject of research in a number of
related sciences and subdisciplines of general linguistics, including
pragmatics, which explores the use of language signs, grammatical
structures and stylistic patterns adequate in the professional text to
achieve the communicative purpose as well as the terminology that is
associated with the professional language in terms of applied terminology
and terminological activity, in particular, the formation of modern
terminological systems, the problems of term formation, normalization,
standardization, harmonization and up-to-date maintenance of industry
terminologies at national and international levels” 23.
Languages for Special Purposes exist at the level of vocabulary, syntax
and text. All vocabulary of the professional text is divided into 4 types:
1) Specialist terms that have their own definition: die Eucharistie
(Eucharist), das Jesusgebet (Jesus Prayer), das Sacrament (holy mystery);
narrow vocabulary is the most important and the most frequently used in
professional texts and carries the greatest amount of information;
2) Interdisciplinary terms (including terms of related sciences): das
Leben (life). In philosophy, it is a similar way of realizing existence on
separate, every higher degrees of reality. In the scientific sense, life is
associated with protoplasm as the highest known form of organization of
matter. “From the theological point of view, the fragile 'miracle' of life is
first and foremost a gift of God, as chance and creativity are explored
in the animated being more clearly than in the inanimate world” 24;

22
Мовчун Є. С. Особливості перекладу українською мовою німецького комерційного
Інтернет дискурсу : автореф. дис. на здобуття наук. ступеня канд. філ. наук : спец. 10.02.16
«Перекладознавство» / Є. С. Мовчун. – Київ, 2010. – C. 7.
23
Міщенко А. Л. Лінгвістика фахових мов та сучасна модель науково-технічного
перекладу : монографія / А. Л. Міщенко. – Вінниця : Нова Книга, 2013. – C. 16.
24
Короткий теологічний словник / Карл Рагнер, Герберт Форгрімлєр [перекл.
О. Авраменко]. – Львів, 1996. – C. 179 – 180.
145
 3) Professionalisms, which may include nomenclature: der
Rosenweihrauch (incense from rose), der Weihrauch “Ecclesia” (incense
made from incense tree);
4) Professional jargon, which does not claim to be precise and
unambiguous, it has a high level of imagery and emotionally colored
meaning (has not been studied) 25.
According to A.L. Mishchenko, the basis of a professional text is a
terminological vocabulary, “which is the object of the study of
terminology as a science of professional concepts and their nominations in
professional languages. The main task of theoretical terminology is to
create unified and standardized principles and methods of word formation,
classification and systematization of branch terminological systems;
normalization of the principles of systemic development of branch
terminological systems, regulation of relations between concepts within
terminological systems, which is the basis of applied terminological
activity” 26.

2. Terms of the German Christian-theological terminology:

Definition of the terms, characteristics
Terminology is a “special vocabulary serving a particular field of
science or technology” 27. Terminology is used in the language in special
subject fields; “this presupposes a division of language into as many speial
sublanguages as there are separated subject fields or areas of knowledge
and activity in a given linguistic community. From the point of view of
terminology, therefore, the lexicon of a language consists of the many
separate subsystems representing the knowledge structure of each subject
field or discipline” 28:
• Bibelwissenschaft (Biblicla Studies): Neues Testamen (New
Testament), Altes Testament (Old Testament), die Bibel (the Bible), die
Synoptiker (synoptic Gospel);
• systematische Theologie (systematic theology): die Eklesiologie
(ecclesiology), die Eschatologie (eschatology), die Trinität (Trinity).

25
Кияк Т. Р. Теорія та практика перекладу (німецька мова) : [підручник для студентів
вищих навчальних закладів] / Т. Р. Кияк, О. Д. Огуй, А. М. Науменко. – Вінниця : Нова
книга, 2006. – C. 28–29.
26
Міщенко А. Л. Лінгвістика фахових мов та сучасна модель науково-технічного
перекладу : монографія / А. Л. Міщенко. – Вінниця : Нова Книга, 2013. – C. 163.
27
Кияк Т. Р. Лингвистические аспекты терминоведения : [учеб.пособие] / Т. Р. Кияк. –
К. : УМК ВО, 1989. – C. 7.
28
Sage J.C. Practical Course in Terminology Processing. – Amsterdam, Philadelphia : John
Benjamins Publishing Company, 1990. – P. 13.
146
 According to O.M. Tours terminological systems have some features.
In particular, a terminological system is a set of terms that performs a
communicative-thematic or communicative-situational task; elements of
the structure are directly or indirectly related; there is no term that does
not belong to any particular term system or to several at the same time,
and they can overlap one another, forming a group of terms common to
several terminological systems 29. Thus, the terminological unit der
Logos in the philosophical system of terms means “speech, intellect”. In
the theological terminology it means “the word of God as an objectively
manifested will of God and the power of creation of the universe”
(Genesis 1: 3; Ps. 33: 6; Jn. 1, 1-3); “Jesus as the Incarnate Word and
Divine Revelation” (Jn. 1:14; Rev. 19:13).
Terms as verbal designations of concepts that are included in the
system of concepts of a particular area of professional knowledge, and as
the basic units of language used for a specific purpose 30. On the one hand
they are important elements of the LSP used by professionals in various
fields of science and technology for communication related to professional
activity 31, and on the other hand, belong to a certain terminological
system – a consciously constructed system of terms 32. “Terms are the
linguistic representation of concepts.” 33. B.M. Golovin believes that the
term is a single word or a noun phrase, which means a professional
concept and is intended to meet the specific needs of communication in a
particular profession 34. V.A. Tatarinov describes the term as “a linguistic
sign (word or phrase) that correlates with a specific concept, phenomenon
or object” 35. O. Selivanova defines the term as “a word or a compound that
denotes the concept of a special sphere of communication in science,
production, technology, art, in a particular field of knowledge or human
activity” 36. Y. A. Klimovytsky considers the term a word or a phrase,

29
Тур О. М. Польова структура сучасної української терміносистеми землеустрою
та кадастру / О. М. Тур // ЧДУ ім. П. Могили : наукові праці. – Т. 92. – № 79. – С. 69.
30
Суперанская А. В. Общая терминология : вопросы теории / А. В. Суперанская,
Н. В. Подольская, Н. В. Васильева. – [2-е изд. стер.]. – М. : Едиторал УРСС, 2004. – C. 14.
31
Жербило Т. В. Термины и понятия лингвистики : Общее языкознание. Социолинг-
вистика : Словарь-справочник / Т. В. Жербило. – Назрань : Пилигрим, 2011. – C. 215.
32
Лейчик В. М. Терминоведение. Предмет, методы, стрктура : [4-е изд.] /
В. М. Лейчик. – М. : Либроком, 2009. –C.107.
33
Sage J.C. Practical Course in Terminology Processing. – Amsterdam, Philadelphia : John
Benjamins Publishing Company, 1990. – P. 57.
34
Головин Б. М. Термін і слово / Б. М. Головин. – Горький, 1980. – C. 276.
35
Татаринов В. А. Теория терминоведения / Татаринов В. А. – М. : Московский лицей,
1996 . – C. 157.
36
Селіванова О. Сучасна лінгвістика : термінологічна енциклопедія / О. Селіванова –
Полтава : Довкілля-К, 2006. – C. 617.
147
which is the unity of a sound sign and a corresponding concept in the
system of concepts of a given field of science and technology 37.
O.S. Akhmanova calls the term a word or phrase of a special language,
which is created to accurately express special concepts and name special
objects 38. The term is a word or phrase that expresses a clearly defined
concept of a particular field of science, technology, art, social and political
life 39. The term is a linguistic unit (word or phrase) mostly of a substantive
nature, which conventionally relates to the concept and object of the
professional field and serves to concentrate, record, store and transmit
professional information 40.
“The term is a member of a particular terminological system, so
terminology is not a random set of words, but a system of interrelated
terms that denote the system of concepts of a particular branch of
knowledge” 41. Thus, the words die Offenbarung (revelation), die Schisma
(schism), das Sacrament (sacrament) reflect the essence of certain
theological concepts. The terms for each science are numbered and
necessarily related to the concepts of a particular science. Therefore, the
specificity of the term lies primarily in the clearly limited field of its use 42.
The main task of the term is to nominate and optimize the process of
professional communication. In this regard, the term should specifically
reflect the results of both practical and research activities of the person,
consolidate the knowledge acquired in the course of scientific and
professional activity about the features of terminological objects, as well
as identify their most important features 43.
The nomination is closely related to such a thinking stage as concept
formation. It involves the selection of that particular trait, feature or
phenomenon of an object that would later serve as a name.
The relationship between the term and the word is close. If a term called
37
Климовицкий Я. А. Некоторые вопросы развития и методологи терминологических
работ в СССР / Я. А. Климовицкий. – М. , 1967. – С. 34.
38
Ахманова О. С. Словарь лингвистических терминов / О. С. Ахманова. – М. :
Советская энциклопедия, 1969. – C. 474.
39
Ганич Д.І. Словник лінгвістичних термінів / Д. І.Ганич, І. С. Олійник. – К. : ВШ,
1985. – C. 306.
40
Лемов А. В. Система, структура и функционирование научного термина /
А. В. Лемов. – Саранск : изд-во Мордов. университета, 2000. – C. 77.
41
Безгодова Н. Співвідношення понять термінологія – професіоналізм – номенклатура
(теоретичний аспект) : [Електронний ресурс]. / Надія Безгодова // Вісник Львівського
Університету. Серія Філологічна. – Вип. 34. – Ч. 1. – Львів, 2004. – С. 458 – 463. – Режим
доступу : http://philology.lnu.edu.ua/v34_1.php.
42
Реформатский А. А. Мысли о терминологии / А. А. Реформатский // Современные
проблемы русской терминологии. – М., 1986. – С. 165–166.
43
Володина М. Н. Научно-техническая терминология и общеупотребительная лексика :
[Електронний ресурс]. – Режим доступу : http://library.krasu.ru/ft/ft/_ articles/0113883.pdf.
148
a word belongs to the field of science or technology, then the word that
denotes this term is a scientific and technical term 44. The same can be said
about the theological term: die Eucharistie (Eucharist), die Firmung
(Confirmation), Apostolosche Väter (early fathers of the church), die
Apokryphen (apocrypha) – the concepts called by these lexical units
belong to the science of theology, they reflect the essence of the
theological realities, and the words that denote them are Christian-
theological terms.
The term as a unit of national language simultaneously belongs to a
special linguistic subsystem and therefore serves as a special linguistic
unit, which refers to special and professional concepts, which makes it
possible to distinguish them among other units of the linguistic system 45.
The terms are being examined in various terminological systems at the
present stage of the development of linguistics. The term has a specific and
defined scope and thus belongs to the vocabulary of a particular subtext that
serves as a medium of communication in a particular professional field.
The term is a part of a terminological system of a particular profession.
The term as “a word or verbal complex enters into systemic relations
with other words and verbal complexes and forms with them in each
specific case and at certain times a closed system, characterized by high
informativeness, uniqueness, accuracy and expressive neutrality” 46.
According to V. Schmidt, the term should have such properties as:
professional orientation, content, accuracy, uniqueness, brevity, as well as
aesthetic, expressive and modal neutrality 47. According to A.S. Dyakov,
T.R. Kyyak and Z.B. Kudelko, the term is characterized by specific
features, such as systematicity, definiteness (each term is compared with a
clear, separate definition that focuses on the corresponding concept),
brevity (this requirement is often contrary to the requirement of accuracy,
i.e. completeness of the term), unambiguity, which should be sought
within the same terminosphere, because at the level of several
sublanguages the polysemy of the terms is a widespread phenomenon,
expressive neutrality 48. Taking into account the abovementioned, we can

44
Квитко И. С. Термин в научном документе / И. С. Квитко. – Львов : Вища школа,
1976. – C. 9.
45
Шмелёва О. Ю. Терминологические процессы в диахронии и синхронии (на материале
английского языка) / О. Ю. Шмелёва. – С-Пб. : СПбГУЭФ, 2010. – C.10.
46
Квитко И. С. Термин в научном документе / И. С. Квитко. – Львов : Вища школа,
1976. – C. 21.
47
Schmidt S. J. Bedeutung und Begriff : Zur Fundierung einer sprachphilosophischen
Semantik / S. J. Schmidt. – Braunschweig : Vieweg, 1969. – S. 12.
48
Д’яков А. С. Основи термінотворення: Семантичні та соціолінгвістичні аспекти /
Д’яков А. С., Кияк Т. Р., Куделько З. Б. – К. : вид. дім “КМ Academia”, C. 13.
149
conclude that systematicity, definiteness, uniqueness, brevity and accuracy
are important properties of the term.
Considering the systematic nature of the term, it should be noted that it
operates within a certain terminological system. A system (from gr.
Σύστεμα – a conjunction, a whole made up of parts) is a collection of
elements that are in appropriate relations and bonds with each other and
form a certain unity 49. According to the dictionary of the Ukrainian
language, organization and structure are also included into the system,
which is the unity of regularly located and functional parts 50. The basic
element of the system is the structure, “the set of stable links of the object,
ensuring its integrity and identity to itself that is, maintaining the main
qualities in various external and internal changes”. On this basis, the
scientific term is a system in which three elements are structured, forming
a lexical triangle:
1) the material shell of the word-term;
2) the actuality of objective reality related to it;
3) the concept of this reality 51.
The term has a meaning in a particular term system because
systematicity is one of its main characteristics. The systematicity of
terminological unit is manifested, on the one hand, by the reflection of the
notion expressed by the term, and on the other – by the motivational word-
forming capabilities of the word-sign (term) 52, for example, das
Andreaskreuz (St. Andrew's Cross), das Petrus Kreuz (St. Peter's Cross).
The systematicity of a particular term system, including the theological
one, is also manifested in the availability of word-families in the
terminology (term-families), which are “terms that are united on the basis
of the common feature or pattern and have the same component” 53. Word-
families in the terminology are the result of a morphological way of word
formation in the terminology with the help of a root word, on the one hand.
And on the other hand, of a syntactic way of their constructing, in the
process of which the main component acquires the status of the definition,
and vice versa, the significant component of the term is given the status

49
Новая философская энциклопедия : [Електронний ресурс]. – Режим доступу :
http://iph.ras.ru/elib/2736.html.
50
Словник української мови : в 11 томах / АН УРСР. Інститут мовознавства / [ред.
І. К. Білодід та ін.]. – Київ: Наукова думка, 1970 – 1980. – Т. 9. – C. 204.
51
Лемов А. В. Система, структура и функционирование научного термина /
А. В. Лемов. – Саранск : изд-во Мордов. университета, 2000. – C. 8.
52
Синьо В. В. Лінгвістичні особливості німецької фахової мови лісівництва : дис. канд.
філ. наук : 10.02.04 / В. В. Синьо. – Ужгород, 2007. – C. 24.
53
Бартков Б. И. Частность английских военных терминов и мощность их словообразо-
вательных гнёзд / Б. И. Бартков // Особенности словообразования в системе и литературной
норме. – Владивосток : ДВНЦ АН СССР, 1983. – С. 39.
150
of the basic component of the derivative nomination 54,55. The presence of
the same determinant in a number of composites testifies to the common
features in the respective concepts. For example, the term die Kirche
(church) is a main component of such terminological units as:
die Kirchenlehre (church teaching), der Kirchenvater (church father),
die Kirchenstrafe (church punishment), das Kirchenjahr (church year),
der Kirchenvorstand (church curatorium), die Kirchenprovinz (church
province), etc.
When we refer to such a property of the term as definiteness, we
understand that each term is related to a specific concept through
definition 56. The definition is an important condition for distinguishing it
from a literary word, as well as for the creation, storage and transmission f
scientific information 57:
Die Tugend ist eine beständige, feste Neigung, das Gute zu tun. Sie
ermöglicht dem Menschen, nicht nur gute Taten zu vollbringen, sondern
sein Bestes zu leisten. Mit all seinen sinnlichen und geistigen Kräften
strebt der tugendhafte Mensch nach dem Guten. Er sucht es zu erreichen
und entscheidet sich bei seinen konkreten Handlungen dafür 58.
A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the
person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself.
The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and
spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions 59.
For any term system uniqueness, or unambiguity, brevity, and accuracy
are an ideal rather than a norm. While polysemy in the general vocabulary
leads to the enrichment and expansion of the lexical composition, it is
undesirable for the term system because it violates the language's attempt to
maintain a clear correspondence between the referent and its nominative
sign. In the terminology of many sciences it is much easier to find a
polysemic term than an unambiguous one60. For example, the terminological
unit die Gemeinde (community, parish) stands out as a polysemous one,
54
Секунда Т. Принципи складання української технічної термінології / Т. Секунда //
Вісник Ін-ту укр. наук. мови. – 1930. – Вип. 2. – С. 11–21.
55
Казарина С. Г. Типологические характеристики отраслевых терминологий /
С. Г. Казарина– Краснодар, 1998. – C. 154.
56
Коваль А. П. Науковий стиль сучасної української літературної мови. Структура
наукового тексту / А. П. Коваль. – К. : Видавництво Київського університету, 1970. – C. 262.
57
Лемов А. В. Система, структура и функционирование научного термина /
А. В. Лемов. – Саранск : изд-во Мордов. университета, 2000. – C. 42.
58
Katechismus der Katholischen Kirche : Neuübersetzung aufgrund der Editio typica latina. –
[2., veränd. Aufl.]. – München, Wien, Oldenbourg, Leipzig : St.-Benno-Verlag, 2003. – S. 476.
59
Catechism of the Catholic Church : [Електронний ресурс]. – Режим доступу :
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/P64.HTM.
60
Лемов А. В. Система, структура и функционирование научного термина /
А. В. Лемов. – Саранск : изд-во Мордов. университета, 2000. – C. 46.
151
where the first meaning is an administrative unit (parish) in a church or
religious congregation, and the second meaning is the gathering of
all members of the parish for worship. The ambiguity of the term, namely
the ability of the polysemous terms to belong to different paradigmatic
series, leads to the emergence of synonymic, antonymic and homonymous
relations, which are characteristic of the current terminological situation 61.
Ideally, the term should not have synonyms. However, in the term system
under investigation the phenomenon of synonymy is present:
die Fleischwerdung, die Menschenwerdung, die Incarnation – all these three
terms mean incarnation.
Accuracy is the most appropriate correlation between linguistic
expressions and objects, states or processes of the respective branches of
human activity 62. According to V. Sinyo, “the requirement of precision of
a term means that it must contain essential features of the concept defined.
Terms vary in degree of accuracy” 63. Multicomponent terms can express
high precision of their concept: der Kreuzweg (the Stations of the Cross),
die Glaubensspaltung (split of the church), das Glaubensbekenntnis
(the creed, the symbol of faith). The short terms of the terminology we are
exploring (partly from Latin and Greek) have a very high degree
of accuracy, for example, der Exarch (Latin exarchus – Vorgesetzter <
Gr. ξαρχος Anführer sein) (exarch), das Filioque (Lat. und vom Sohn)
(Filioque), die Gnade (Old High German gnada – Wohlwollen, Gunst <
Lat. gratia < Gr. Χάρις (mercy, mercy).
Along with the properties of the term having already been mentioned,
the motivation of the terminological unit plays an important role. Although
language is not exclusively composed of motivated lexical units, each
linguistic system contains a reasonably high proportion of motivated
potential. The language system as a whole is aimed at increasing the
capacity of motivation in such a way as to restore or re-create the
connection of motivation. In response to the constant phonological and
semantic changes that destroy the link of motivation, compensatory
changes are coming to the fore. They link the formal and the internal form
of language more closely, rationally forming the link between form and
meaning 64. F. de Saussure believes that motivation is more complete,

61
Закреницька Л. А. Англійська християнсько-богословська терміносистема : генезис,
структура, семантика : дис. канд. філ. наук : 10.02.04 / Л. А. Закреницька. – Хмельницький,
2011. – C. 29.
62
Roelcke T. Fachsprachen / T. Roelcke – Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag, 2005. – S. 61.
63
Синьо В. В. Лінгвістичні особливості німецької фахової мови лісівництва : дис. канд.
філ. наук : 10.02.04 / В. В. Синьо. – Ужгород, 2007. – C. 26.
64
Wurzel W. U. Zur Dialektik im Sprachsystem : Widerspruch – Motiviertheit –
Sprachveränderung / W. U. Wurzel // Deutsch als Fremdsprache. – 1984. – S. 208.
152
the easier it is to decompose it into parts from which one can understand
the meaning of the whole 65.
Considering the problem of motivation at the level of the term system,
it should be noted that terms based on word-forming resources of both the
native language and formed on the basis of borrowed term elements can be
motivated. However, they are motivated in different ways. In one case it is
often a question of metaphor or metonymy, in another it is a term
motivated by a corresponding set of term elements 66. Motivation is the
mediator between the form and the content of the sign. The name, or rather
its internal form, which is interpreted as the “basis of motivation” is a
means of motivation process 67. This is the internal form of the word “that
induces articulate sound to express the thought taken in the totality of its
connections and systematicity” 68. It does not come down only to the
etymology of the word, or to the lexical meaning, to the motivation, or to
the simple sum of the meanings of the constituent morphemes.
<…> The internal form is a mental interiorized image, potentially
abstracting and displaying, in the form of an apperception, one or more
essential features of denotation, evoked and fixed in the memory of the
native speaker by the morphemic structure of the word or expression” 69.
V. Fleischer and S. Ulmann distinguish three types of motivation:
phonetic-phonemic, morphological-semantic and figurative 70, 71. A.S. Dyakov,
T.R. Kyyak and Z.B. Kudelko suggest a somewhat different division and
distinguish between three types of motivation, such as: sign (semiotic),
formal (word-forming) and content (intense). The very fact of existence
and use of the word points to the sign motivation, since there are no totally
unmotivated lexical units in the language. All of them are in some way
interrelated with the corresponding meaning, at least at the level of the
common vocabulary. Formal motivation includes external form motivation
and internal form motivation (morphological and semantic) 72.

65
Соссюр де Ф. Курс общей лингвистики / Ф. де Соссюр. – Екатеринбург : изд-во Урал.
ун-та, 1999. – C. 157.
66
Суперанская А. В. Общая терминология : вопросы теории / А. В. Суперанская,
Н. В. Подольская, Н. В. Васильева. – [2-е изд. стер.]. – М. : Едиторал УРСС, 2004. – C. 107
67
Прядохин М. Г. Пособие по изучению нового китайского фонетического алфавита :
текст / М. Г. Прядохин. – М. : Восточная литература, 1960. – 9 с.
68
Потебня А. А. Из записок по русской грамматике. Об изменении значения и заменах
существительного / А. А. Потебня. – М. : Просвещение, 1968. – Т. 3. – C. 116.
69
Д’яков А. С. Основи термінотворення: Семантичні та соціолінгвістичні аспекти /
Д’яков А. С., Кияк Т. Р., Куделько З. Б. – К. : вид. дім “КМ Academia”, 2000 – C. 73 – 74.
70
Fleischer B. Wortbildung der deutschen Gegenwartssprache / B. Fleischer, H. Bartz. –
Tübingen, 1992. – S. 14.
71
Ullmann S. The principles of Semantics / S. Ullmann. – Glasgow, 1963. – P. 52.
72
Д’яков А. С. Основи термінотворення: Семантичні та соціолінгвістичні аспекти /
Д’яков А. С., Кияк Т. Р., Куделько З. Б. – К. : вид. дім “КМ Academia”, 2000 – C. 81.
153
 Morphological-semantic motivation by internal form encompasses the
relation between words at the morphological and semantic levels.
According to E.S. Kubriakova, “the key to the semantic reading and
interpretation of any word is, after all, its superficial morphological
structure” 73. Morphological motivation is first and foremost defined by a
word-forming model of the lexical unit, such as the suffix -ung: die
Bekehrung (conversion). Semantic motivation is the result of the
relationship between word-forming formants and the word stem, between
the new and the previous meaning: die Heiligsprechung (proclamation
of the saints) 74.
Intense motivation is a “structural-semantic characteristic of a lexical
unit explaining a rational lexical-semantic link between the meaning and
the internal form of the given unit by means of language” 75. It acts as a
link between the form and the semantic content of the language sign; it is
determined by the ability of the internal form to display the most relevant
features of the linguistic content of a word or expression, establishes its
structural and semantic features in comparison with lexical meaning. 76
Content motivation is clearly evident, first of all, in Christian theological
terms-composites in the German language.
Internal form and motivation may contain different amount of
information. Accordingly, we distinguish:
1) the full motivation of the inner form (when the form reflects a
feature that is completely included in the meaning): der Kelchtuch –
ein Leientüchlein zum Austrocknen des Meßkelches (lention);
2) partial motivation (when there is a part of the linguistic content of
the unit which is common to the internal form and lexical meaning) :
Christi Himmelfahrt – Aufnahme Christi in den Himmel (Ascension);
3) absence of motivation (no morpheme included in the internal form
has a corresponding meaning): das Pontifikalamt – von einem Bischof
gehaltene feierliche Messe (festive Worship);
4) absolute motivation (complete coincidence of semantic features of
internal form and lexical meaning): die Fastenpredigt – Predigt in der
Fastenzeit (sermon at the time of fasting) 77.

73
Кубрякова Е. С. Типы языковых значений : Семантика производного слова /
Е. С. Кубрякова. – М. : Наука, 1981. – C. 19.
74
Д’яков А. С. Основи термінотворення: Семантичні та соціолінгвістичні аспекти /
Д’яков А. С., Кияк Т. Р., Куделько З. Б. – К. : вид. дім “КМ Academia”, 2000 – C. 81.
75
Кияк Т. Р. Лингвистические аспекты терминоведения : [учеб.пособие] / Т. Р. Кияк. –
К. : УМК ВО, 1989. – C. 38.
76
Д’яков А. С. Основи термінотворення: Семантичні та соціолінгвістичні аспекти /
Д’яков А. С., Кияк Т. Р., Куделько З. Б. – К. : вид. дім “КМ Academia”, 2000 – C. 83.
77
Кияк Т. Р. Лингвистические аспекты терминоведения : [учеб.пособие] / Т. Р. Кияк. –
К. : УМК ВО, 1989. – C. 39.
154
 Full motivation can be considered the most appropriate, since form and
meaning are mutually consistent in it, which promotes, as a rule, better
mutual understanding. Thus, motivation is a significant feature of the term.
It is characteristic primarily for derivative terms and composite terms. It
serves as a connecting element between the form and the content of the
sign. There are two divisions of motivation. One division characterizes the
amount of information contained in the internal form of the sign, and,
accordingly, we can distinguish between full, partial, absolute motivation
and its absence. Another considers sign, formal and content motivation.

CONCLUSIONS
Summarizing the previously mentioned, we can conclude that the
professional language of theology is the totality of all linguistic means
used in the theological field of communication to ensure understanding
between people in this field. The theological language of theology, which
exists at the level of vocabulary, syntax and text, includes theological
terms. Theological terms form the terminological system of theology that
serves theology as a field of science.
Basing on the results of our research, we can claim that German
Christian-theological terms are systemic, definable, and partly
characterized by unambiguity, accuracy and brevity. The systematicity of
the studied terminological system is based on the word-family in the
German terminology of theology. The presence of the same determinant in
a number of composites indicates common ground in the relevant
concepts. The terms of Christian-theological terminological system relate
to specific concepts through definitions. Partial uniqueness of German
Christian-theological terms is conditioned by the presence of polysemy
and synonymy available in the studied term system. Motivation is an
important feature of the term, clearly traced to derivative terms and
composite terms, and serves as a connecting element between the form and
meaning of the sign.

SUMMARY
In the following research, the author gives a general overview of the
theological terminology in German. The connection between Languages
for Special Purposes and terminology is settled. The horizontal and
vertical structuring of the Languages for Special Purposes and the place of
theology as science are presented there. Aspects of motivation have been
analysed. For the first time, the German terms of professional theological
language at the level of vocabulary have been analysed. The terms of
German Christian theological terminology according to the motivation
aspect and the aspect of definitiveness have been studied.
155
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Information about the author:

Veresh M. T.,
Candidate of Philological Sciences,
Associate Professor at the Faculty of Foreign Philology,
Department of German Philology,
Uzhhorod National University
3, Narodna Sq., Uzhhorod, 88000, Ukraine

159
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