The cultural value of the word volk (wolf) based on the materials of phraseology (diachronic aspect)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17308/lic.2020.1/2739Keywords:
historical lexicology, cultural value, symbolic meaning, phraseology, paremia, synchrony and diachronyAbstract
The research object of the article is stable expressions of nominative and communicative types, including the reference word volk (wolf). The article considers symbolic value of the word volk (wolf), realized in phraseological units that make up a semantic field of more than 370 units. The aim of the work is to describe the cultural value of the word volk (wolf), formed by the symbolic meanings (symbolic signs) of the word. The cultural value of the word is considered in a diachronic aspect: from its archaic state in the pre-Slavic period to the semantics of the old Russian time, taking into account the estimated modification after the adoption of Christianity and the subsequent translation of traditional features in the modern Russian language. The work uses a compar- ative-historical method, which allowed to reconstruct the oldest old Russian proverb (*pro volka golka, a volk iz kolka) and the archaic symbolic meaning of the word volk (wolf) – ‘evil shepherd’. This meaning is based on the mythological representations of the pre-Slavic era: the analysis of proverbs shows that the wolf was perceived as the embodiment of the pagan fertility deity Yarila, preserving cattle and accepting sacrifices. The findings are based on the structural-semantic method, according to which the cultural value of the word volk (wolf) consists of a set of semantic features obtained in the analysis of individual language units of the four sectors (‘sheep’, ‘living object’, ‘situation of interaction with wolves’, ‘stereotypical qualities’) of the phraseological semantic field. As a result of the analysis, the symbolic image of the wolf was described: the unchanging and uncompromising enemy of man, a dangerous inhabitant of another, supernatural world, able to invade the everyday world, cruel and strong predator, whose character is determined by the world order. The results obtained are relevant for historical lexicology and linguoculturology and can be used in compiling a historical dictionary of symbolic meanings. The analysis established that the origin of the symbolic meanings of the word volk (wolf) is associated with mythological representations of agricultural society, with the ancient content of the Russian folk holiday Yuriev day (spring).
References
Alekseev A. V. Semioticheskie kategorii yazyka i kul'tury pri diahronicheskom analize leksiki (monografi ya) [Semiotic categories of language and culture in the diachronic analysis of vocabulary (monograph)]. Moskva: MGPU, 2013. 164 p.
Teliya V. N. Russkaya frazeologiya: Semanticheskij, pragmaticheskij i lingvokul’turologicheskij aspekty [Russian phraseology: Semantic, pragmatic and linguoculturological aspects]. Moskva: SHk. “Yazyki rus. kul’tury”, 1996. 284 p.
Frazeologicheskij slovar’ russkogo yazyka [Phraseological dictionary of the Russian language]. Moskva: Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya, 1968. 543 p.
Frazeologicheskij slovar’ sovremennogo russkogo literaturnogo yazyka [Phraseological dictionary of modern Russian literary language]. In 2 v. Moskva: Flinta: Nauka, 2004. V. 1. 832 p.
Birih A. K., Mokienko V. M., Stepanova L. I. Slovar’ russkoj frazeologii. Istoriko-etimologicheskij spravochnik [Dictionary of Russian phraseology. Historical and etymological reference]. Sankt-Peterburg: Folio-Press, 1998. 704 p.
Zhukov V. P. Slovar’ russkih poslovic i pogovorok [Dictionary of Russian Proverbs and sayings]. Moskva: Russkij yazyk, 1991. 534 p.
Natsional’nyj korpus russkogo yazyka [Russian National Corpus]. URL.
Dal’ V. I. Tolkovyj slovar’ zhivogo velikorusskogo yazyka [Explanatory dictionary of the living great Russian language]. Moskva: Tipografi ya T. Ris”: 1866. V. 1. 627 p.
Mihel’son A. D. Bol’shoj tolkovo-frazeologicheskij slovar’ russkogo yazyka Mihel’sona [Large explanatory and phraseological dictionary of the Russian language Michelson]. Moskva: Si ETS: Buka, 2008. CD-ROM.
Slovar’ drevnerusskogo yazyka (XI–XIV vv.) [Dictionary of the old Russian language (XI–XIV centuries)]: In 10 v. Moskva: Russkij yazyk, 1989. V. 2. 494 p.
Slovar’ russkogo yazyka XVIII veka [Dictionary of the Russian language of the XVIII century]. Leningrad: Nauka, 1988. V. 4. 256 p.
Arct M. Słownik frazeologiczny [Phraseological dictionary]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo M. Arcta, 1928. 182 p.
Manuskript. Drevnie slavyanskie pamyatniki [Manuscript. Ancient Slavic monuments]. URL.
Milenkoviћ T. Idiomi u srpskom jeziku [Idioms in Serbian]. Aleksinac: Ateљe 63, 2006. 267 p.
Mokienko V. M., Nikitina T. G. Bol’shoj slovar’ russkih pogovorok [Large dictionary of Russian sayings]. Moskva: OLMA Media Grupp, 2007. 784 p.
Uvarov N. V. Enciklopediya narodnoj mudrosti [Encyclopedia of folk wisdom]. Moskva: Infra-Inzheneriya, 2009. 583 p.
Simoni P. Starinnye sborniki russkih poslovic, pogovorok, zagadok i proch. XVII–XIX stoletij [Ancient collections of Russian Proverbs, sayings, riddles, etc. The XVII–XIX centuries]. Sankt-Peterburg: Tip. Imp. Akademii Nauk, 1899. 216 p.
Lazareva M. N. Nravstvennyj potencial zoomorfonoj metafory v latinskih krylatyh vyrazheniyah, poslovicah i pogovorkah [Moral potential of zoomorphic metaphor in Latin winged expressions, Proverbs and sayings]. Vestnik Nizhegorodskogo universiteta im. N. I. Lobachevskogo. Filologiya. Nizhnij Novgorod: NNGU, 2012. № 1(2). Pp. 135–138.
Slavyanskie drevnosti: Etnolingvisticheskij slovar’ v 5-ti t. [Slavic antiquities: an Ethnolinguistic dictionary in 5 vols.]. Ed. by N. I. Tolstoj. Moskva: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya, 1995–2012. V.1. 575 p. V. 5. 736 p.
Ivanov V. V., Toporov V. N. Issledovaniya v oblasti slavyanskih drevnostej. Leksicheskie i frazeologicheskie voprosy rekonstrukcii tekstov [Research in the field of Slavic antiquities. Lexical and phraseological questions of the reconstruction of texts]. Moskva: Nauka, 1974. 342 p.
Propp V. YA. Russkie agrarnye prazdniki: (Opyt istoriko-etnografi cheskogo issledovaniya) [Russian agrarian holidays: (Experience of historical and ethnographic research)]. Sankt-Peterburg: Terra – Azbuka, 1995. 176 p.
Levkievskaya E. E. Slavyanskij obereg. Semantika i struktura [Slavic amulet. Semantics and structure]. Moskva: Indrik, 2002. 336 p.
