Oriental Studies (Apr 2018)
Adjectives Denoting Temperature (Evidence from the Kalmyk Heroic Epic of Jangar and Kalmyk National Corpus)
Abstract
At present, investigations of diverse concepts - such as ‘size’, ‘color’, ‘form’, ‘flavor’, ‘temperature’, etc. - constitute one of the most relevant research trends within modern linguistics. The article examines adjectives somehow related to temperature characteristics of objects - in view of the work on developing definitions for a Definition Dictionary of the Language of the Kalmyk Heroic Epic of Jangar. Songs of the Jangar epic and data from the Kalmyk National Corpus served as materials for the research. The Kalmyk heroic epic of Jangar has accumulated the material and spiritual culture of the people, their cultural values and magnificent traditions. Materials of the epic largely confirm the relations between the archetypal image of the world and the common, daily objective perception of things. Adjectives denoting temperature are widely used in the Kalmyk language, e. g., khalun ‘hot’, kiitn ‘cold’, bülӓn, dulan ‘warm’, serün ‘cool’. Words denoting low temperatures signify negative emotions: kiitn nüdn ‘cold eyes’, kiitn üg ‘cold words’, kiitn khӓlӓts ‘cold look’; at the same time, words denoting high temperatures stand for positive emotions: khalun mend ‘heartiest greetings’, khalun durn ‘passionate love / firm friendship’, bülӓn nüdn ‘warm eyes / soft glance’, bülӓn khӓlӓts ‘warm look’, bülӓn üg ‘warm words’, bülӓn kharγlt ‘warm / amicable meeting’. The formulae / definitions of temperature adjectives introduced in the article make it possible to conclude that figurative meanings constitute a temperature range but, as distinct from Russian, the Kalmyk language - due to peculiarities of the national culture and mindset - is characterized by emotional self-restraint, and most adjectives are employed in the direct meaning.
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