MODERN LINGUISTIC APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF ETHNIC SYMBOLS (based on the German language)

Abstract

The article outlines the different aspects of study of German ethnic symbols: semiotic, literary, cognitive and lingvocultural. In the article have been viewed the common features and basic differences between the ethnic symbols, linguistic sign, metaphor, metonymy, allegory and concept and proved the effectiveness of using lingvocultural approach to the study of these interdisciplinary units. Each ethno-cultural community has its own symbols, which should be called ethnic symbols. Ethnic symbols are the structural and semantic units of language, that reflect in their semantics socio-cultural characteristics, stages of development, worldview of particular ethnic community and represent the state and trends of the language development. The semantics of symbol-words is characterized for implicit: the existence of a symbolic background, that indicates the value of the designated ethnocultural concepts, and symbolic competence of speakers, which determines the frequency of use, interpretation of words of certain lingvo-society. Lingvocultural consideration of ethnic symbols makes it possible to understand the relationship of words and other linguistic units, to formulate a model of ethno-cultural consciousness of the folk and the role of language in the formation of the ethnic mentality, national picture of the world.

Keywords

• етносимвол
• концепт
• метафора
• метонімія
• алегорія
• лінгвокультурологія