LINGUOCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPT OF PAIN IN MODERN UKRAINIAN PROSE

Abstract

The article interprets the meaning of concept as a discrete semantic unit of collective consciousness that reflects the features of the real or ideal world and is stored in the national memory in verbal form. The concept is the main element of culture in the mental world of man and the ethnos in general. It is noted that the concept reflect the layering of cultural meanings. The word objectifies the concept in language and opens access to conceptual knowledge. The study of cultural phenomena is impossible without taking into account the language system, in particular the analysis of cognitive and mental mechanisms of human consciousness through the accumulation and transmission of knowledge about the world around us. The idea of the inseparability of language and culture belongs to W. von Humboldt, who emphasized that culture manifests itself primarily in language, and noticed that language can “lead” a person to a particular culture. The views of linguists on the interpretation of the concept, in particular as a linguistic-cultural phenomenon, are proposed. The linguistic-cultural concept differs from other cognitive units by the accentuation of the value element, because it is the value that is always at the center of the concept, and the value principle underlies any culture. It is noted that the concept reflects the specifics of a particular linguistic culture, exists in the individual and collective consciousness, it has a three-component structure, which, in addition to the value component, includes conceptual and figurative elements. The role of the concept PAIN in the linguistic picture of the world of modern Ukrainian writers is determined. The purpose of the article is to analyze the concept PAIN in the context of the existential sphere of human existence in modern Ukrainian prose. The article uses the method of conceptual analysis as the main one (to compare the set of word usages of tokens that implement the concept of PAIN, with the subsequent interpretation of semantic differences in its word usage). In addition, other scientific methods are used (analysis, synthesis, definition analysis, end-to-end writing, contextual analysis, descriptive method). Pain has been found to be the one of the basic feelings a person experiences throughout life. The concept PAIN as a purely physical phenomenon is analyzed (token characteristics with a negative connotation) and as a state of mind. The peculiarities of pain intensity on the gradation scale are illustrated. It is noted that the concept PAIN is realized on the scale of assessment, moving in it, which is a result of its individual-authorial reflection development in the linguistic consciousness of the Ukrainian mentality. Isolated word usages of the concept PAIN in the dichotomy pain – joy, pain – love are recorded. It is noted that the nominative units, which function in a language, explain the importance of certain cultural concepts for a particular linguistic and cultural community. In view of this, the associative chains of pain – soul, pain – life / death are distinguished. The associative series of gradation (descending / ascending) are described, the components of which are the token despair. It is emphasized that the concept PAIN is an intermediate constant in the life / death dichotomy. Individual-author interpretation of pain as physical and mental suffering is represented by negative evaluative associations (suffering, torment, grief, despair, despair). We see prospects for further research on this topic in a detailed description of the communicative-pragmatic parameters of the concept of pain, in particular in the opposition pain – pleasure / enjoyment in the gender aspect

Keywords

• concept
• linguoculture
• evaluation value
• gradation scale
• dichotomy
• intensification