Artifact, Natural, and Ideological Symbolic Signs in the Structure of the Happiness Concept

Abstract

The article describes the symbolic features of the concept happiness as part of the Russian linguaculture. The study made it possible to recreate the ideas, superstitions, and customs behind the concept of happiness. The author analyzed linguistic data obtained from the Russian National Corpus (www.ruscorpora.ru) and classified them into four thematic blocks: 1) artifact symbols of happiness: horseshoe, straw shoes, objects of petty bourgeois life; 2) ornithological signs of happiness: mythical birds Alkonost / Sirin, bird of happiness, stork on the roof; 3) natural symbols of happiness: clear (peaceful) / seventh sky, flowers, rainbow in the sky; 4) ideological signs of happiness: Motherland, Stalin. Symbols and amulets, which combine mythology and everyday life, reflect the mentality of the Russian people with their desire to merge with nature.

Keywords

• linguaculture
• cognitive linguistics
• artifact symbols of happiness
• ornithological signs of happiness
• natural symbols of happiness
• ideological signs of happiness