Russian Tactile Metaphor in Terms of Emotiveness (A Study of the Lexico-Phraseological Field Gladit’)

Abstract

The article deals with the directions of the concept Gladit' (Stroke) metaphorisation in Russian that is presented in lexical and phraseological units with the initial motivating semantics of tactility. The cognitive model of the tactile metaphor is described in terms of figurative and emotional-and-evaluative interpretation of tactile impact and tactile perception processes. The theoretical basis of the research is grounded in the semasiological theory of language figurativeness, the linguistic theory of emotiveness, the cognitive theory of metaphor, and the propositional-frame analysis of the verb semantics. The methods of field modelling, component and contextual analysis of conceptual and connotative semantics, cognitive-pragmatic analysis of metaphorical representations of conceptual content are used. The analysis of the units, which constituent the lexico-phraseological field Gladit' (Stroke), represented by the tactile verbs as well as adjectives, nouns, and adverbs derived from them contributed to revealing the propositional-frame structure of the concept Gladit' (Stroke). Its elements are metaphorically mapped into the spheres of psychic, mental, speech, social, political, everyday mechanical, and physical processes. The language units that represent the metaphor of tactility are noted to express wide range of emotional assessments. The cognitive foundations of metaphorical projections are found to be based on the tactile impact of the tactile signal sender, and the emotional reaction of the subject who perceives it.