CULTURE-SPECIFIC CONCEPTUALISATIONS OF BEAUTY

Abstract

From the perspective of cultural linguistics, this paper a) investigates and compares the conceptualisations of beauty in the Chinese, English and Slavonic (Polish and Ukrainian), b) analyses the cultural contexts of in which beauty conceptualises and c) reveals the crucial peculiarities of the human’s perception and evaluation of beauty in the appointed languages. Based on the theory that language is an activity the character and structure of which express the culture and individuality of speakers (Humboldt 1907), attention is mainly focused on the interrelationship of language and culture pointing out ontological features of Chinese, Polish, English and Ukrainian worldview and perception of beauty. A suffient number of examples demonstrate the ontological features and the empirical generalizations embedded in conceptual images of beauty in the analysed languages. Furthermore, the findings of the paper may assist in learning the axiological value of beauty and its origin in the chosen languages and cultures.

Keywords

• лінгвокультурологія
• концептуалізація
• семантична ознака
• кроскультурне дослідження
• краса