Semantics of Agionym Nikolay (based on Russian Paroemia and Orthodox Prayers)

Abstract

The article views proper name as a functional-semantical element of language, speech and culture. The relevance of the article is based on studying a proper name, name of the saint, as a component of the Russian language worldview and as a cultural concept. The subject of the study is agionym Nikolay. The exact subject of the research is means of explications of the name of the Saint Nicholas (Nikolay) in the Russian linguistics consciousness: Saint Nicholas, Thaumaturge, Nicholas the Wonder-Worker, Sanctifier Nicholas, etc. Material for the research is semantic paroemia gathered by Vladimir Dal and texts of orthodox prayers to Saint Nicholas. The originality of the research realizes itself in the comparative analysis of nominative, connotative, associative and culture-value components of the agionim Nikolay in different discourses. The research was conducted with a help of a complex research methodology: the method of conceptual analysis of the name, the in-situ measuring method, the method of component analysis. The result of the research is the associative-semantic field, which reveals semantic value of agionym 'Nikolay' in a fragment of the Russian language worldview, and the associative-semantic field, which contains the agionym as a stable component of its structure. The research shows ability of the agionym to maintain complex cross-filed relations, assosiative-semantical links with other Christian concepts like 'Jesus Christ', 'God', 'Russian Saint', 'Holiness', agionyms 'Yegoriy' (Saint George), 'Kasyan', 'Saints Mikhail', 'Kuzma', 'Demyan'. The semantic volume of the agionim Nikolay was fully determined during the research. The results showed that it contains the following ontological and axiological traces: "protection", "light", "purity", "divinity", "holiness", "miracle", "kindness", "mercy", "strength". The results of the research that presupposed studying religious and common texts showed the widening of the semantic volume of the agionim Nikolay. This process is realized by the means of actualization of the associative relations of the agionim with the representatives of the culture concepts of the Orthodox Christian consciousness and contextual synonymy and antonymy. Lingvocultural value of the agionym 'Nikolay' in the Russian language worldview is revealed. Complex analysis of the name of the Saint in the paremiae, collected by V.I. Dal as well as in the texts of the Orthodox prayers enables to uncover important aspects of holiness for Russian mentality: Protection, Help, Love.

Keywords

• proper name
• anthroponym
• agionym Nikolay
• semantic proper name
• language explication
• religious concept
• concept 'Holy'
• paremia