Representation of the Concept "Bear" in Dialect Discourse

The article describes the verbalization of the concept "bear" in dialect discourse. The material of the study is texts recorded in 1946-2019 in the regions where Middle Ob dialects are spoken. A concept is a unit of thinking, which is represented by means of language and reflects features of culture. The method of analysis is based on the consideration of conceptual, figurative, and axiological layers in the structure of the concept. Also, when describing the figurative layer, the methodology of the theory of conceptual metaphor and its terms are used. The concept "bear" is not a concept of a peasant world, but it has its features in dialect. More words for nomination of the concept "bear" are used in the Middle Ob dialects in comparison with the standard language. Among the units that verbalize this concept, there are words that call a bear: bear, beast, taliped, Mikhail Ivanovich, black beast, the owner of the taiga, etc., and words associated with hunting or its existence: hybernation, den, Siberia. The bear is characterized as a dangerous, rapacious, mammal, large, fear-inducing, fast, possessing destructive power, well-swimming and climbing, cunning, intelligent animal with a good, strong sense of smell. The concept "bear" also includes knowledge about its habits, human behavior when meeting it, bear's behavior when meeting with man, the way it looks, its nutrition and the specificity of bear hunting. There is a metaphorical use of the lexeme bear in the analyzed texts. The bear acts as a source domain and as a target domain of figurative interpretations. A person can be called a bear mainly because of the peculiarities of one's character, appearance and behavior: I would turn to a neighbor, but she is such a bear, she always scowls; He lives in the taiga all the time; his entire life just like a bear; and the realities of nature and the surrounding world also can be called in a such way because of formal resemblance: Bear ears (bearberry) grow. With thick, shiny leaves, like poured over with wax; We call the stars the Big Bear (Big Dipper). A large amount of material tells us about bear hunting, which has a utilitarian value: bears are hunted for meat, skin, and medical purposes. The analysis of the concept showed a variation of ideas about the bear, stereotypes about it in dialect and national culture. In contrast to the standard language, folklore, in which the bear can also be considered as a good, stupid, and haveless animal, in dialect speech the bear is a rapacious, harmful beast, a smart, fast animal with destructive power, a danger to humans. The behavior, appearance and size of the bear are main subjects of figurative interpretation. It has been revealed that dialect has figurative meanings for words that either do not exist in the literary language, or have other meanings. Characteristics of the bear in the peasants' consciousness have taken root primarily as a result of man's personal experience of meeting with this beast and hunting for it.

Keywords

Authors

References