Structural Modeling of the Concept Licht in the German View of the World

This study is aimed at describing a fragment of the German linguistic worldview, which includes the concept Licht (light), based on a comprehensive analysis of the materials of etymological, explanatory, phraseological dictionaries, the digital dictionary system of the German language DWDS. Conceptual, figurative and axiological meanings of the concept are formed on the basis of studying the etymology and semantics of the key lexeme Licht. This lexeme is a means of objectification of the concept and of analysis of phraseological and paremiological units of the German language and literary contexts, as well as associative series using the results of the experiment. Methods and techniques of the research include the analysis of dictionary definitions, descriptive and interpretive methods, and continuous and special sampling methods, a corpus study and an associative experiment. The leading methods are the method of conceptual analysis, the implementation of which is facilitated by the methods of component analysis of lexical, phraseological and paremiological units, as well as the modeling method, which involves the concept content representation in the form of cognitive traits. The fundamental understanding of the concept, based on etymology and dictionary definitions, is defined as "glow, light" and "light sources". Also, light is a physical phenomenon or electricity; God and the divine beginning; joy (figuratively); a positive value. To identify figurative and perceptual characteristics of the concept under consideration, an experiment was conducted, which showed that light sources, heat, emotions and feelings, color perception, attitude to God, physical phenomenon, abstract concepts are associated with light by German speakers. Most of the respondents' response words have evaluative characteristics with a positive connotation. The axiological components of the concept Licht are manifested in bipolarity, that is in the opposition of light and darkness, as well as in ambivalence that gives it both positive and negative characteristics. Based on the analysis of linguistic means of the concept objectification, the following cognitive layers were introduced with sectors: a description (physical state, intellectual activity, emotional state, characteristic features, actions and behavior); clearness, obviousness, manifestation (explanation, discovery, revealing something, a vivid manifestation of a sign); aim; measure (measurement of time, speed, distance, quantity); sign (pointer, signal); aesthetics (external beauty, gloss, purity, quality). The concept Licht turns out to be a significant concept in the system of values of the German-speaking society; it represents ethical and aesthetic views in the German linguaculture.

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