Gender metaphors of the Russian and English languages: metaphorical fragments of the axiological worldview

The subject matter of the analysis is gender metaphors of the Russian and English languages. The focus of the current research is on different types of evaluations that are expressed by metaphorical nominations of the two languages. The main sources of data for metaphor study were dictionaries of the Russian and English languages including online dictionaries. The total number of gender metaphors identified was 409 and 497 lexemes that characterize a human from the Russian and English dictionaries respectively. When analyzing gender metaphors of the Russian and English languages, metaphorical fragments of the axiological worldview of the two cultures were determined. The purpose of the study is to identify a fragment of the axiological worldview, and through it a fragment of the normative ethno-linguistic worldview expressed in the system of metaphorical nominations of a human. Another objective of the research is to see the presence or absence of gender asymmetry in the formation of stereotypes of a human's evaluation in the linguocultures under study. Analyzing metaphorical nominations that convey positive and negative evaluations, the author identifies values, i.e. the range of things which are positively evaluated. In addition, the study shows a fragment of the normative worldview, namely, the totality of stereotypes, deviations from which are fixed, and antinorms - things that are negatively evaluated. In this study the author characterizes the metaphorical modeling of the evaluation system of a man and a woman in Russian and English worldviews, classifies the types of evaluations expressed by gender metaphors of the two languages and describes the aspects which are most commonly evaluated. By doing it, the author models the system of norms and stereotypes that underlie them. The analysis of metaphorical fragments of the axiological worldview showed that the core of the group is formed by aesthetic and ethical evaluations. Intellectual, normative and emotional evaluations are on the periphery of the group. The comparison of gender metaphors in the two languages in terms of gender asymmetry showed that there is no fundamental difference between the concept of masculine and feminine stereotypes excluding stereotypes of non-aggressiveness, talkativeness and attitude to the members of the opposite sex which are typical of women and men respectively. As far as other stereotypes are concerned, the number of metaphorical nominations is equal for both men and women that are bearers of the stereotypes of height, middle age, educational background, mastery, plumpness, physical strength and stamina. As the examples demonstrate, most metaphors express negative evaluation, thus marking deviation from the norm to the negative side. Regarding the comparison between the two linguocultures with respect to gender asymmetry in the formation of evaluation stereotypes, it must be noted that common features, namely, types of evaluations and norms, prevail. There is one more common feature: character and behavior, appearance, intellectual ability of men and women are the focus of evaluation in the two cultures. The author noted distinctions merely at the level of quantitative correlation between characteristics that are metaphorically marked in the two linguocultures.

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