Conceptual peculiarities of metaphorical model «grey colour - external cover of body of person»(based on Russian, English and German languages)

The undying interest, which has outlined in last decades to metaphor studying, can beconnected with the fact that the given phenomenon began to be considered, first of all, as one of the basic mechanisms of knowledge ofthe world, reflections of the extra-language reality, and also with those changes that have occurred in the structure and dynamics ofmodern knowledge of the world, to a new view on the problem of verbalization of results of scientific and ordinary knowledge.Moreover, in connection with revision by linguists of positions concerning language and thinking parity, this period is marked byoccurrence of new streams in research of the given phenomenon. There is no common view on the essence of metaphor in modernscience. Therefore, representatives of different linguistic directions interpret this phenomenon from different positions. Representativesof modern cognitive science (G. Lakoff, М. Johnson; A.N. Baranov; Yu.N. Karaulov; E.S. Kubryakova, etc.) investigate metaphor asthe basic means of cogitative and language activity (the basic mental operation), as a way of knowledge, estimations and worldinterpretation. According to the the results of the analysis of the basic cognitive approaches of metaphor studying, we have concludedthat the theory of conceptual integration of G. Fauconnier and M. Turner can serve as one of the possible approaches to explanation ofthis phenomenon. Using the theory of conceptual integration by G. Fauconnier and M. Turner the author makes an attempt to constructmetaphorical model «grey colour - external cover of the body of a person (skin)». The given model represents a blend, which is formedas a result of merge of two input mental spaces «Grey color» and «External cover of the body of a person» on the basis of generic space.Analysing the corpus of examples the author allocates a group of metaphorically rethought expressions in which colourative «gray» isactively used with the conceptual area «the body of a person». In the resultant structure emergent conceptual signs: «болезненнобледный, больной» in Russian, «painfully pale, ill» in English and, accordingly, «kranklich blass, krank» in German societies areopened. In the course of the material research the author comes to the following conclusions: 1) at the intersection of the two InputSpaces there is some interspatial mapping, i.e. a search of points of possible contact of correlative concepts by means of the spaces, andthe resultant structure («hybrid» space) is endured as a metaphor; 2) elements of Input Space 2 are an integral part of generic(contextual) space; 3) the developed model «GREY COLOUR - EXTERNAL COVER OF THE BODY OF A PERSON» allowsinferring conceptual sign «painfully pale, ill» in Russian, English and German societies; 4) in the given model transference based oncolour serves as the basis of metaphorical process; 5) the analysis of examples confirms the fact that in spite of the fact that the lexemesparticipating in activation of mental space 2, change, the blend is the same; 6) grey colour of coverlets is reflection of both physiologicalfeatures and psychoemotional conditions representing person's basic emotions such as fear, grief, fright, etc.

Keywords

Authors

References