Mechanisms of metaphorical formation and interpretation of zoosemisms in Russian dictionaries

Abstract

The subject of the study is the lexical and semantic features of Russian zoosemisms characterizing the internal signs of a person. The object of the study is Russian zoosemisms, that is, secondary names of persons motivated by animal names (zoonyms). The paper examines the relationship between the primary meanings of animals and their metaphorical zoosemic meanings; the interaction of metaphorical connections and cultural representations in language; and the potential for the development of zoosemisms in the Russian language. The author examines in detail such aspects of the topic as zoosemisms reflecting the internal characteristics of a person and directly related to the zoonyms motivating them; zoosemisms reflecting the internal features of a person and indirectly related to the zoonyms motivating them. Special attention is paid to the analysis of possible sources of zoosemisms, which are indirectly related to the zoonyms motivating them, as well as their stability in the psychological state of native Russian speakers. The following methods are used in the study: descriptive, component analysis, comparative analysis, as well as the method of continuous sampling of material. The novelty of this work lies in an in-depth analysis of a specific subgroup of zoosemisms; identification of various connections between zoonyms and zoosemisms motivated by them; as well as in highlighting the special role of zoosemisms in the linguistic picture of the world of Russian speakers. The results of the study confirm the complexity and diversity of the connections between zoonyms and the zoosemisms motivated by them, many of which are directly related to the cultural, historical and phraseological aspects of the Russian language. The zoosemisms ram, gad, beetle, fox, turkey exist as stronger cultural elements, and are steadily present in the minds of native speakers of the Russian language. The zoosemisms sparrow, goose, animal, dog, creature, chicken are in the status of dynamic development. The source of zoosemisms can be phraseologically related meanings of the corresponding animal (zoosemisms goat, sheep, donkey, rooster); metaphorical meanings of the corresponding masculine animal (zoosemisms gadina, fox/fox, donkey/donkey, bitch); metaphorical meanings associated with the species or family of the corresponding animal (zoosemisms barbosa, tigress, shiloh tail). This analysis enriches the understanding of the mechanisms of metaphor formation in the Russian language and can serve as a basis for further linguistic research, as well as methods of teaching Russian to foreign students.