BASIC MEANINGS OF THE CONCEPT “TENDERNESS” IN RUSSIAN AND SPANISH LANGUAGE PICTURES

Abstract

The article is devoted to the description of the representation of the concept of “tenderness” in comparison and is the final part of the study of this concept, conducted on the basis of the Russian and Spanish language pictures of the world. In the course of the study, the connection between language and culture was identified, reflected in the linguistic picture of the world through the functioning of the concept of “tenderness” as its functional unit. The investigation showed that the studied context is important for the perception of differences between Spanish and Russian linguistic cultures. A comprehensive analysis consisting of three stages was carried out. At the first stage, were analyzed the data of etymological, historical and explanatory dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms and antonyms, which made it possible to identify the semantic scope of the concept, that is, its nuclear zone. At the second stage, a contextual analysis of the use of words that make up the concept of “tenderness” in the texts of the Spanish and Russian language corpora was carried out. Based on the analysis of the functioning and compatibility of the unit “tenderness”/“ternura” in Russian and Spanish-language texts, the main characteristics and components of the values of the nuclear zone of the concept were identified, characterizing “tenderness” as a feeling and the nature of relations between people. In the course of studying the near-nuclear zone of the concept “tenderness”, its expression in the text space was analyzed, including semantic exits beyond the data recorded in dictionaries. At the third stage, the ethnospecific features of the concept were investigated, that is, its peripheral zone, revealing the representation of the concept in the perception of representatives of modern linguistic cultures, live conversational speech and consciousness of modern speakers of Russian and Spanish. Based on a linguoassociative experiment among representatives of the Russian and Spanish linguocultures, conducted in two stages (2011 and 2022), conclusions were drawn about the semantic content of the concept and the change of its components in dynamics. At the end of the research, it was concluded that, despite the preservation of the integrity of the semantic scope of the concept of “tenderness”, its internal content undergoes transformation and redistribution of the components of meaning, occurring in accordance with the priorities of social life and consonance with the needs of society.