EPITETATION OF PHYTONIMIC CONCEPTS IN M. TSVETAEVA’S POETRY

Abstract

He article covers the analysis of the various types of epithetation of phytonymic concepts in M. Tsvetaeva’s poetry. The research material is the collected works of the poet, as well as Dictionary of Poetic Language by Marina Tsvetaeva. The Dictionary of epithets of the Russian literary language was used to compare the composition of epithets of some phytonymic substantives in poetic language and everyday use. On the base of cognitive-semantic, contextual and quantitative methods, the mechanism of epithetation in M. Tsvetaeva’s texts are analyzed various mechanisms of epithetation. It is established that the main direction of epithetation of phytonymic substantives is their characteristic metaphorization of the personifying type. It is noted that such phytonyms as tree, rose, bush, oak are basic for the M. Tsvetaeva’s poetic world, reflecting her figurative idea of herself, love, creativity. Attention is drawn to the presence of such symbolic phytonyms as elder, rowan, ivy, willow, and flax in the poet’s idiolect. The semantics of phytonyms intertwine ancient mythological ideas about plants and the author’s interpretation of their meaning. The general tendency of phytonym epithetation is the associative closeness of man and the natural world, the perception of the world as a living being, which is akin to the mythological worldview. The opposite tendency to endow other realities, including man, with phytomorphic attributes is not the leading one in the poet’s idiolect. Phytonymic images endowed with personified attributes become capable of capturing the love experiences of the lyrical heroine, becoming the embodiment of his Self, the prototype of the soul. Trees are the embodiment of the poet’s deep connection with nature, a way of self-knowledge. This cross-section of characteristic metaphors allows us to form an idea of M. Tsvetaeva’s idiolectic epithetation.