Reading riddles aright: a cognitive linguistic analysis of English and Ukrainian riddles
Abstract
The article offers an analysis of the conceptual structure of English and Ukrainian riddles with the subsequent comparison of the empirical data under scrutiny. The relevance of the cognitive-linguistic vantage point adopted in the paper is determined by the fact that riddles constitute coal-and-ice elements of the linguistic image of the world which is a reflection of the ethnic conceptual image of the world. Thus, exposing the conceptual organization of riddles lays foundations for establishing unique features of the mindset of the English and Ukrainian peoples reflected in riddles in both languages. To reach the goal, I apply the methodology of conceptual analysis, namely the notions of conceptual sphere and domain introduced by cognitive linguists, as well as basic propositional schemas that feature in semantics of lingual networks. The research consists of two stages. At the first stage, I perform the modeling of the conceptual arrangement of objects the riddles refer to. The objects are found to fall within one of the two conceptual spheres (LIVING BEINGS and INANIMATE OBJECTS) that consist of three and six domains correspondingly. At the second stage, the characteristics of referents that are mentioned in the riddles serving as clues for guessing them are considered. These 25 characteristics are viewed as predicates of 11 basic propositional schemas. In conclusions, I draw a comparison between the riddles of the two languages. The similar features are attributed to the universals embedded in the conceptual image of the world symptomatic of all humans whereas the revealed differences pertain to idioethnic specificity of the two linguistic communities.
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References
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