The Connotative Component as Part of the Systemic Lexical Meaning of a Word (The Case of the Russian and Bashkir Languages)

Abstract

This article is caused by the necessity and regularity of addressing the cultural linguistics topic, in particular the connotative vocabulary. For a long time, cultural and linguistic ties have been a major focus of the linguists’ interest. It is generally accepted that culture is associated with the ideas existing and being symbolically transmitted through the language. The study examines the word as a basic unit of language that in addition to its primary content also possesses the extralinguistic content, and namely the national predicament. Each specific ethnic social environment establishes its semantic space, its linguistic and conceptual views of the world, which are characterized by the differences in the set of national and culturological marked units, including words. The authors have presented various scientific interpretations of the term "connotation," series of their lexical and semantic meanings, additional figurative-metaphorical nomination contributing to implementation of the national and cultural specificity of the ethnic group who are native speakers. Application of the anthropocentric approach to the word analysis allowed expanding the semantic contours and describing the word in its diverse connections: on the one hand, within the vocabulary of the language, on the other hand, within the context of a particular culture, which made it possible to identify the cultural connotations—the cultural identity of the Russian and Bashkir peoples, and the features of their mentality. In terms of comparative typology, a cultural linguistics analysis will allow identifying the specific features of the concepts that these two ethnic groups have of fauna, flora, and other worlds as well as of themselves comprising an important part of their linguistic view of the world.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s4p158