THE CONCEPTUAL SPHERE OF HOMO CORPORIS: THE SOMATISM HAND IN RUSSIAN SPIRITUAL VERSES Cover Image

КОНЦЕПТОСФЕРА ЧЕЛОВЕК ТЕЛЕСНЫЙ: СОМАТИЗМ РУКА В РУССКИХ ДУХОВНЫХ СТИХАХ
THE CONCEPTUAL SPHERE OF HOMO CORPORIS: THE SOMATISM HAND IN RUSSIAN SPIRITUAL VERSES

Author(s): Elena Aleksandrovna Mukhina
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics
Published by: Петрозаводский государственный университет
Keywords: spiritual verses; linguistic world picture; conceptual sphere; physical human; somatic vocabulary; hand concept;

Summary/Abstract: The awareness of human corporeality determines human behavior and affects the spiritual guidelines of society and culture as a whole. However, the concept of the corporeal human being, Homo Corporis, has not been sufficiently studied by the humanities. The cognition of the human body, its comprehension, and somatic perceptions of people of different epochs are manifested in the language and reflected in mythology, philosophy, and art. The relevance of the research is determined by the need to study the folklore picture of the world presented in spiritual verses and reflecting the general linguistic picture of the world through the prism of its perception by people. The human soul with its thoughts and desires is the main object of the evaluation of spiritual verse, a genre aimed at disclosing the image of the “inner person”. However, this does not exclude references to human physicality in the texts and the use of lexemes denoting the “external person”. The article is aimed at identifying the specific genre characteristics of somatic vocabulary with the component hand in spiritual verses. The study was based on the texts collected in the XX century in Karelia and adjacent territories. The article establishes the main meanings and concepts of somatisms included in the “upper limbs” group, as well as the connection between their use and the specific features of the genre of oral folk art. The study was conducted by the continuous sampling method, the holistic, structural-semantic, and cognitive analysis of the verses, and the quantitative analysis in order to determine the frequency of the use of somatisms. The author concludes that the use of somatic vocabulary with the concept hand is determined by generally accepted cultural interpretations, but the lexical environment of somatisms emphasizes their close connection with the “inner person”. It is also worth noting the presence of purely Christian meanings, according to which the hand acts as a symbol of sacrifice, protection, and repose stressing the strength of a believer.

  • Issue Year: 46/2024
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 20-25
  • Page Count: 6
  • Language: Russian
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