Концепт Ислам в казахской концептосфере: опыт лингвокогнитивного описания
The Concept of Islam in Kazakh Mindset: Description of Linguistic and Cognitive Experiment

Summary/Abstract: The composition of the Kazakh ethnic group in the Republic of Kazakhstan is linguistically heterogeneous: more than 70% of the Kazakhs are bilinguals with the second Russian language. The Russian-speaking Kazakhs are mostly located in Russian bordering regions, as well as most of them is an urban population. Level of Russian speaking Kazakhs is different, which suggests the presence of different types of bilingualism depending on social, historical and geographical aspects. This fact has caused features of modern Kazakh world. However, the factor defining the unity of the ethnic group and its viability, a traditional culture that despite decades of civilizational influences has not lost its identity. That identity permeates the everyday life of modern Kazakhs, appearing in the system of traditional education, and the ritual practices and religious consciousness of Kazakhs. Traditional ethical culture of the Kazakhs is inextricably linked to the Muslim culture. Purpose. The article attempts to describe the concept of Islam as one of the cognitive awareness of modern Kazakh language through its linguistic representation (based on psycholinguistic experiments). Methods. In this study psycholinguistic and Popova-Sternin’s semantic-cognitive research methods were used. The content and structure of the concept of Islam is presented on the basis of free association experiment data. Results. The concept of Islam is relevant to the linguistic consciousness of the majority of respondents-Kazakhs. According to the study Islamic knowledge of modern Kazakhs, first of all, they are gained from traditional culture, casual everyday life and ritual practices of the people. The religious identity of respondents is reflected in the identification and assessment of the concept of Islam zone and finds the dependence on cultural and linguistic preferences: Kazakh language, Kazakh respondents, in contrast to the Russian-speaking, are more familiar with the traditional ethical culture of the people and increasingly identify themselves as Muslims. In the view of most Kazakh respondents Islam is related to humanistic values.

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