CC BY
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THE CONCEPT OF "CHILD" IN THE ENGLISH AND KYRGYZ PICTURE OF THE
WORLD
A.N. Berdibekova, Lecturer
F.A. Samidinova, Lecturer
G.O. Kudaiberdieva, Lecturer A.K. Zulpukarova, Lecturer Osh State University (Kyrgyzstan, Osh)
DOLW.24412/2500-1000-2023-5-1-95-98
Abstract. The article analyzes the structure of the concept of "child" in the English and Kyr-gyz pictures of the world according to the associative experiment. The similarity of the nuclear zone of the concept is revealed, which confirms its high universal value. It also gives a linguistic and cultural description of the paremic material of the Kyrgyz and English languages, which consolidated the knowledge and ideas about the child, his ties with his parents and their relationships. An attempt is made to organize proverbs and sayings in the paremiological field in order to identify the cognitive features of the concept under study.
Keywords: concept, picture of the world, paremiology, linguoculturology, ethnic, language.
Modern linguistics is aimed at revealing issues related to the dialogue of cultures of different peoples. Awareness of the originality and similarity of the language pictures of the world of different peoples makes it possible to make intercultural communication more effective.
The anthropological orientation of modern linguistics, which stimulates research at the interface with other disciplines, determines the interdisciplinary status of the concept category: it is considered from the point of view of cognitology and linguoculturology. Because of this, there is no single understanding of the concept in modern linguistics. The lin-guocognitive approach is focused on understanding the concept in its own cognitive interpretation, which focuses on language and the interaction of consciousness and human knowledge as a common cognitive mechanism. With the culturological approach, more attention is paid to the cultural aspect of the problem [1].
In our work, the concept is considered as a mental formation marked by linguistic and cultural specifics and in one way or another characterizing the bearers of a certain ethno-culture.
Concept as an element of the picture of the world, is a mental formation with generalized idea of some fragment of the surrounding re-
ality, including a concept, emotions, cultural stereotypes, fragments of past experience. The concept is verbalized through words, phraseological units, sentences, proverbs, texts. It is possible to identify the features of a particular concept by analyzing the language means that objectify the concept, as well as by experiment. Experimental methods and techniques for analyzing concepts make it possible to approach the description of the real content of a concept in modern linguistic consciousness, for which purely traditional linguistic methods usually turn out to be insufficient - analysis of the semantics of concept nominations, analysis of phraseology, paremiology, analysis of concept actualizations in texts, etymological analysis [2].
Proverbs and sayings play a very important role in enriching the language with cultural concepts, since, being a product of folk art, they reflect folk wisdom. The proverbial signs of the language, i.e., proverbial and non-proverbial phraseological units, reflect the centuries-old experience of the people, the constants of their consciousness and culture [3]. They store observations and ideas about the world collected over the centuries, express the self-consciousness of this or that people, the attitude towards the environment - natural, social and cultural. The sayings also reflect ethical and moral standards, manage-
ment experience, lifestyle, traditions and customs, relationships between people, including in the family. All nations have proverbs for a variety of occasions. The concept, being one of the key concepts in modern linguistics, where the question of the relationship between language and culture is currently relevant, is closely related to the linguistic and cultural tradition.
The concept of 'child' is an important part of the English and Kyrgyz pictures of the world and is characterized by high significance in the value system of both linguocul-tures, as a result of which it has many embodiments in the linguistic semantics and communicative activities of its speakers. In addition, in modern society, the child and childhood are considered important psycho-socio-cultural phenomena reflected in linguoculture. All this encourages their active study.
Culturally significant concepts, including the concept of 'child' chosen for research, represent clusters of culture in the mental world of a person. They differ from other mental units by the accentuation of the value element that forms the center of such a concept. Since culture is based on a value attribute, a cultural concept can serve its research in full, unlike those concepts that do not contain a value component [4].
The concept of 'child' includes a large amount of information of a national and cultural nature and, thus, reflects a fragment of the linguistic picture of the world of native English and Kyrgyz speakers. It bears the imprint of the cultural system in which it was formed. Because of this, the study of this concept allows you to master a kind of cultural information reflected in the language. In particular, this is of great practical importance, contributing, for example, to the removal of certain cultural difficulties in intercultural communication caused by the dissimilarity of national worldviews, the discrepancy of role expectations and prescriptions, etc.
Kyrgyz and English proverbs and sayings reflect the general and national idea of children. In general, the concept under study is one of the most frequently labeled components of proverbs and sayings, in which all stages of a child's life are consolidated: birth,
adulthood, upbringing, relationships with parents.
Comparison of the results of the associative experiment in the English and Kyrgyz audiences shows the similarity of the content of the CHILD concept in the following ways:
The main semantic blocks are the same: "A child is a value", "A child needs care", "Future", "Life", "Family" [5].
The quantitative representation of these blocks is different, but in the first place in both the English and Kyrgyz pictures of the world are the ideas about the child as the basic value of human life. And the greatest number of associations - with love. For both peoples, a child is a basic value that is strongly associated with love and the future.
In the Kyrgyz worldview, the perinuclear zone of the CHILD concept is made up of the blocks "life" and "care", formed by associations with household items, school, upbringing, whims and "The need for care", and in the English worldview - only "the need for care", "life" in the periphery. This difference can be explained by the fact that the majority of English children are only children in the family and do not have the experience of caring for younger brothers or sisters.
In the structure of the concept in the English picture of the world, there are no blocks "Obedience" and "I am a child". This shows the peculiarities of the national mentality. The obedience of the younger in relation to the elders is one of the foundations of Central Asian ethics [6].
The analysis of the paremias containing the concept of child allowed us to identify the following prototypes of situations that describe the position of a child in the family:
- presence or absence of children in a family;
- the relationship between parents and children;
- methods of raising children;
- health, mind, personal qualities of children [7].
This interpretation in the proverbial foundation of the concept reflects the family relations of humanity as a whole, but at the same time has national specifics. The social system, religious foundations, the territory of resi-
dence and the type of activity, including the type of management and crafts - all this to a certain extent determines the attitude of adults to the child.
In the Kyrgyz worldview, as well as in English, a child is happiness and joy for the family, the continuation of the family. And the absence of children in the family indicates its inferiority, the deplorable, even tragic situation of the parents. For example, Kyrgyz proverb «The house without children is a cemetery» reveals the importance of having a child in the family. And another proverb "There is happiness in a home with children" demonstrates that in Kyrgyz culture, a child is the basis of strong friendly family relations.
Of course, parents love their children, but in the proverbs of both languages, you can notice an ambivalent attitude towards the child: «Children are certain cares, but uncertain comforts» this shows that the birth of a child was considered as a test in the family, which brings with it additional economic losses. Perhaps, such a ambivalent attitude towards children was connected with the severity of the living conditions of that time. Despite the harsh living conditions and material difficulties, the Kyrgyz encouraged a high birth rate and dreamed of large families: "Each child is born with his own food" [8].
A completely opposite view of the importance of male and female children is observed in English and Kyrgyz linguistic cultures. For Kyrgyz, a male child is the pride and hope of the family, for example "A father without a son is a bird with clipped wings". And the daughter is considered an ornament, which will have to be given to someone else's family: "Girl is a guest".
Examining the pairs containing the key concepts "bala" in Kyrgyz and "child" in English, we see that the absolute majority of proverbs show love and warmth towards children: "A child that is born must be kept", "There is only one pretty child in the world and every mother has it". The emotional and
psychological connection between parents and children is very vividly depicted in English proverbs: "When a child is little, it pulls at your apron strings, when it gets older, it pulls at your heart strings; Little children step on your toes; big children step on your heart".
The central place among the proverbs about children is occupied by value statements about the need for proper upbringing of children. These paremias contain a whole code of moral instructions and practical advice to parents about methods and ways of raising children. In these paremiological units, our task was to highlight the main ideas in two directions: proverbs about timely education and methods of education, taking into account the different national mentalities of the two peoples. A large number of proverbs speak about education as about parental duty, the timeliness of which is very important, emphasizes the responsibility, the difficulty of the task that parents undertake. For example, English: "Train up a child in the way he should go" or "As the twig is bent, so will it grow" [8].
Thus, if the associative approach allowed us to reveal the similarities and differences between the two cultures, then the analysis of the concept of the child allowed us to reveal such cognitive features and socially significant features of the image of the child as loved, desired, bringing joy, close ties with parents, causing anxiety, the need for care, the need for education and the lack of independence of the individual. In paremias, the emotional and evaluative attitude of people to the presence, quantity and behavior of children in the family, to different types of relationships between children and parents, and to the principles of child rearing was reflected. All of the above allows us to draw a conclusion about the high degree of significance of relatives and family ties for the linguistic and cultural concept "child" in the Kyrgyz and English languages.
References
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КОНЦЕПТ «РЕБЕНОК» В АНГЛИЙСКОЙ И КЫРГЫЗСКОЙ КАРТИНЕ МИРА
А.Н. Бердибекова, преподаватель Ф.А. Самидинова, преподаватель Г.О. Кудайбердиева, преподаватель А.К. Зулпукарова, преподаватель Ошский государственный университет (Кыргызстан, г. Ош)
Аннотация. В статье анализируется структура концепта «ребенок» в английской и кыргызской картинах мира по данным ассоциативного эксперимента. Выявлено сходство ядерной зоны концепта, что подтверждает его высокую общечеловеческую ценность. Также дается лингвокультурологическая характеристика паремного материала кыргызского и английского языков, закрепившего знания и представления о ребенке, его связях с родителями и их отношениях. Делается попытка систематизировать пословицы и поговорки в паремиологическом поле с целью выявления когнитивных особенностей изучаемого концепта.
Ключевые слова: концепт, картина мира, паремиология, лингвокультура, этнос, язык.
