Филологические науки

Karimova A.O.

Pavlodar State Pedagogical Institute, Kazakhstan

Language Cultural Features of Plant Metaphors in the Kazakh Language

Nowadays scientists tend to analyze linguistic facts not in isolation, but in relation to their cultural identity considering the consciousness of the nation, the language of which is the object of study. As A. Birikh claims: «у каждого народа веками складывался опыт познания мира, который затем передавался из поколения в поколение. Язык как форма познания и хранилище национальной культуры закрепляет данный опыт в семантике и структуре различных языковых единиц...» [1, 138].

According to N. F. Alefirenko «специфика наименования, представления того или иного объекта, явления или процесса отдельным этноязыковым коллективом обусловлена его особым (стереотипным) видением мира, определяемым культурной моделью, существующей в национальной традиции, и ее языковой проекцией» [2, 11].

At the moment, the question of universality or individuality of the conceptual metaphor is still undetermined. However, we can assume that some of the conceptual metaphors are really common to many cultures, others are unique to a given cultural community as a result of generations of accumulated unique experience [3, 7]. From our point of view, the conceptual metaphor PEOPLE ARE PLANTS and more concrete metaphor PEOPLE ARE FLOWERS is a productive metaphorical model stored in minds of many people of different nationalities. Indeed, if the process of generating metaphors is based on past experience, refracted through the prism of the individual's consciousness, it is logical to assume that the contact with nature, in particular, the flora and fauna of the area will be the source of analogies between the world of living and non-living nature, the world of plants (in our case) and the world of a human being. As a consequence, the metaphorical expressions in which a person is like a plant (de-personification [4, 191]) and, conversely, a plant / flower is endowed with human characteristics and qualities (personification) appear.

Creation of "plant" metaphors is motivated by our knowledge of the processes and stages of plant growth. Each of these stages is part of the natural process of organic growth. This natural cycle is the prototypical model of physical and spiritual birth, development, conception and birth of a new life, aging and death of a human being. Thus, there is an isomorphism between the growth of plants and the physical / spiritual development of a human being. [5, 191].

Below are some metaphorical expressions in which the best stage of emotion development correlates with the flowering of a plant.

The analysis of literary works of Kazakh poets allocates the following:

Human beings have strong positive feelings associated with flowers. They are a source of pleasure and induce feelings of happiness, love and beauty. For example:

Қызыл гүлің суалып, Ақ көңілің анық қарайды [6,188].

Қырдың гүлі – қыр қызы [6,326].

The famous Kazakh poet Abai Kunanbayev gives a metaphorical description to each part of the body and the state of a beloved person:

Ақ бетің үлбіреп

Өзгеше біткен гүл [6, 138].

Тіл буынсыз, бой - таза гүл [6, 77].

So, the main characteristics of the flower should include beauty and grace. That’s why beautiful and slim girls are associated with flowers:

Өмірдің гүлісіз, Көңіліме жұбаныш [6, 171].

Қызыл гүл сен болғанда гүл бақшада

Біз бұлбұл күйін шерткен Ирандағы [6, 508].

As a rule, men obtain such characteristics as bravery, stability and power. However, there are some cases when men are associated with flowers:

Күлдіргіш, қалжыңға ұста тәуір жігіт

Көңілдің бақшасында гүлменен тең! [6, 175]. 

FLOWER concept, being a difficult structure can have different manifestations in their species representations. These representations can be various types of flowers.

Thus, the central conceptual projection, manifested in many metaphorical expressions, is PERSON - FLOWER, which confirms the anthropocentric nature of conceptual metaphor PEOPLE ARE TREES (anthropocentrism a point of  view that human being is the center of the universe and the purpose of all occurring events in the world.) Different people perceive the world in their own way, and that is a cultural difference that is reflected in the language, such as linguistic metaphors that help us to restore the availability of a conceptual metaphor in the mind of a native speaker.

References:

1. Бирих А. К культурной семантике растений в польском, чешском и русском языках // Язык и культура: материалы международной научной конференции. - Белгород: Изд-во БелГУ, 2010. - С. 138 - 144.

2. Алефиренко Н. Ф. Стереотипы и прототипы в этнокультурном пространстве языка // Научные ведомости БелГУ. Серия Гуманитарные науки. - Белгород: Изд-во БелГУ, 2010. -№ 24 (95). - Вып. 8. - С. 5 - 11.

3. Lakoff, G. Johnson, M. (1980) Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1980.

4. . Kövecses Z. Metaphor in Culture: Universality and Variation. - Cambridge University Press, 2005. - 314 p.

 5. Charteris-Black J. Corpus Approaches to Critical Metaphor Analysis. - Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. - 263 p.

6.Абай шығармаларының академиялық басылымдары.(1945,1954,1957,1977  және 1995 ж.ж толық жинағы.