Narmukhametova N.M., Belova K.S., Kurkina A.V.

L.N. Gumilev Eurasian National University

THE TIME CONCEPT IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGE LAYERS BASED ON BRITISH AND RUSSIAN CULTURES

Time is perhaps the only feature of our existence which we all agree, which exists despite the fact that we have absolutely no direct evidence of its existence. We have no sensory perception of time whatsoever, we cannot see or hear or touch it nor measure it directly. If time exists at all, it exists purely as an epiphenomenon of effects on ourselves and the things around us. We know time only through observation of present states in comparison with our memories of former states. Some of these states have predictable cycles (such as day/night and seasons of the year and other natural processes), allowing us to have thе illusiоn that we are measuring timе, but time itself is еlusivе, more of an abstract construct thаn a tаngiblе rеаlitу. Intеllеctuаllу аnd linguisticаlly we mаnаgе nоn-tangiblе concepts through metaphor, by treating them as if they were tangible. Timе is an abstract domain, and humаn bеings tеnd tо undеrstand timе in terms of thе concrete domain with whiсh thеу are most fаmiliаr: spаcе.

Pеrcеptiоn of timе wаs diffеrеnt acrоss nаtiоns аnd аges. Fоr mоst аnсiеnt сivilizаtiоns, timе wаs сyсlic. Аnciеnt Grееks, fоr exаmplе, bеliеvеd that time was a cyclic аltеrnаtiоn оf оррosing forсеs. Early Christianity mentioned a traditional cyclic idea of time too. Later, St. Augustine’s pionееring understanding of time as inner, mental, and linear was adopted. The idea of timе underwеnt a long evolutionary prоcеss: today, time is regarded as a linear progression that is mеаsured by hours, minutes and so on. But time is not оnly mеаsured scientifically, but also is percеivеd on a personal level as well as on a cultural level. In addition, time is not perceived as a physical object but still we have a sense of time. Time is cоncеptuаlized differently in different cultures. In a crоss-culturаl sеtting a lot of misunderstandings arise from differences in timе percеptiоn аcross cultures. That is why the aim of this article is to analyze the concepts of time in British and Russiаn сulturtеs.

Punctuality is one of the genetically related concepts to English nation. Preciseness is an essential attribute of British people and it is perceived as guarantee of reliability, a way of counteraction of unpredictability. In turn, hypersensitive relationship to time in English culture does not meet the Russian idea of its effective use: поживем – увидим; еще не вечер.

Despite the fact that the word “time” is poly-semantic in Russian language, in English it has greater potential of the content. English word “time” includes the following system of meanings and can be considered as:

- time interval measured by minutes, hours, it is a possibility for any actions: What time are you going out tonight? Close relationships established over a long period of time ;

- amount of time available in someone's possession: We have all the time in the world (have plenty of time);

- epoch, certain period of history: Mankind has used the horse since ancient times.

- convenient or inconvenient, appropriate term for something: They had their happy times, but they had their hard times too.

In addition, the unit “time” in English language may accept the following meanings:

- the measuring system, a method for separating parts of the world time: Eastern Standard Time. The flight to Boston arrives at 2.15 pm local time.

- the ending of standard play-time period in sport competition: Mason’s goal 13 minutes from time earned his team a place in the finals.

- to spend some time in prison: Paul was doing time for burglary.

- tact, rhythm in music: Waltzes are usually in three-four time.

If we scrutinize Russian representation of time concept, we discover that the lexeme “time” in Russian language derived from the cognates “вертеть”, “ветренно”. That is why in Russian world picture the idea of time is connected with the idea of repeatability, regularity, rhythm. Thus, Russian reflects time, that moves in a circle. Cyclically: «на майские», «к октябрьским», «на крещение».

There are quite many set expressions with the word ‘time’ in Russian, e.g. новое время, детское время(very early, not late),потерянное время, незапамятные времена(long time ago), время покажет(something will be understood in the future), машина времени(in scientific fiction: a machine transporting people from one epoch to another).

For most Russians unlike British people time is not a hard life principle. That is why the attitude to time might be called frivolous, that finds its reflection in various lateness, transfer meetings, non-compliance of bus or train schedule and etc.

The concept time is essential for understanding Russian culture, national mentality of the Russians. This notion has its broad reflection and interpretation in various lexicographical sources. In order to disclose the time concept in Russian language we will consider and generalize data about unit “time”.

1. Time is one of the main forms of existing substance, together with space, which expresses duration of entity and the order of change the status of all material systems and processes in the world. This form of entity is measured by seconds, minutes, days, years as the measure of everything accomplished . For example: Солнечное время. Среднее суточное время.

2. Time is duration of all events and actions measured by years, months, days and so on. For instance: Определять время по солнцу. Передавать сигналы точного времени. Делу время, потехе час.

3. The consistent change of hours, days, years, centuries; certain segment of such sequence during which something is done or might be done. E.g. Время идет. Время тянется медленно.

4. Free time from usual work, leisure. E.g. У меня нет времени.

5. Definite, prominent moment. For instance: Время заседания не назначено. Со времени подачи заявления прошел месяц. Some time, an interval in consistent change of hours, days, years and so on and so forth. For example: Время обеда.

6. Epoch, a period of time standing out among others in the history of humanity, nation, state or society and etc. For instance: Счастливое время. Во времена Екатерины слава русского флота прогремела на Черном море.

7. Part of a day, week, year that is related to natural phenomena or any other processes. For example: Дневное время. Весна - самое поэтичное время.

8. Favorable time, appropriate moment for something. E.g. Не время спорить. Время отправляться в путь. Всему свое время.

Russian ‘время’ and British ‘time’ have a lot of meanings, which do not often coincide. In addition, time itself is perceived differently by every culture. For instance, British tend to imagine time as a white-haired old man holding a scythe and a sandglass in his hand. Conversely, Russians do not personify time with something specific, but view it as something elusive, intangible and fleeting. When uttering the words «scythe» and «sandglass», Russian immediately associates it with death, but not time as British does.

Perception of timе, its conceptualizаtion and the representаtion of cоncepts across cultures reflect specific cultural experience. This holds true for Russian and British cultures, if we compare them from the point of their cultural attitude to the phenomenon of time. The phenomenon, in its turn, is reflected in the languages, both English and Russian, through temporal concepts, that is, time can be viewed as a schedule, money, resource and activity. The concepts identified may completely coincide, partially coincide or be in contrast across the two cultures.

Time is a schedule concept

This concept is about measuring time. Human beings have always tried to measure time. As soon as the first person stuck a stick into the ground to watch the shadow and check the time he started measuring time. At first glance, there is nothing remarkably cultural in the measurement of time. Time is measured by seconds, minutes, hours, days, nights, weeks, months, and so on. However, such features as structure of the day, identifying the parts of the day, talking about time are culture-specific and represent a plenty of discrepancies in both cultures. The good example is the structure of the concepts “day” and “night” that in Russian and British cultures does not coincide. First, in Russian, we have one generic word for them, sutki (day and night). Secondly, the hyponyms of “day” and “night” are conceptualized differently: the night in English is not only the night, but also the evening, and it actually lasts until midnight. The Russian night lasts until 4 o’clock in the morning. How can this connect with communication? There is an example in which a Russian scholar was almost late for a flight that started at 1 a.m. (in the morning). In Russian perception it is still night and it was difficult for the scholar (incidentally, with very good English) to think of a night flight as a morning one and she thought she was to take a 1 p.m. flight instead (with all the attendant consequences). The American practice uses more discrete time units in comparison with the Russian: e.g., an 18- month old baby vs. a one and a half year old baby. It takes time (though almost intangibly) to calculate how old the baby is.

Thus, one might conclude that time measuring concepts are culturally loaded reflecting cultural experience, habits, way of life.

Time is money concept

These are concepts which embody the idea of time as money. It is worth mentioning that this concept is an inherent feature of British culture. There are proverbs and proverbial sayings, with all of them originating in Britain: e.g., time has a wallet; an inch of time is an inch of gold; time is capital: invest it wisely; time is a limited resource; time is a valuable commodity. Additionally, many authors are convinced that the proverb “Time is money” appeared in Britain: the first recording dates from 1572. The fact that the most popular concept time is money is ascribed to British speaks for itself: the wider cultural context explains this. One of the greatest British values is achievement. Both achievement and success are measured by material wealth; that is why British are considered to be materialists. British are workaholics who value time that is tangible for them. So that work, time, and payment are often related to one concept: e.g., time and a half, meaning “a rate of pay for overtime work equal to one and one half times the regular hourly wage”.

Comparing Russian and British cultures, only one monetary concept, time is money, borrowed from British culture, is found in Russian culture. The general cultural context explains this fact: dusha (soul) is one of the most important values.

Time is a resource concept

These are concepts that give prescriptions for behavior; they teach not to waste time, to use it rationally. Comparing Russian and British cultures, one can pay attention to different ways of verbalization. What is meant by this is that British put “time” first (Time and tide wait for no man) while Russians put “people” first (Семеро одного не ждут(seven people do not wait for one)) in proverbs expressing the same idea - “to be late is rude.” It is considered that the clue is the different time orientation of our cultures. In British, monochronic culture the focus is on time; in Russian, polychronic culture it is on people. Therefore, for monochronic cultures, time is sacred, to be late is very rude, almost abusive, deadlines are fixed, etc. Conversely, in polychronic cultures the man is more important than time, deadlines are flexible, etc. In other words, being late is perceived as abusive in British culture and as not a “sin” in Russian culture.

Time is activity concept

These are concepts that render the idea of time through activity, events, and things. It is true that time is sometimes “measured” by books or plays or anything: in both cultures it is possible to say: “Two books later…” “A couple of contracts later….” Additionally, on being asked what happened on a concrete day, people in both cultures would try to remember what they were doing, where they were, how important this or that date was for them personally.

Based on the foregoing, it can be claimed that the concept of time in the British and Russian cultures is polycentric and, depending on the cultural needs of the ethnic group, can take different meanings. However, in the English language picture of the world ‘time’ has greater potential, than in Russian. Due to this difference representatives of Russian and British cultures may have different associations related to time.

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