THE LEXEMES ROAD/ДОРОГА IN ENGLISH AND UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE PICTURES OF THE WORLD

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of the study is to determine common and different features in the representation of the notion road / дорога in English and Ukrainian language pictures of the world.

Methods. Methodology of the study is based on the application of the following methods: the inductive analysis and synthesis method ( to generalize theoretical issues); the descriptive method ( to reveal characteristic features of the lexemes analyzed); the method of the dictionary definitions analysis (to characterize etymological, semantic and structural characteristics); elements of the quantitative analysis method (to calculate lexical units).

Results. The article highlights the etymology of the lexemes road / дорога. Their semantic characteristics of the above mentioned lexical units are researched. The attention is drawn to the fact that the words road / дорога are polysemantic. The word road can have from two to eight meanings (according to different dictionaries); the Ukrainian lexical unit дорога has five meanings. It is underlined that both lexical units participate in word formation. The English word road primarily forms composites, which are the means of language economy. The most productive is the structural model N + N. The Ukrainian lexeme дорога forms affixal derivatives. It is found out that the word family of the lexical unit дорога is narrower. It is proved that the Ukrainian system of phraseological units with the lexeme дорога is more ramified than the English one. Lexical and grammatical variants of phraseological units are registered in the research.

Conclusions. Language pictures of different languages have both general and national ethnocultural and ethnolinguistic peculiarities, which are connected with natural surroundings, culture, history and mentality of people. The author comes to the conclusion that every language picture of the world is unique; it reflects the peculiarities of world perception and interpretation of reality by a certain nation.