PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF THE “DESPAIR” EMOTION (IN ENGLISH, GERMAN, RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN)

Abstract

This paper focuses on the research of linguistic representation of physical manifestation of “despair” emotion, basedon the analysis of contextual compatibility of “despair” names, performed on the basis of factual material selected bycontinuous sampling method from the national linguistic corpora of Ukrainian, Russian, English and German, i.e. “UkrainianNational Linguistic Corpus”, “Russian National Corpus”, “British National Corpus”, “Deutscher Wortschatz Project”,respectively. The paper presents the objectification of physical manifestations of the “despair” emotion in the four indicatedlanguages. The relevance of the topic is due to the growing interest of modern linguistics in the research of the categoryof emotionality, especially the ways and means of representing emotions in texts of various genres. Emotions are studied in different aspects, involving the material of one or several languages, both related and unrelated. The researchrevealed that the linguistic representation of external manifestation of the “despair” emotion in Ukrainian, Russian, Englishand German occurs through the eyes or sight, voice or sounds, as well as facial expressions (mimics) with the use of literallexical means, mainly. The explication of the inner manifestation of the “despair” emotion in Ukrainian, Russian, Englishand German occurs with the use of metaphorical descriptions, because the abstract concepts, as it is known, are visualizedwith the help of metaphors. This emotion is mainly represented as an aggressive /hostile force or illness that causes certaindysfunctions of the body, physiological reactions and discomfort to the subject of the emotion. This proves that the emotionof “despair” belongs to the negative (destructive) ones. It is localized mainly in the heart, which is considered as a containerof emotions and feelings in general. However, it is possible to find fixations of the localization of the “despair” emotion inthe throat, chest and soul in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German, where this emotion is also metaphorically perceivedas an aggressive force that prevents the body to function normally. This is illustrated by the analyzed factual materialselected from the national linguistic corpora. The analyzed material allows including also tears and crying in externalreactions to the experience of the “despair” emotion. Further analysis shows that this emotion is experienced painfully,so the subject of emotion seeks to stop its action as soon as possible, as illustrated by the analyzed factual materialof the linguistic corpora of Ukrainian, Russian, English and German.