Connotative meanings of zoonyms denoting wild animals in the Altai language

The purpose of this paper is to identify the lexical and semantic features of the connotation of zoonyms denoting wild animals in the Altai language. The relevance of the work is due to the lack of a comprehensive study of the connotative meanings of zoonyms in the Altai language. The subject of the study is zoomorphisms that designate representatives of different families (bears, canines, deer, mustelids, squirrels) and are used in human nominations. One of the tasks is to identify the positive (meliorative) and negative (pejorative) connotations of these zoolexems. The research methods used in this work are the semantic-pragmatic method, contextual and component analysis. The novelty of the study lies in the analysis of manifestations of connotation in the speech of native speakers of the Altai language, which are not recorded by existing dictionaries, but are reproduced in the process of forming and interpreting statements. In line with the anthropocentric approach, the specificity of zoonyms denoting in the Altai language representatives of the families of bears, canines, mustelids, squirrels, and deer, which are endowed with connotative meanings and are means of emotional-evaluative nomination, is considered. Zoonyms denoting wild animals in the Altai language are involved in the conceptualization of man, his physical, moral, ethical and intellectual qualities. By expressing a subjective attitude towards another person, describing his qualities, a native speaker actualizes those stereotypical established associations with animals that are enshrined in his linguistic consciousness. The connotative meanings of zoonyms denoting representatives of the bear and dog families are as follows: ayu "bear" expresses the word "strong", bӧrü "wolf" - "evil", "cruel", "greedy", "young"; tülkü 'fox' - "beautiful", "cunning", borsuk 'badger' - "stupid, kind, honest", jeeken 'wolverine' - "boastful", toktonok 'weasel' - "wise"; pulan 'elk', maral 'deer' - 'strong, brave', elik 'roe deer' - 'beautiful', 'timid', tiyyn 'squirrel' - 'fast', 'light', 'nimble'. In cultural and linguistic practice, when using zoonyms, two trends in meaning are noted: anthropomorphism, or endowing animals with human properties, and zoomorphism, or endowing people with animal properties, likening humans to animals. In the process of functioning of zoonyms in a figurative meaning in speech practice, mutual enrichment of the semantics of lexemes occurs

Anthropocentrism · Biology · Conceptualization · Connotation · Linguistics · Pejorative · Computer Science · Discourse Analysis and Cultural Communication · Linguistics and Cultural Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Swearing, Euphemism, Multilingualism · Ecology

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