Structural Components of the Concept Space: Figurative Component, Information Content and Interpretative Field

Abstract

It is of interest to study one of the important fragments of the naive model of the world – space, to understand its concepts and knowledge recorded in the semantics of spatial words and reflected in the consciousness of native speakers as certain mental structures. The novelty of the study is the identification of structural components of a concept, the description of cognitive features defining the semantic volume of national significant elements of “space”. The paper considers the views of different linguists on the structure of a concept and its components. The structure of a concept “space” is described using the results of the association experiment among students of higher educational institutions of different regions of the Republic of Tajikistan. It defines structural components of a concept such as the figurative (sensory image) component containing figurative characteristics of the conceptualized subject; the information content defining the main, most important distinctive features of the conceptualized subject, and the interpretative field explaining the information content of a concept and including assessment, encyclopedic, utilitarian, sociocultural, paroemiological zones. The paroemiological zone of a concept “space” is presented by thematic classification of paroemia performed using the obtained data. The cognitive features of a concept formed in the consciousness of native Tajik people through the reflection of a social realm are analyzed. Keywordsconcept; space; structural components; image; information content; interpretative field