The structure of the lexico-semantic field “pol’za” in the Rusin language compared to the Russian literary language

Abstract

The article analyses the lexico-semantic field “pol’za” (Eng. benefit) in terms of their structure in the Rusin and Russian literary language to identify similarities/differences in the structuring of the concept in native speakers' minds. The composition of two lexico-semantic fields was determined based on the lexicographic sources. The analysis of the functional and semantic features and the evaluative spectrum of vocabulary identified two subfields in each field, based on a historically determined change in the understanding of the concept “benefit” by native speakers: a change in the attitude to the interests of the subject (individual or collective). The authors conclude that the vocabulary of the two fields retain traces of the general development of the concept “benefit”, associated in an early and undeveloped consciousness of values with vital needs and common (public) interest, as well as with the consequences of changed production relations that have formed other values correlating with the personal interests and benefits of the subject. The “benefit” for personal interest is interpreted by the public mind as self-interest. Both lexico-semantic fields have borrowed lexemes in their cores, which is associated not only with the significant influence of another cultural and linguistic environment, but also with the general tendency to assign unambiguous linguistic signs, “labels” to complex concepts. The fundamental difference is the absence of the segment “health/healing (of soul and body)” in the Rusin semantic field, while in Russian it is the result of Old Slavonic influence. The revealed differences in the considered lexico-semantic fields are the result of different degrees of their functional load, status, and degree of codification.