Verbalization of the Concept ‘Laughter’ in Russian and Georgian

Modern linguistics is developing within the anthropocentric paradigm.Its main concept is to present the linguistic picture of the world.The linguistic picture of the world shows people's perceptions of the reality around them for some time.It reveals itself in various forms - individual and collective, scientific and daily, conceptual and linguistic.The picture of the language of the universe is partially universal and partially nationally specific,therefore, the bearers of different languages perceive the world differently, in the prism of language.

Many linguists explore the linguistic picture of the world, including N.D. Arutyunova, O .A. Kornilov, Z. D. Popova, I. A. Stern, A. D. Shmelov andA. Vejbitskaya.This issue has numerously been the subject of our scientific interest.

The present paper deals with the concept of 'laughter' and its means of expressing (lexical and phraseological) in Russian and Georgian.

Problem Statement

Topicality of the subject is determined by the following factors:

Implemented within the anthropocentric paradigm,the vector of linguistic focuses on the study of conceptual structures.This field of study provides the opportunity to discover the peculiarities of conceptual and linguistic icons of the world.In the context of the anthropocentric paradigm - in cognitive linguistics - there is a growing interest in concept researchdue to the multidimensional information contained in the concept;

A comparative study of the content and means of the concept of „laughter“is carried out primarily in modern Russian and Georgian languages.

Purpose of the Study

The aim of this work is to reveal the content and structure of the concept of 'laughter' in Russian and Georgian languages.Laughter as a philosophical category, an important cultural and linguistic concept, one of the most important concepts of art and psychological phenomena, has ethno-cultural features that are related to everyday life, traditions and cultural specifics.

The subject of the research is the description of the linguistic means (lexical and phraseological) of the concept of 'laughter'.Laughter, as a universal phenomenon, is present in all languages of the world, but is treated differently.The research material is extracted from Russian and Georgian explanatory, synonymous, etymological and phraseological dictionaries.

Research Methods

In the paper we used: Methods of component and conceptual analysis; Comparative method; Definitive analysis of explanatory dictionaries.

We believe that comparative research is necessary to start by analyzing the semantic minimums of the words ' ???? ' and 'laughter', Since each of them is a dominant of the synonymous order, that means that they contain the most typical features and can be considered equivalents to each other.

Let’s see a lexicographical definition of the word “laughter” (sitsili) from the most famous dictionaries of Russian and Georgian languages.

According to V.Dali' Laughter' is ' giggling, involuntary, vocal manifestation of fun, funny moods, but there is also laughter expressing mockery,anger, etc.Laughter is the average expression between a smile and a laugh.Evil, “sarcastic laughter” [Dali].

According to D.V. Dmitriev’s explanatorydictionary, laughter is called 'intermittent sounds, which one utters during fun, joy, pleasure, etc. Happylaughter' (Dmitriev).

In A. Evgenyev's Dictionary, 'Laughter' is described as follows:

1. Characteristic intermittent sounds caused by short breath to show fun, joy, pleasure, etc.2. predicate. Colloquial. Amusingly. 3. Adverb.laughingly.

D.N.Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary gives the following explanation of this phenomenon:

1. Slow and heavy breaths accompanied by characteristic intermittent sounds when a person experiences any sensations (mainly in the sense of joy, hilarity, or presenting something funny, comical, also during some nervous shock);2.All these sounds. So, the conducted analysis showed that laughter in dictionaries is viewed from two sides:On the one hand, there is formal laughter- as joy, pleasure, and enthusiasm for a healthy organism, that is, in other words the gift of nature,and there is no evaluation, no attitude in it.Laughter, on the other hand, is a way of expressing an attitude towards reality, its evaluation.

We may assume that the notion of 'laughter' as a manifestation of joy, the ability to laugh or something funny is the core of the concept in Russian language.

Laughter can have a positive and negative connotation.The Epithet Dictionary includes lexical units containing negative and positive connotations of laughter.Then, based on Alexandrova Z. N. And N.A Abramov’ s Dictionary of synonyms [1,2],we have identified the synonyms of alexeme 'Laughter' (11)and established their meanings on the basis of the analysis of several Russian-language explanatory dictionaries (Dali, Ozhegov S.I, Ushakov, D. N).

Thus, lexicographic analysis of lexemes of synonyms allowed us to identify two major components,which accompany the functional equivalent synonyms of the main name concept 'laughter': words, that convey negative connotations in their meanings (8 words: (guffaw), (neigh), (sneer), (giggle), (chuckle), (fun), ?(laughter), (laughter)and words that convey a positive connotation in their meanings (3words:(smile), (laugter) , (entertainment)).

In modern Georgian explanatory dictionary, the lexeme'Laughter'(sitsili) is interpreted as 'the expression of joy, cheerfulness, satisfaction with intermittent sounds, accompanied by frequent and strong breathing' (Chikobava, 1960).

It is noteworthy, that laughter in Georgian was equal to arrogance, hatred, and evil (I. Abuladze, 1973).

The following lexemes expressing the meaning of laughter are described in N. Chubinishvili's Georgian Dictionary:

• Laughter( sitsili)- pleasant moaning of a soul. Its varieties.
• Smile (gimili) - a quiet smile and silent laughter;
• Ringing laughter (kaskasi)-Loud laughter, hearty laughter;
• Ringing laughter (kiskisi) – high, graceful laughter;
• Roar of laughter (tkartkari)-the laughter of several people),
• Tittering (gintsili)- ironic laughter;
• Bantering(grecha)- mockery;
• Sniff(Phrustuni) - silent laughter;
• Sneer(tsineba)-mockery;
• Guffaw(kharkhari)- a loud laugh;
• Laugher (soloda) -a drunken laughter;
• A. Chikobava’sExplanatory Dictionary of Contemporary Georgian languagegives lexical items denoting laughter and their meanings:
• A ringing laughter(kiskisi)-Hearty laughter with a loud, thin voice;
• Hilarity(lkhena);
• A ringing laughter- loud, sharp laughter;
• Sniff (Phrutuni, phukuni) - forced, intermittent, restrained laughter;
• Chukling (kirkili) – a silent, slow laughter(????.) (Chikobava,1960).

Thus, based on the dictionaries discussed above, as well as according to A. Neiman's (1979) Dictionary of Georgian Synonyms, we have defined the following laughter lexemes. (19):( sitsili-laughter),( kiskisi-aloud laughter), (tkartkari-the laughter of several persons), (tkartsali-a ringing laughter),(phrutuni, phukuni - sniff ), ( lkhena-glee), (daoseba-laughter to tears), (chakirkileba-smirk), ( gimili- smile ),( khitkhiti -giggle), (kharkhari- guffaw ), (khvikvini-neigh), (grecha-cavities), (kirkili-a quiet laughter), (gintsili-indecent laughter), ( chatsineba-sneer). Laughter in Georgian is represented in many composits: laughter- the laughter of several persons; laughter- a loud laughter;laughter- a ringing laughter; laughter-sniff;laughter-chukling;laughter-playing;laughter-crying;

Laughter in Georgian language as in Russian can be: soundless, loud, high, low, silent; gentle, thin, indecent, icorrect, fragment,sharp; Slow, restrained, forced, rough.

Lexical units that reflect the laughter of the Georgian language, like Russian lexemes, can have both positive and negative connotations.Positive connotation has the following items :(gimili-smile), (kiskisi-aloud laughter), glow.Following words are characterized with negative connotations (kharkhari- guffaw),(kirkili- a quiet laughter),(grecha-cavities), (pkhukuni-sniff), (khvikvini-neigh),(gintsili-indecent laughter),(tkartsali-ringing laughter).

The concept of 'laughter' in Russian and Georgian languages is also represented by phraseologisms that reflect the nation's mentality, its national identity and the peculiarities of cultural and historical development. Phraseologisms are extracted from the explanatory (unambiguous) and bilingual dictionaries of Russian and Georgian languages.

The chart shows the quantitative composition of the phraseologies that indicate the meaning of Russian and Georgian 'laughter':

An analysis of the definitions of Russian and Georgian dictionaries allowed us to present the basic lexemes of concept “laughter”.

The synonymous semantic spectrum of the concept 'laughter' is represented in two groups of synonyms in Russian and Georgian: 1) Synonyms with negative connotations (8-7); 2) Synonyms with positive connotations(3-3):

The number of synonyms of Russian and Georgian concept of “laughter” is different: 11 in Russian and 19 in Georgian.

Phraseological unitsof Russian and Georgian language reflect both general and specific views about laughter.Laughter in study languages is mainly characterized by negativity.

Overall, the results of the study confirm the cultural significance of the discussed emotional concept for Russian and Georgian languages.

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