WAYS OF FORMATION OF COLORONYMS IN JOURNALISTIC DISCOURSE IN THE GERMAN LANGUAGE

Abstract

According to A. Wierzbicka basic colours have prototypical meanings. Thus, there is a conceptual association between e.g. the colour red and fire, green and “things growing out of the ground”, blue and the sky, yellow and the sun. The colours white and black can be referred to as different shades of light. Our interest lies in colour compounds with the mentioned colours or shades of light as latter part and with describing first part of the compound in modern German language. Our aim is to study these prototypical meanings of the colour compounds.

This article discusses the derivation of coloronyms in journalistic discourse of the German language. It can be noted that the productivity of compounding as a way of formation of new nominations is increasing, and now compounding is the most productive method by which new names are formed. Compounds are formed of at least two stems, and can combine any parts of speech (noun + noun, adjective + adjective, verb stem + noun, etc.). There are generally two types of compounds that can be identified: determinative and copulative. The determinative compound is the most common one. It is made up of a semantic head, the right-hand component of the lexeme, which also determines the grammatical category and gender of the word. The meaning of this head is restricted by the qualifying element that precedes it. Less common is the copulative compound. This type of compound is characterized by a coordinate, rather than a subordinate, relationship between the components. The copulative compound always combines the same parts of speech (e.g. adjective + adjective, noun + noun).

In this article we touch upon the compounds formed on the model "color adjective + noun", although there are other "color adjective + verb", "color adjective + adjective". Coloronyms in the German linguistic culture have a constant set of portable values that describe a variety of objects. Almost all coloronyms are characterized by polysemy, so their value is specified either in certain combinations or in the context. Due to the color component compounds obtain figurative meaning. All compounds are formed by metaphorical or metonymic rethinking, so their meaning does not always coincide with the lexical interpretations. Metonymy and metaphor also have fundamentally different functions. Metonymy is about referring: a method of naming or identifying something by mentioning something else which is a component part or symbolically linked. In contrast, metaphor is about understanding and interpretation: it is a means to understand or explain one phenomenon by describing it in terms of another.

In German compounds with colour component are used most often with a negative value. A negative value is typical for compounds which are composed of coloronym rot, because the red color is associated with the destructive power of blind passion, unbridled emotions. Yellow color also carries a negative value, since in the German language it is the traditional color of envy. Green color in the compounds acts primarily as a symbol of youth and nature, as well as used for the expression of inexperience and immaturity.