VERBALIZATION OF THE CONCEPT OF MOVEMENT IN THE PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER GENRE

Abstract

Subject matter of the given article is the concept of movement as a universal category of human existence, which forms the core of the conceptual picture of the world. The research data have been taken from modern Englishlanguage psychological thrillers, namely the contexts verbalizing the concept of movement. Thriller is defined as a work of fiction characterized by a dynamic plot and that causes the reader to feel anxiety, excitement, or fear. The dynamic development of events in a psychological thriller accounts for a large number of movement verbalizers in it. It has been established that movement is nominated, first of all, by verbs of action and of statuarydynamic semantics, i.e. by verbs of physical action, movement, change of state. The nuclear zone of the concept of movement comprises the verb move, which has a simple semantic structure, neutral stylistic colouring and conveys the idea of movement in space in a most general form. The basic lexemes-representatives that manifest the concept under analysis in thriller genre are the verbs go, come, step, pace, march, crawl, cross, drive, ride, enter, leave, fly, follow, jump, leave, pass, run, swim, walk. The type of movement is the verb’s thematic characteristic, it forms its lexical meaning. The main semantic features distinguishing action verbs are directionality/non-direction, manner of movement, intensity of movement, quality of movement. The direction of movement can be: a) horizontal – left/right; b) vertical – up/down; c) circular; d) reverse; e) disappearing. The quality of movement may have the following private semantic features: difficulty of movement, a special manner of movement, aimlessness, creativity, speed, slowness, movement with sound. Action verbs and the verbs of statuary-dynamic semantics are used in homogeneous constructions. Movement is also verbalized by noun preposition collocations and adverbial constructions that specify the direction, intensity and quality of movement. Organizing action verbs in syntactic parallel constructions contributes to the progressive movement of the thriller plot.