STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE CONCEPT OF POWER IN MODERN ENGLISH

Abstract

The research is aimed at identifying ways of verbalizing the concept of POWER in the English language and modeling its structure. It has been established that in the English language the concept of POWER is a segmental formation with a complex structure that includes the following components: a figurative component, an encyclopedic field, an interpretative field, representing the periphery of the studied concept. The cognitive image is voluminous and is represented by a number of metaphorical models obtained as a result of analyzing the compatibility of lexeme-presenters of the concept of POWER. The figurative component is formed by four segments that have the equivalents of “species”, “type”, “variant” in the everyday picture of the world: “Physical Stren gth”, “Vital Force”, “Mental Strength”, “Social Power”. The set of segments forms an encyclopedic field that reflects the society’s practice-based knowledge of the phenomenon of power in different situations and characterizes power from different perspectives that are essential for people. The content of the concept of POWER is formed not only by direct nominations, but also by a conceptual metaphor. Analysis of linguistic material indicates that the experience of operating with material objects, their qualities and properties, sensory cognition of physical parameters create the basis for cognition of ideal objects, in particular, such a complex abstract concept as POWER. According to its ontological essence, power is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon, which is reflected in the content space and structural organization of the taken concept. The concept of POWER in English is a segmental formation with a complex structure, which includes the core (figurative component and encyclopedic field) and the periphery (interpretive field). The conducted research has shown that the structure of the concept of POWER is not rigid and allows the inclusion of other nouns and adjectives, as well as other parts of speech with corresponding meanings. The content of this concept in a certain picture of the world is not limited to the semantics of the considered lexemes. It contains everything that an individual knows about this phenomenon, it also includes their emotions, associations of various nature. Language means are only a mechanism for the internalization of meaning, processes in consciousness.