COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF METAPHORICAL MODELS OF COLOR DESIGNATIONS OF THE HUMAN BODY (BASED ON THE MATERIAL OF RUSSIAN, ENGLISH AND CHINESE LANGUAGES)

Introduction. The paper examines human body color namings’ metaphorical models on the basis of Russian, English and Chinese texts included in the forensic discourse. The study of metaphorical word formation based on the different cultures everyday knowledge is of great importance not only for cultural linguistics, but also for research aimed at analyzing linguistic world-images. Color lexemes, therefore, are also valuable material for ethnocultural and discursive research.Aim and objectives. The aim of current paper is to carry out a comparative analysis of human body color namings’ metaphorical models on the basis of Russian, English and Chinese texts included in the forensic discourse. Material and methods. The empirical material of the study are the texts of forensic research in Russian, forensic papers of J. Prahlow, G. Skopp, M. Tsokos and R. Byard, Q. Stewart, R. Cobb, V. Keith in English, and books “Forensic Science” by Zhao Ziqin and “Guide to Forensic Pathology” by Jing Hualan and Li Huanxiang in Chinese. Firstly, we used continuous sampling method to select all the color namings from the above-mentioned texts. Secondly, we selected all the metaphorical color lexemes. Also, the study uses the following methods: definitional analysis, analysis of the internal form of the word, and a comparative analysis in respect to metaphor semantic parameters of color namings in three indicated languages. Results and discussion. Among the Russian-language color designations, we identified 2 metaphorical models, in which the comparison goes with 5 objects of the surrounding world, 5 models compared with 9 objects in English; and 5 models compared with 7 objects in Chinese. We noted that the metaphorization processes in Russian color namings of forensic medical discourse are less noticeable. Among the English-language color namings, there is a greater variety of objects surrounding world for the metaphor word formation. Russian and Chinese color namings have the same comparison with the color of the cherry fruit. In Russian and English color lexemes, there is a close comparison with clay and brick. In English and Chinese color designations, there is a comparison with ash color, and similar in meaning is a comparison of such results of actions as “to be washed out” (about color) and “to lose color”. In the lexical units of the Russian-language forensic discourse there is no comparison with actions, sweets and different features of objects. For the English material, the comparison with sweet food products, such as chocolate and cream, is unique. For the Chinese unique comparison goes with different characteristics of objects. Conclusion. As a result, we revealed metaphorical word formation features of lexemes naming the human body colors used in forensic discourse. Comparison with flora objects colors is specific to the Russian language metaphorical word formation. Comparison with the colors of materials is specific to English metaphorical word formation. The degree of manifestation of various characteristics of objects is specific to the metaphorical word formation of the Chinese language. These differences are explained by the cultural specificity of the languages involved in the analysis. The results of the comparative analysis revealed significant differences between the metaphorical lexemes of color in Russian, English and Chinese texts of forensic medical discourse.

color naming, color nomination, color metaphor, forensic medicine, the Russian language, the English language, the Chinese language