Conceptualization of Smell in Russian and Serbian Linguistic Cultures

The article represents the results of a comparative analysis of the concepts запах and мирис in the Russian and Serbian linguistic cultures. The definitions of the concepts’ names taken from dictionaries of the Russian and Serbian languages, phraseologisms as well as different text types are studied. As far as we are aware, there are no investigations that concern the comparative analysis of the aforecited concepts, so this article contains new information about certain parts of the Russian and Serbian conceptual domains. The study of the conceptual core revealed a more complicated structure and a larger number of conceptual characteristics in the Serbian concept, as well as statistically more dominant positive connotation of the lexemes that represent it. The imaginative component of the concepts is significant in both linguistic cultures, but the Serbian concept’s name functions more intensively at different linguistic levels and in different text types. Besides, the study revealed predominant presence of the concept мирис in personal names and in ergonyms. Thus, the research leads to the conclusion that differences prevail over similarities in those parts of the conceptual domains which are represented by the concepts under study. The value component of the concept мирис is perceptible at all levels of its research, which enables us to consider it one of the key concepts of the Serbian linguistic culture; the value component of the Russian concept is less prominent.

concept, conceptual characteristics, conceptual core, imaginative component, value component