SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION OF LEXICAL-SEMANTIC GROUP “DEATH” IN CHINESE AND RUSSIAN LANGUAGES

Abstract

The article provides a semantic classification of euphemisms denoting death in Chinese and Russian. The relationship between taboo and euphemism is analyzed. The existing ways of classification of euphemisms are generalized. As a result, the classifications of euphemisms related to the concept of death based on the replaced taboos, lexico-semantic features, as well as spheres of application with regard to Russian and Chinese national and cultural peculiarities are highlighted and substantiated. The article analyzes the available approaches to the semantic classification of euphemisms related to death in Chinese and Russian, identifies the key ways of semantic classifications, in particular, by cause of death, by age of the deceased, by their status, by styles of euphemisms, by connotation, etc., and compares similarities and differences in the features of euphemisms according to these ways of classification.