REPRESENTATION OF THE CONCEPT MADNESS IN ENGLISH LINGUOCULTURE (BASED ON ENGLISH PROVERBS AND SAYINGS)

Abstract

The means of representation of the concept MADNESS in the English linguoculture in the framework of the analysis of English proverbs and sayings are studied. The concept MADNESS is of great interest for study because its content is not static. The article touches upon the notion, the structure and the content of the concept. The concept is reported to have a field organization with a core and a periphery. Concept MADNESS content semantic components are investigated while analyzing the dictionary meanings of the lexical unit madness in the English language. The key elements of the core of the concept MADNESS are determined. The field organization model of the core of the concept is presented. The results of the numerical analysis of lexical units representing the concept MADNESS are revealed. The way of representation of the concept by means of associations and images is analyzed. The material for the study is English proverbs and sayings which are considered to be the concentration of human’s certain experience. The key lexical units representing the concept MADNESS are determined in every category of associations. The concept MADNESS is considered to have an ambivalent nature.