The study of figurativeness as a specific feature of symbols (based on the German language material)
Nataliya Romanivna Yashchyk
DOI: 10.18355/XL.2018.11.04.10
Abstract
The proposed research is dedicated to the study of German symbols, which are one of the means of verbalization of culturally important information and the way of conceptualizing extralinguistic reality. The thesis highlights the philosophical understanding of the term symbol and stages of its development in linguistics. The central goal of the work is to investigate the figurative aspects of German symbols. Within the framework of the research, symbol has been defined as a conventional language sign, with the semantics formed on the basis of associative rethinking of direct, indirect and connotative meanings of the word and motivated by the social function of the denoted word. Figurativeness has been defined as the main feature of symbols. It compares them to allegory, metaphor and metonymy. Differences and similarities between these concepts have been found, the establishment of criteria distinguishing symbol from other figurative lexemes has been carried out.
Key words: symbol, figurativeness, allegory, metaphor, metonymy
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