VERBALISATION OF THE CONCEPT SHAME

Abstract

The article examines the emotives of the concept shame as negative emotions based on the material of the Ukrainian and English languages. The aim of the work is to highlight the peculiarities of verbalising the concept of shame, similarities and differences in the expression of emotions in English and Ukrainian linguocultures. The main research method was conceptual analysis, aimed at revealing the essence of the concept by analysing its constituent parts, conceptual features, properties, relationships and interactions with other concepts. The subject of this work is idioms and phraseological units used to express the emotional subtext of shame in each of the languages mentioned. The factual material consists of a sample of phraseological units about shame in Ukrainian and English. Based on the analysis, we can conclude that the concepts of shame, guilt, and embarrassment belong to a group of emotional concepts characterised by a particular mental activity related to the awareness of one’s actions and feelings. The central semantic concept in this group is shame, to which the other two concepts are related. In the worldview of the Ukrainian language, the dominant concept is conscience as a moral component of awareness and determination of the quality of actions and feelings. This concept has closer ties with the concepts of shame and guilt, and less close ties with the concept of embarrassment. In general, it should be concluded that the concept of shame is syncretic in nature, within which two subconcepts coexist: ‘emotional state’ and ‘evaluation.’ The study has proven that these subconcepts are considered full-fledged units of speech and thought activity, behind which certain structures of knowledge stand. Thus, conceptual analysis of words and phraseological units contributes to a deeper understanding of their emotive content, the search for possible figurative equivalents in the description and expression of emotions, and the full transmission of emotive meanings.