On categorizing the concept of “land” from a semantic and culturological perspective (on the basis of Russian and Polish idioms with the lexical component “земля”/”ziemia”)

Abstract

The author of this article assumes that culturological and semantic studies of a language allow one to achieve particular results by drawing attention to linguistics, which plays a vital part in the semantic interpretation of all linguistic fields (maybe excluding phonetics). The meaning of linguistic signs itself conveys fundamental information about the picture of life and mentality that is typical of a given linguistic, cultural and ethnic group. Taking into consideration a cultural and semantic paradigm when analyzing Russian and Polish idioms with the lexical component земля/ziemia, the author draws a conclusion that the interpretation of the concept of land in the studied idioms is deeply anthropocentric. It also reveals the axiological attitude of Poles and Russians toward land.