The Semantic Structure of the Image of “Vision” in the Russian Linguistic Worldview

This article examines the structure of the image of “vision” in the Russian linguistic worldview. The structural reconstruction was performed through the study of the key meanings of “vision” in the Russian language. The proposition, a logical outline of the components involved in visual perception, was selected as a way by which the knowledge about “vision” is gathered. The following components were found to be a regular source of figurative meanings: the subject of visual perception, the process of visual perception, the subject’s features indicating the quality of visual perception, and the means of visual perception. The dominant meanings of different propositional elements constituting the structural core of the image of “vision” were revealed: “the ability to see,” “the quality of vision,” “light,” “mediation,” and “accommodation.” The main denotative spheres covered by the knowledge about “vision” were distinguished: the human sphere, as well as the spheres of artifacts (technical means of image capture, artificial light sources) and nature (primarily natural light sources). It was shown that the metaphors referring to the human sphere are based on the idea of a close connection between visual perception and mental activity. The anthropomorphic metaphors arising from the artifacts used to produce images are created following the same logical pattern. The metaphorical understanding of light sources, both artificial and natural, is determined by the association between “vision” and light in the minds of native Russian speakers. 

1. Chudinov A.P. Rossiya v metaforicheskom zerkale: kognitivnoe issledovanie politicheskoi metafory (1991–2000) [Russia in a Metaphorical Mirror: A Cognitive Study of Political Metaphor (1991– 2000)]. Yekaterinburg, 2001. 238 p. (In Russian)

2. Kubryakova E.S., Demiankov V.Z., Pankrats Yu.G., Luzina L.G. Kratkii slovar’ kognitivnykh terminov [The Concise Dictionary of Cognitive Terms]. Kubryakova E.S. (Ed.). Moscow, Filol. Fak. MGU, 1996. 245 p. (In Russian)

3. Ilyukhina N.A., Dolgova I.A., Kirillova N.O. Metafora i sistemnost’: semasiologicheskii i kognitivnyi aspekty [Metaphor and Consistency: Semasiological and Cognitive Aspects]. Samara, Samar. Univ., 2016. 186 p. (In Russian)

4. Popova Z.D., Sternin I.A. Kognitivnaya lingvistika [Cognitive Linguistics]. Moscow, AST, Vostok– Zapad, 2007. 314 p. (In Russian)

5. Teoriya metafory: sbornik [Metaphor Theory: A Collection of Writings]. Arutyunova N.D., Zhurinskaya M.A. (Eds.). Moscow, Progress, 1990. 512 p. (In Russian)

6. Johnson M. The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination, and Reason. Chicago, IL, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1987. 233 p.

7. Lakoff G., Johnson M. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago, IL, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1980. 242 p.

8. Ilyukhina N.A. Metaforicheskii obraz v semasiologicheskoi interpretatsii [Metaphorical Imagery through Semasiological Interpretation]. Moscow, Flinta, Nauka, 2016. 321 p. (In Russian)

9. Arutyunova N.D. Polagat’ (to believe) and videt’ (to see) (to the problem of mixed propositional attitudes). In: Logicheskii analiz yazyka. Problemy intensional’nykh i pragmaticheskikh kontekstov [Logical Analysis of Language. Problems of Intensional and Pragmatic Contexts]. Moscow, Nauka, 1989, pp. 7–30. (In Russian)

10. Balashova L.V. The cognitive type of metaphor in diachrony (based on the perceptual vocabulary of the Russian language). Vestnik Omskogo Universiteta, 1999, no. 4, pp. 81–84. (In Russian)

11. Bukarenko S.G., Medvedeva E.V. The verbs videt’ (to see) and smotret’ (to watch) related to visual perception. Vestnik Taganrogskogo Instituta imeni A.P. Chekhova, 2022, no. 1, pp. 175–186. (In Russian)

12. Zalizniak A.A. Cognitive mechanisms of semantic derivation in the domain of visual perception. In: Velichkovsky B.M., Balaban P.M., Ushakov V.L. (Eds.) Advances in Cognitive Research, Artificial Intelligence and Neuroinformatics. Intercognsci 2020. Ser.: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing. Vol. 1358. Kacprzyk J. (Ed.). Cham, Springer, 2020, pp. 267–274. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71637-0ˍ32.

13. Ilyukhina N.A. The cognitive aspect of the genesis of intellectual metaphors. Quaestio Rossica, 2023, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 203–216. https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2023.1.784. (In Russian)

14. Romanova O.M. The history of lexical families sharing the common Slavic roots *gled-, *mot-, *vid-, and *zьr (based on the Russian language). Cand. Philol. Diss. Ufa, 2005. 249 p. (In Russian)

15. Petrova A.V. On the semantics of the verbs of visual perception videt’ (to see), smotret’/glyadet’ (to watch/to gaze) in Fedor Tyutchev’s poetry. Vestnik MGOU. Seriya: Russkaya Filologiya, 2016, no. 2, pp. 48–55. https://doi.org/10.18384/2310-7278-2016-2-48-55. (In Russian)

16. Dvizova A.V., Kryukova L.B. Linguistic means of expressing the situation of visual perception in B. Pasternak’s poetic texts. Vestnik Tomskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta. Filologiya, 2012, no. 3 (19), pp. 21–29. (In Russian)

17. Guseva L.A. Verbs smotret’ (to look) and videt’ (to see) in N. Glazkov’s lyrics. In: Semantika i funktsionirovanie yazykovykh edinits v raznykh tipakh rechi [Semantics and Usage of Linguistic Units in Different Types of Speech]. Yaroslavl, Yarosl. Gos. Pedagog. Univ. im. K.D. Ushinskogo, 2009, pp. 36–42. (In Russian)

18. Trubetskova E.G. “Short-sightedness” as an evaluative metaphor in the metropolitan literature between the 1920s and 1930s. Izvestiya Saratovskogo Universiteta. Novaya Seriya. Seriya Filologiya. Zhurnalistika, 2019, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 211–216. https://doi.org/10.18500/1817-7115-2019-19-2-211-216. (In Russian)

19. Trubetskova E.G. The eye and optical means: Vision deformation in Vladimir Nabokov’s prose. Vestnik Tomskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta, 2018, no. 429, pp. 58–65. https://doi.org/10.17223/15617793/429/7. (In Russian)

20. Balashova L.V. Medical conceptual metaphor in the political media discourse during the 20th and 21st centuries (a dynamic aspect). Politicheskaya Lingvistika, 2018, no. 2, pp. 10–17. https://doi.org/10.26170/pl18-02-01. (In Russian)

21. Kuchko V.S. “Visual” and “auditory” metaphor of deception in the Russian language tradition. Izvestiya UrFU. Seriya 2: Gumanitarnye Nauki, 2015, no. 1(136), pp. 187–196. (In Russian)

22. Reznikova E.V. Obraz-skhema kak model’ opisaniya struktury kontsepta [Image Schema as a Model for Defining the Structure of a Concept]. Moscow, Direkt-Media, 2023. 276 p. (In Russian)

23. Meshchanova N.G. On the central role of dominant meanings in shaping the image of gambling. Vestnik Samarskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta, 2011, no. 1/1 (82), pp. 231–235. (In Russian).