ACTION MODUS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE MORAL CATEGORY CONSCIENCE

Abstract

Purpose. The submitted paper aims to establish the features of the action modus of the English-language ethical category CONSCIENCE in the context of the theory of image-schemas. The research material was a sample of contexts with the target lexeme conscience totalling 300 units. The selection of material is stipulated by the qualitative parameter based on the MI (mutual information score) indicator, which represents the actual closeness of the concepts verbalized by the corresponding language units. This parameter makes it possible to identify concepts that are the closest domains of the analyzed category at the associative level of language consciousness. Methods. The analysis of the actual material was carried out with the involvement of the following linguistic methods: the method of contextual analysis, the method of semantic-cognitive interpretation, and the method of conceptual analysis. Results. The article highlights two types of image schemas. The first type is represented by basic image schemas, which take a direct part in the conceptualization of objects and phenomena of the surrounding reality. This type includes ‘being’ schema, ‘happening’ schema, ‘doing’ schema, ‘experiencing schema’, ‘having schema’, ‘moving’ schema, and ‘transferring’ schema. Another type is syntactic propositional schemas, which are classified according to five basic frames: subject, action, possessive, comparative and identification. It is noted that schemas of this type participate in onomasiological models of sentence construction. A method of correlating these two types of schemas is proposed using contextual cognitive analysis. As a result of the research, it was established that the JUSTICE action modus has active and passive aspects. It is emphasized that the image schemas DAMAGE, COUNTERFORCE and CHANGE are characteristic of both active and passive aspects of the action modus, and therefore the category CONSCIENCE is perceived as one that can perform actions that in turn can be performed in relation to it. Conclusions. The ethical category CONSCIENCE is conceptualized in the picture of the world through the prism of personification since in the ethical context it is a person who can perform actions that can be performed in relation to them.