LINGUAL SYNESTHESIA AND SYNESTHETIC METAPHOR

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to determine the essence of such notions as “lingual synaesthesia” and “synesthetic metaphor” and give their general characteristics. Such purpose can be achieved by means of clarifying interrelations between synesthesia and language, revealing the origin of synesthetic metaphor, determining its role in the process of metaphorization and fixation of human sensory experience, analyzing the lingvo-cognitive and perceptual features of synesthetic metaphor.

Methods. Methods of description, theoretical generalization and analysis used in the article made it possible to carry out a systematic and complex analysis of the notions of “lingual synaesthesia” and “synesthethic metaphor”, and characterize synesthethic metaphor as a complex lingvo-cognitive, perceptual and polimodal phenomenon.

Results. The phenomenon of synesthesia is a specific formation of various modes of human perception. It is studied by various human sciences, related to a human being, his/her feelings, affective-cognitive and perceptual system, speech. Synesthetic metaphors appear as a result of cognitive-symbolic integration of human sensory experience. The analysis of synesthesia as a lingual phenomenon makes it possible to find out that it defines and fixes features of human sensory experience, as well as polysensory impressions and feelings of a person in emotional and evaluative metaphoric language units. Synesthetic metaphors encode interrelations of sensory perception of smells, sounds, colors, tastes, and temperature of various organs of human /perception. Synesthetic metaphors are the result of the cognitive-symbolic integration of human sensory experience. The polymodality of the image reflected in the synesthetic metaphor and its perceptual nature refers to problems of physicality. The basis of its formation is the affective-cognitive-perceptual system of a human being. Thus, synesthetic metaphors refer to the levels of perception, cognition and lingual actualization. This fact stipulates their complex and multidimensional nature. Their complex organization distinguishes synesthetic metaphors from others. That is why many scholars consider them to be a special and separate type of cognitive metaphors.

Conclusions. Synesthesia is a lingual universal reflected in the form of synesthetic metaphors. Such units verbalize human polysensory experience. Synesthetic metaphors are a special type of cognitive metaphor denoting the results of interaction of visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, tactile, and temperature sensations. These metaphorical units encode information of different perceptual series in their meaning. They serve as a means of verbalizing of human sensory experience, motivated by corporal sensations and interaction of different sensory systems of a human being. Being complex, multidimensional, lingvocognitive, polymodal and perceptual phenomena, synesthetic metaphors become part and parcel of lingvocognitive and psycholinguistic research.