| Abstract [eng] |
The aim of the present paper is to discuss the association fi eld of the word tree, i.e. to reveal the fragment of the Lithuanian language which is related to the concept of tree. The research results are substantiated by the results of the experiment of associations that was conducted in ŠU, VPU and VU, in the years 2010–2011. In general, 294 respondents were questioned: 126 women and 168 men from 18 to 27 years old. After the analysis of the results of the association experiment, the conclusion could be drawn that the information related with the concept tree, formed in the Lithuanian language, may be divided into several aspects. The more abounding paradigmatic associations should be mentioned. Part of associations is related with the appearance of the tree. In the Lithuanian language, the tree is, fi rst of all, green (i. e. the most typical trees are seen in spring or summer), great and high (such plant is likely to be not young but mature). In verbal associations, the leaves of the tree are often mentioned. After summing up the results of the experiment, it is possible to state that the most prototypical Lithuanian tree is an oak tree. In the respondents’ linguistic sense, the tree is related with material benefit. In linguistic associations, only the third of the Lithuanian trees is mentioned. In the Lithuanian language world-view, the tree symbolizes power, life, and time; it is grasped as the object of inanimate nature, which all the time is close to us and which helps a subject and in some features is similar to a man. |
