| Abstract [eng] |
Green belongs to the main colours of the spectrum and this is confirmed by the etymology of its name, indicating prototypical reference to the colour. In Baltic and Slavonic languages, the root of the words, naming green, is related to the meanings 'to sprout, to spring', in Germanic languages - to the meaning 'to grow in the soil'. However, the names of green are characterised by a certain ambivalence, i.e. by hardly compatible structures of meanings. 'Green' denotes not only the freshness of spring nature, joy of life, etc., but is also a sign of poison, illness and decay. It seems that the semantics of the Lithuanian word žalias (green) also illustrates the discrepancy of the separate meanings of the world as well as opposite evaluation of the same phenomenon (feature). This paper aims at explaining the complicated semantics of the word and is an attempt to reveal elements of the nation's world - view reflected in it. Main research materials are the corpus of the Lithuanian language (over 1,000 concordance lines), as well as the materials of the Dictionary of the Lithuanian Language. [...]. |
