| Abstract [eng] |
The representatives of cognitive linguistics assume that language cannot exist on its own, it is a part of our thought. Cognitive linguistics changed the conception of some phenomena such as the meaning of the word, metaphor and the concept (the main unit of the thought) was brought to the fore. In language concepts are expressed by words, combinations of words and phraseological units. The research of concepts is very important for displaying how the people of one language perceive and appreciate the world and its phenomena. A lot of attention is paid to abstract concepts because language is the fundamental instrument of the recognition of concepts. The essence of abstract concepts is reflected in texts but the main feature of the concept is reflected in conceptual metaphor too. The present Master Thesis focuses on the investigation of CONSCIENCE concept expressions in the Lithuanian and English languages, highlighting and comparing its similarities and differences. The research material is the examples from fiction and journalistic texts from The Corpus of The Contemporary Lithuanian Language (Vytautas Magnus University) (http://tekstynas.vdu.lt) and British National Corpus (http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/). The Master’s Thesis consists of an Introduction, The Theoretical part, The Practical part, Conclusions, References, Summary in English and Lithuanian. The first theoretical chapter deals with the basic principles of concept in contemporary linguistics, the second chapter discusses particularities of concepts’ linguistic expressions, the third chapter presents the content of the word sąžinė and conscience in lexicographical sources. The practical part is designeded for the analyses of conceptual metaphor according to the source domain of conceptual metaphor: SĄŽINĖ YRA ŽMOGUS, SĄŽINĖ YRA GYVŪNAS, SĄŽINĖ YRA DAIKTAS, SĄŽINĖ YRA GAMTOS REIŠKINYS, SĄŽINĖ YRA AUGALAS. In this part the conformity between lexicographical definition of conscience and conceptual metaphor is discussed. Furthemore, the value of communication in conceptual metaphor of CONSCIENCE is also presented. The findings reveal that the expression of concept CONSCIENCE is more productive in Lithuanian than in the English language. It means that the concept of conscience in the Lithuanian world-view is more important and cultural specific than in the English world-view. |
