REPRESENTATIONS OF “WHITE COLOR”: FROM SYMBOLIC FIXATION OF MEANINGS TO DENOTATIONS OF LOSS OF MEANING

Abstract

The article examines the semantic and symbolic functioning of the color white in linguistic and cultural systems, drawing on semiotic, cognitive, and intercultural approaches. White is treated not as a neutral color term, but as a multilayered sign embedded in a network of meanings associated with purity, beginning, sacrality, silence, power, and normativity. Special attention is paid to the paradoxical nature of white as a marker of both the presence and absence of meaning, potential and emptiness. It is shown that white functions as a semiotic regulator of interpretation, creating an effect of neutrality and objectivity while simultaneously participating in the production of symbolically legitimized meanings. The analysis covers fixed expressions, metaphors, and discursive practices in which white operates as an instrument of symbolic power. An intercultural comparison of Persian and Russian traditions reveals differences in the semantic organization of white: in Persian, sacral-ritual and mythological layers prevail, whereas in Russian, cognitive-functional and normative ones dominate. The findings confirm the cultural conditioning of color semantics.