К СЕМАНТИКЕ РУССКИХ ПОСЛОВИЦ О РИСКЕ И ОСТОРОЖНОСТИ

Abstract

Abstract

The article is devoted to the semantic and cognitive analysis of Russian proverbs that represent the concepts of risk and caution within a unified paremiological field. Based on a specially selected corpus, four stable semantic groups are identified: preliminary assessment and measure of action; hidden danger and latent threat; negative consequences of haste; and conscious risk and behavioral choice. For each group, the key figurative models—path, water, measure, hidden signal, disruption of tempo, and ethical‑volitional determination—are described, and the mechanisms of conceptualizing dangerous situations in the Russian linguistic worldview are examined. The study demonstrates that proverbs function as cognitively normative formulas regulating behavior under conditions of uncertainty and establishing cultural criteria for acceptable risk. The results make it possible to present the proverbial model “risk — caution” as a systematically organized structure grounded in stable oppositions and culturally significant strategies for evaluating threat.