COLOR CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE PLANT WORLD: ON THE COLOR OF BIRD CHERRY IN THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE PICTURE OF THE WORLD (A POLYDISCOURSIVE STUDY)

Abstract

The article presents the results of a comprehensive study into the specific features of the color perception of bird cherry in the linguistic consciousness of Russian speakers. The stated goal – the reconstruction of a segment of the color conceptosphere of the Russian language’s floral space – was achieved in the following way: 1) the set of color terms actualized in the color descriptions of the plant has been established (26 units); 2) the dominant colors, which display variability in texts of different discourses, have been determined; 3) unique color descriptions of the bird cherry, reflecting the individual color worldview of a native speaker, have been identified; 4) the methods for specifying the color impression – the means for the fine differentiation of a color shade – have been established; 5) the understanding of the ways of conveying color meaning has been expanded, including through meta-lexemes, lexemes with the meaning of color intensity, color non-uniformity, implicit color, and lexemes with the meanings ‘to be in bloom’, ‘light’, and ‘darkness’; 6) the collocability of the actualized color terms has been described, demonstrating the spheres of denotation for bird cherry color descriptions: from nature to the “material world”; 7) the functionality of the plant’s descriptions has been identified, which is realized primarily in the ontological function, the specific function, the illustrative-expressive function, the prototypical function, and the function of creating a color chronotope. The obtained results are significant for creating a comprehensive color description of the bird cherry; they are of both theoretical and applied significance.

Extended Abstract

This research provides a comprehensive investigation into the color perception of bird cherry (черёмуха) in the linguistic consciousness of Russian speakers, employing a polydiscursive approach integrating data from lexicographic sources, associative experiments, literary texts (both prose and poetry), and advertising discourse. The study establishes a register of 26 color terms used in descriptions of bird cherry, revealing significant variation in dominant colors across different discourse types and identifying seven methods for refining color impressions.

The lexicographic analysis shows that dictionaries record only white (for flowers) and black (for berries), as in definitions like "a tree or shrub of the rose family with white fragrant flowers and black astringent berries." The directed associative experiment (611 respondents) revealed a much wider range: white (110 responses) predominates, followed by purple (80), green (29), lilac (20), black (20), red (19), yellow (10), pink (8), and others, demonstrating that linguistic consciousness associates bird cherry with a broader spectrum than dictionary definitions suggest.

The analysis of literary texts reveals further complexity. In K.G. Paustovsky's prose, color descriptions are dominated by lexemes with the meaning "to be in bloom" (зацвести, цвести), suggesting the act of flowering is more significant than specific color. In the main corpus of the Russian National Corpus (over 140 authors), the register expands to 16 color terms with white (54) dominating, followed by green (33), black (10), crimson (3), yellow (3), red (3), brown (2), milky white (2), and others. In the poetic corpus (over 50 authors), the spectrum narrows to 7 color terms with white (31) dominating, followed by milky white (4), green (3), golden (2), black (2), silver (1), and blue (1), suggesting different aesthetic functions across genres.

The research identifies seven methods of color refinement: multi-component color composites (зелено-желтый, кипенно-белый, темно-зеленый), two-component color chains, descriptive constructions, meta-lexemes, lexemes with intensity meanings (прозрачный, яркий), lexemes with implicit color (иней, снег, пена), and lexemes with light/dark semantics (блеск, запылать, потемнеть). The color terms correlate with phytonymic vocabulary (гроздь, лепесток, лист, ягода), natural vocabulary (брызги, дым, пена), vestiary vocabulary (наряд, шапка), and object-related vocabulary (скатерть).

The study identifies five functions of bird cherry color descriptions in literary texts: ontological (basic descriptive purpose), species-distinguishing (identifying varieties), illustrative-expressive (creating vivid imagery through metaphor and comparison), prototypical (generating color terms such as черемуховый and черемушный), and chronotopic (constructing spatial and temporal dimensions). The chronotopic function is extensively examined, with bird cherry color participating in constructing ten types of color space (natural, human-related, social, village, country/homeland, gastronomic, scientific, creative, religious, necrological) and six temporal coordinates (vegetation phase, time of day, month, season, time of life, abstract time). The research concludes with analysis of advertising discourse, identifying two color terms not recorded in dictionaries (бледная черемуха and черемуха), contributing comprehensive color description with both theoretical and applied significance.