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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 136 (2014) 129 - 132
LINELT 2013
Representation of the concepts "Happiness & Unhappiness" in the Kazakh proverbs and sayings
Botagoz Suiyerkula*, Altynshash Kurmanali Chakyroglub
a Suleiman Demirel University, Abilai khan Street 1/1 Almaty -Kaskelen, 040900, Kazakhstan b Suleiman Demirel University, Abilai khan Street 1/1 Almaty -Kaskelen, 040900, Kazakhstan
Abstract
The paper deals with the representation of the concepts "Happiness & Unhappiness" in the Kazakh proverbs and sayings. The topicality of the study is defined by the significance of the intersection between culture and language, paremiology and cultures in particular, the complexity of the nature of the key concepts of "happiness" - "unhappiness". Moreover, proverbs and sayings fix the constants of consciousness and culture that are relevant to all speakers of the language, define an evaluation system of the world, and are the ones that allow us to distinguish and analyze the basic concepts. The purpose of the study is to describe "happiness-unhappiness" concepts with regard to the formal and semantic organization of Kazakh proverbs, which represent the illustrated concepts.
The concepts "happiness & unhappiness" are in the opposition, components of which can relate to each other by the principle of interdependence. And the characterization of the concepts "happiness" and "unhappiness" is largely determined by their representation of certain signs and their semantic characteristics. As a result of the study, which was conducted on the base of Kazakh paremiological materials, it was revealed that the phraseological-semantic meaning of the concepts "happiness& unhappiness" is of utmost importance in the Kazakh language.
© 2014 The Authors. Published by ElsevierLtd.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.Org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of LINELT 2013. Keywords: concept, representation, proverbs and sayings, happiness, unhappiness;
Introduction
Modern linguistics is characterized by the growth of roles of anthropocentric, cultural and cognitive approaches
*Corresponding author name: Botagoz Suiyerkul Tel.: 007-707-138-6710 E-mail address: akbotakoz@mail.ru
1877-0428 © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of LINELT 2013. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.05.302
to the study of languages, which are a source of information about the conceptual structures of consciousness. Therefore, today the study of the concept in modern linguistics is of great importance, and the term "concept" is widely used in various fields of linguistics such as cognitive, semantic, and cultural linguistics.
The main concepts of linguistics include notions of national linguistic image of the world and how it is conceptualized. Both concepts are closely related. The concept lies at the heart of many traditions, customs, ritual and domestic definite verbal behavior of the ethnic group, they are the basis for evaluating and determining the value of the particular individual, processes, events and facts (Ahmetzhanova, 2013:19).
A concept means a cultural verbalized means, presented in terms of a number of expressions of language implementations which form a corresponding lexical-semantic paradigm. The understanding of the concept as an operating unit of thought is a way and the result of quantification and categorization of knowledge. This is because the object of the concept is the mental entity, whose formation is determined by the form of abstraction, and the model of which is specified by the concept, which not only describes the object but also creates it. We have chosen the binary concept as the object of our study as all the signs of the object or concept are most clearly revealed in comparison. As the source of the research have been used the explanation dictionaries (Dictionary of Kazakh litary language, 2013; Dictionary of Kazakh language, 1999; Dictionary of Eurasian linguistic culture of Kazakhstan (2011); Mankeeva, 2008), dictionaries of proverbs and sayings (Kazakh proverbs and sayings, 1990; 6000 Kazakh proverbs and sayings, 1995; Malaisarin, 2008; Turmanzhanov, 2004) and phraseological dictionaries (Kenesbaev, 1977; Kozhahmetova et al., 1988).
The concepts of "happiness & unhappiness" are opposites, the components of which may relate to each other on the principle of interdependence. Proverbs and sayings are a structurally and semantically organized system. They fix the constants of consciousness and culture that are relevant to all speakers of the language, define an evaluation system of the world, and are the ones that allow us to distinguish and analyze the basic concepts. The characteristics of "happiness - unhappiness" are largely determined by its representation of certain signs and their semantic characteristics. The lexical and semantic representation of the given concepts allows one to determine the conceptually important characteristics of the concepts "happiness and unhappiness". The lexical and semantic analysis of proverbs allows one to represent the content of the concepts "happiness - unhappiness" and reveal their conceptual links more closely.
According to the lexicographical sources, hyperonym of terms "happiness - unhappiness" and semantic archetype of relevant semantic concepts is "fate" as a way of man destined to him by God as part of the share which confers at birth" (Vorkachev, 2003: 5).
The share of human may not fully correspond the inclinations and human dignity, and in this sense it is random. "Fortuity", in other words "happiness" does not choose people according to their intelligence or education, idealogy, religion, profession and etc. and come to any person and anywhere, but if person does not value this "fortuity", it can leave the same way and never come back.
The concept of "happiness" in the traditional culture is understood as a category covering a system of concepts and ideas of the individual or the society on values, advantages and material wealth. In the linguistic consciousness of society it is closely related to the concept of "wealth", which is associated with the concepts such as health, good life etc.) and property/wealth, mind / intelligence, knowledge, skills, art etc. However, the traditional Kazakh worldview (bak-daulet) is characterized by the variability reflected in the paremiology as follows: "Bak - uzatylgan kyz, baylyk - eritin muz, bala - artta kalgan iz" (Happiness is a daughter who has been married off, wealth is ice that quickly melts, a child is your trace, which remains in this life, after your death, that is, your child will continue your way of life.)
The concept of «happiness» in cognitive consciousness of ethnic and culturally reflective phrase (bak-daulet) objectified by ornitonim "bird of happiness": "basyna bak kusy kondy" (he/she rolled a fortune, he/she was very lucky).
The proverbs and sayings reflect the life of the people, both contemporary and historic, prehistoric, introduce superstitions, moral rules, worldviews, people's attitudes towards them. The footprints of mythological world can be traced in the proverbs and sayings related to "happiness and unhappiness". The anthropocentric nature of the paremeological semantics should be considered in the study of the world view of a certain nation, enshrined in the language of proverbs and sayings. Reality is directly related to the proverbs reflecting a person's vision of the world, the psychological features of his/her personality. The analysis of the proverbs and sayings can also specify the cognitive symptoms of the concepts studied, the "nature and character" of "happiness and unhappiness", to
determine their role in people's lives, to identify possible contradictions, paradoxes, enclosed in layers of interpretation of data concepts.
A comprehensive analysis of structural and semantic organization of proverbs is considered to have a value that will be linked to one or more concepts, such as: "Zhamanshylyk pen zhaksylyk egiz" (Good and evil are twins/ (Good and evil are eternal companions); "Batar kunnin atar tany bar" ( In place of the night the day comes / After the bad weather sunny days come), "Tarshylyk bolmai, kenshilik bolmaydy" (There is no comfort without difficulties), "Jaman aytpay, zhaksy zhok" (There no good without thinking of bad) correlated with different concepts with "hope","faith","patience","fate"
Thus, the concept of "happiness-bak" as axiologic mental unit of the worldview of Kazakhs represents such basic meanings as "good fortune", "luck", "joy", "positive life balance ", "life satisfaction". The concepts of "happiness-bak" and "kut -bliss" have a historically evolving and changing character, which is reflected in the features of their implementation in different types of texts.
The concepts of "happiness-bak" and "kut- bliss" emerged and developed as two different and unrelated to each other phenomena. As a result of the gradual secularization of Turkic cultures, the concept of "happiness" began to lose its religious orientation and gradually moved closer in the meaning to the concept of "happiness-bak." For example, in the ancient language, the word "kut" had the same semantics as Arabic word "bak" (Dictionary of old Turkic languages, 1969).
A root of the semantic structure of the word "bak", "bereke" (abundance) comes from the linguistic consciousness of the ethnic group, and eventually supplants active vocabulary with the terms "kut (happiness) and kutayu (to be happy). It can be assumed that the word "kut" was more often used in parallel with the word "bak", and gradually it transformed to "bak / happiness", and formed the semantics of the word "bakyt" (bak + kut).
Therefore, the verbal expression "Kutty bolsyn!" is often used in the modern Kazakh language. This expression does not have an equivalent in other languages. For instance, "Tuylgan kunin kutty bolsyn!" (Happy birthday!); "Kusyn kutty bolsyn!' (Congratulations on your bird of happiness! /Be happy with your wife/ Have a happy marriage - It is the wish which is said to the groom after the wedding. The bride, wife is personified with a bird of happiness!).
"Konys kutty bolsyn!" (Congratulations on your new home!) "Zhulden kutty bolsyn!" (Congratulations on your award! /Congratulations!). The originality of these expressions is explained by the historic roots of the given concept.
The presence of the stable etiquette formula that includes the name of cultural concept shows that this concept is widely used, and is significant for the native Kazakh culture. The following examples are recorded: Bagyn zhansyn! Bagyn ashylsyn! Bak darysyn! Bak zhuldyzyn zhansyn! Bak ketpesin! Bak karasyn! Kydyr darysyn! Basyna bak kusy konsyn! (Be happy! Be happy for ever!)
The existence of the ethical categories of "happiness -bak" and "kut - bliss" as synonyms semantically illustrating the characteristic of the Kazakh language tends to form the multiple semantic double concepts, multiple factors in the development of conceptual sign language. As it is defined in the Dictionary of Kazakh literary Language (2011), the basic value of the terms bliss, good, grace, are as follows in the modern Kazakh language: 1. What is good for a man and society gives satisfaction, goodness, happiness, well being, 2. happiness, success, good luck, happy state of inner peace and satisfaction, abundance, usefulness and so on, especially concerning food items, 3. Unlimited happiness, complete and unabashed happiness, enjoyment.
The concept in the semantic space includes its paradigmatic, syntagmatic and word-building communications, as well as all the pragmatic information of the sign, associated with its expressive and illocutionary functions. Another component of the semantics of the concept is the cognitive memory of the word - the semantic characteristics of the sign, associated with its age-old purpose and spiritual values of the system language.
In the result of paremiological analysis of the concepts "happiness-unhappiness are conventionally identified the following semantic groups: The views on happiness as the condition (or synonym) of wealth are rooted in everyday consciousness. For example: "Kudai bergenge kulai beredi" (God gives in abundance).
Happiness is often associated with luck in Kazakh world view. "Zholi bolar zhigittin zheli oninan turar" (For a lucky young man the wind blows along his way); "Kokten izdegenim zherden tabyldy"(lit. What I searched in the heaven, was found on the earth/ I was very lucky); "Aspannan izdegenim aiagymnyn astynan shykty" (lit. What I searched in the sky was found under my feet/ I was very lucky). At the same time, the Kazakh ordinary consciousness is characterized by the perception of happiness as some unpredictable elements, and, as a consequence - the elements unreliable, as evidenced by the following paremiological units: "Taudai talaptan
barmaktai bak artyk" (A little luck is better than a huge effort).
The concepts "happiness/unhappiness" in the Kazakh identity and worldview are associated with following phraseolocical units: "Basyna bak konganda, elden askan danasyn. Basynnan bak taiganda, kalybyna bararsyn" (When the happiness is with you, you're the wisest person, when happiness turns away, you're what you are); "Bak auysady" (Happiness is changeable).
There are also proverbs and saying, in which happiness is associated with positive emotions. For example: "Bakyttan basy ainaldy" (lit. He/she was dizzy from happiness / He/she was very happy / He/she was in seventh heaven).
There are a number of examples, which represent concepts of "unhappiness", in which unhappiness is associated with the concepts of misfortune - satsizdik, 'poorness-kedeylik, zharlylyk'; 'destiny-zhazym, tagdyr'; 'trouble- zhamandyk. Let us give examples from the book "Kazakh proverbs and sayings" (1990: 83-85): "Zharlynyn zhalgyz kozysyn kaskyr zheidi" (lit. A wolf kills the poor man's only lamb). "Sorlyga soiyldyn zhuan basy tier" (lit. The thick end of a stick hits on the poor man's head); "Sorlynyn auzy aska tise, murny kanaidy" (If a misery man finds something to eat, his nose bleeds. / Misery loves company) ; "Zhazym bolsa, bylamykka tis synar'"(If it is destined, your tooth is broken while you are eating porridge). "Bagy taigan adamdy tuie ustinen it kabar" (A man on the on the camel can be bitten by dog if his luck turns away); "Zhamandyk ayak astynda" (Trouble is unexpected).
Conclusion
The study showed that proverbs and sayings of any nation could be used as a rich linguistic material for cognitive analysis, by which it creates paremiological picture of the world as an integral part of the conceptual picture of the world society. As a result of the study which was conducted on the base of Kazakh paremiological materials it was revealed that the phraseological-semantic meaning of the concepts "happiness& unhappiness" is of utmost importance in the Kazakh language. It is especially noticed from the difficulties occurring in the process of translating and adapting the Kazakh proverbs and idioms related to the concepts "happiness& unhappiness" into English. One of the reasons is the change of the concepts of Turkic conscience in the Kazakh ethnic mentality under the influence of Islam culture. Thus, as a result of the integration of the concepts in the mental system of the society newly formed judgments take place in the linguistic conscience of the ethnos.
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