LINGUAL REPRESENTATION OF THE CONCEPT “MOON” IN THE TEXTS BY YU. M. MUSHKETYK

Abstract

The article presents a comprehensive analysis of the concept MOON in the artistic linguistic worldview of Yurii Mushketyk as one of the key astronym concepts that acquires symbolic multidimensionality and aesthetic significance.The core semantic components of the concept are defined based on dictionary definitions, and the near-core zone and peripheral layers are outlined, which are manifested in the interpretation of the moon as a celestial body, a living being, a zoomorphic or anthropomorphic figure, a symbol of time, a marker of national identity, and even as a material object.Special attention is paid to the poetic and linguistic means of concept realization – metaphors, similes, personifications, and epithets – that shape a multifaceted linguistic and mental image, enriched with both emotionally expressive and culturally symbolic meanings. The study reveals that the concept MOON in Mushketyk’s prose functions not only as a decorative element of landscape but as a semantic center through which the author constructs the artistic chronotope, intensifies the mood of a scene, or emphasizes the emotional state of the characters. The paper highlights the writer’s ability to transform traditional perceptions of the celestial body in accordance with the communicative and pragmatic goals of the literary text, its ideological and aesthetic orientation, and the overall authorial intention.It is demonstrated that the concept MOON acquires the features of a character, an observer, a participant, or an indicator of emotional tension, inner drama, and moral choice. The author creates a kind of artistic cosmogony through this concept, reflecting philosophical contemplation of existence, the opposition of light and darkness, good and evil, struggle, memory, loneliness, and harmony.Thus, the concept functions not only as an aesthetic but also as an axiological category of the author’s individual linguistic worldview, becoming one of the key markers of his ideological paradigm.