THE CONCEPT «TRAITOR» IN THE UKRAINIAN PAREMIC VIEW OF WORLD

Abstract

The article deals with the features of the semantics and linguistics of the concept “traitor” in Ukrainian paremics. It is studied the analyzed concept in proverbs and sayings is objectified within a number of lexical-semantic groups, in particular “traitor to God”, “adulterer”, “traitor to a loved one”, “traitor who is guided by selfish motives”, etc. It is found the greatest condemnation in the context of the paremic picture of the world is deserved by apostates and those who betray their husband or wife. Many proverbs contain warnings about committing treason. In addition, advice is often expressed to remain vigilant with enemies, especially with those who were previously friends. It is established the verbalizers of the concept “traitor” in Ukrainian folk proverbs and sayings are individual lexemes, word combinations, phraseological units. Often the analyzed concept is objectified within the context. We have identified paremias-dialogues that implicitly represent betrayal, indicating the insidious, hypocritical nature of a selfish person prone to betrayal. Most often, the concept is verbalized using a proper name, characteristic adjectives such as “unfaithful”, “depraved”, “devil”, as well as a number of nouns. Among the latter, we distinguish a considerable group of zoonyms, with the help of which the effect of comparing a person committing betrayal with individual animals is created: a viper, a dog, a ram, etc., – as well as with mythological characters, such as a werewolf (in a number of proverbs this word is replaced by the euphemisms “dog skin”). A traitor who poses as a righteous person is compared to the devil in the paremia picture of the world. We have identified a number of antitheses emphasize a positive attitude towards honest people and a negative one towards traitors, for example: God / devil, angel / devil, angel / devil, righteous man / rascal. It is interesting the lexeme “moscal” is a synonym for the words “liar”, “traitor”, “insidious” in many proverbs and sayings. The analyzed concept is also objectified by the Ukrainian phraseologisms sound like “to jump into buckwheat”, “to warm a viper in one’s bosom”, “to hold a stone in one’s bosom”, which function as part of a number of paremias.