SOCIALITY AND ASSOCIATION OF LANGUAGE, THEIR RELATIONSHIP

Abstract:

This study explains the fact that associativity is a typologically universal phenomenon, but significant differences in the content and frequency of associations formed in different language communities towards the same object are observed with socio-cognitive factors. The theoretical basis is taken from the approaches of sociocognitive linguistics and cultural linguistics; on the empirical basis, the associative space of the concept *happiness* in the perception of Russian, Belarusian, Bulgarian and Ukrainian speakers is analyzed in a comparative manner based on the materials of the "Slavic Associative Dictionary". The data show how the concept is valued in the national consciousness and collective memory through the highest frequency responses of the *sovchi-reaksiya* pairs (e.g., есть, каханне, радост, викилек): while in the Russian spiritual space *happiness* is affirmed by the attribute of “existence”, in Belarusians it is semantically associated with “love”, in Bulgarians with “joy/happiness”, and in Ukrainians with the paradigm of “great value”. The results confirm that the socialization of language is reflected in linguistic associations, that is, the associative field is calibrated with the values, worldview, religious-cultural experience and configuration of social consciousness in society. The study is of methodological importance for linguistic conceptology, psycholinguistics and comparative cultural studies, and allows for its use in the practice of building associative dictionaries, lexical-semantic modeling and intercultural communication.