THE CONCEPTUAL DICHOTOMY "WEALTH-POVERTY" IN SPANISH LINGUOCULTURE

Abstract

The article deals with the issues of language representation of the linguocultural dichotomy of "WEALTH-POVERTY" of the Spanish picture of the world, which, according to the authors, provides an opportunity for a deeper understanding of this important part of the mentality of the Spanish nation. It turns out how a centuries-old experience of the Spaniards reflects in the language, creating a conceptual system that categorizes reality in the components of the national picture of the world. The expounded theoretical basis of the study is based on the actual scientific works of modern linguists. The conceptual features of culturally-marked concepts of "WEALTH-POVERTY" and the semantics of their lexical representants are analized through the example of the relevant language material. Scientific interest is focused on the paroemological profilisation of the studied conceptual space, as the paroemies reflect the primordial wisdom of the Spaniards. Its communicative experience and culturally conditioned stereotypes of thinking in the form of image-standards, which form the interpretative field of concepts, consequently, allow to reconstruct an important part of the valueable worldview of the Spanish nation. National specific cognitive signatures of the mentioned conceptual opposition could be defined in the linguistic consciousness of the Spanish linguocultural community. Thus, the cognitive structure of the concept of "wealth" in the Spanish mentality is marked by such signs as wealth, well-beign, the measure of which are money, affluent condition, the need for a caring attitude to wealth and spending, respect for the Spanish society, women’s benevolence, but material well-being must be achieved through self-diligence, intelligence and professionalism, so popular wisdom condemns dishonest or illegal means of enrichment. Traditionally in the Spanish consciousness the cognitive features of the polar concept of poverty are the lack of money, beggarliness, indigence, social discrimination, whereby the Spanish mentality usually considers idleness and faineance as the source that causes poverty. It is noted that Spanish paroemiology suggests guiding in life by sententias which are aimed at psychological restraining of the polarization of society among the poor and rich, and with respect for people regardless of their financial situation.

It is proved that the designated traditional cognitive features of the conceptual dichotomy RIQUEZA–POBREZA confirm its special significance for the linguistic consciousness of this linguocultural society and open up prospects for further study of these nuclear concepts taking into account evolutionary changes, caused by modern Spanish reality.