METAPHORICAL CONCEPTUALIZATION OF FAMILY RELATIONSHIP: ORNITHOMORPHIC MODEL

Abstract

The article deals with metaphorical conceptualization peculiarities of the family relationship
sphere through the source-sphere «Birds» on the basis of electronic text subcorpus
including Russian literary texts written during the period of 1990–2000. The author selects
and analyzes metaphorical contexts within the framework of cognitive theory of metaphor,
finds out a common ground for convergence of these spheres specifying metaphorical
transfer schemes. The analysis of connotations of a metaphorical word usage gives an
idea of character features, appearance, behavior and speech peculiar to people involved

in the family relationship revealing the particular importance of family values for the Russian
culture. The article examines individual ornithomorphic metaphors created by the authors
as well as traditional metaphorical symbols with ambiguous connotations (cuckoo,
hen, owl, pigeon and nightingale). Much attention is paid to gender aspects of family relationship
metaphorization by means of ornithonyms that identify the archetypal opposition
«male ↔ female» and its relevant characteristics.