TRANSFORMATION OF THE IMAGE OF AN OLD MAN IN THE MINDS OF YOUNG SPEAKERS OF RUSSIAN LINGUISTIC CULTURE; [ТРАНСФОРМАЦИЯ ОБРАЗА СТАРИКА В СОЗНАНИИ МОЛОДЫХ НОСИТЕЛЕЙ РУССКОЙ ЛИНГВОКУЛЬТУРЫ]

The purpose of this article is to model the image of an old man in Russian linguistic culture, that is, to identify the conceptual, figurative and value features of the OLD AGE concept, verbalized by the old man lexeme. The main research methods are: conceptual and definitional analysis of the old man lexeme based on the material of lexicographic sources and reconstruction of associative-verbal networks of the lexeme-verbalizer of the concept; the analytical algorithm also includes the method of free associative experiment. The study revealed significant changes in the consciousness of young Russian speakers in perceiving of the old man stimulus. Semantic transformations primarily affected the value and figurative signs of an old man, namely: reactions describing the appearance of an elderly person became frequent: a gray-haired grandfather with a beard leaning on a cane. It was also found that in the minds of young speakers of Russian linguistic culture, the old man appears to be a kind, weak, sick, lonely person in need of help from others. Russian linguistic culture speakers' consciousness can be penetrated by the results of the study and the potential associative characteristics of a significant fragment of the Russian linguistic world view can be reconstructed. © 2024 Tambov State University. All rights reserved.