The Slavic root *svoj- ‘(one’s) own’: its semantics and axiology Cover Image

Слав. *svojЬ: семантика и аксиология
The Slavic root *svoj- ‘(one’s) own’: its semantics and axiology

Author(s): Svetlana Michajlovna Tolstaja
Subject(s): Anthropology, Language studies, Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Cognitive linguistics, Descriptive linguistics, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej
Keywords: us/familiar; *svojь; semantics; axiology; Russian; Polish; lexis; phraseology

Summary/Abstract: The word *svojь ‘one’s own’ is present in all Slavic languages and dialects mainly with a possessive meaning. The subject (possessor) is above all a person or a community, to a limited degree also animals, plants, natural phenomena, artifacts and abstract entities. The objects treated as “own” constitute concentric circles, with a person in the centre and with what belongs to him or her, starting with the body. The next circle is the nearest environment (the family and the home), then relatives, neighbours, friends, fellow countrymen, people connected through ethnic, religious or linguistic bonds (the nation or country), finally the whole humanity, the earthly world, as opposed to the “other”, supernatural world. The circles of meanings and values are investigated on the basis of Polish and Russian lexical and phraseological data.

  • Issue Year: 20/2008
  • Issue No: 20
  • Page Range: 29-38
  • Page Count: 10
  • Language: Russian