SEMANTICS OF IMPERCEPTIBLE: WHERE THE TONKAJA GRAN' PASSES

SEMANTICS OF IMPERCEPTIBLE: WHERE THE TONKAJA GRAN' PASSES

Author:  L.V. Kalinina

Affiliation:  Vyatka State University

Abstract:  The article analyzes the set phrase tonkaja gran' that is used to express speakers’ subjective assessment of borderline categorization cases.
The author considers a stable metaphorical expression tonkaja gran' as one of the means of expressing the semantics of imperceptible. Peculiarities of semantics and functioning of this set phrase in speech are revealed with the help of methods of component, distribution, contextual-representative analysis and method of dictionary definition analysis.
The research finds out that the set phrase tonkaja gran' is used in the meaning of ‘barely noticeable difference’ in speech and is used to describe the imperceptible but essential transition of one quality or state to another. Objects divided by the tonkaja gran' are more often opposite than close, and are usually abstract (qualities, states, concepts). In general, the metaphor of tonkaja gran' in both the meaning and the mechanisms of forming this meaning, and in the features of contextual usage, is one of the best means of expressing the semantics of the imperceptible.
The findings are important for further study of the semantics of the imperceptible, modus categories and cases of boundary categorization.

Keywords:  semantics of imperceptible, dictionary definitional analysis,
contextual-representative analysis, interpretation, categorization.

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For citation:  Kalinina, L. V. (2020). Semantics of imperceptible: where the tonkaja gran' passes. Voprosy Kognitivnoy Lingvistiki, 2, 114-124. (In Russ.).

Pages:  114-124