Representation of the mind in Russian, French and Chinese languages and cultures

Representation of the concept of "mind" in the Russian language and culture

The word mind stands out from the synonymous series in which it is located (mind, reason, intellect) by three signs at once – the maximum volume of the concept, the most frequent use and its origin: mind is the only word from the whole series (mind, reason, intellect) coming from the Greek language and passing through the Church Slavonic language and context.

Today, the mind is understood exclusively as an imaginary organ, where only intellectual processes related to the procedures of analysis and synthesis take place, but in ancient times the mind was interpreted completely differently. In the Old Russian and Old Slavonic languages, the word mind, recorded since the XI century, meant both mind and soul, and thought, and understanding ^[5]. Similarly, V. Dahl interprets the concept of mind. The mind, in his opinion, is one half of the human spirit, and the other half is morality, love, passions ^[2]. "The mind," he writes, "is the applied, everyday part of the ability to think, the lowest degree, and the highest, abstract – the mind." The mind is understood in his dictionary as an earthly and mundane human ability, marked by the imperfection of everything exclusively human: crazy, but he came across the mind; smart, but not reasonable; to live with someone else's mind, to give a mind (to beat); a mind without a mind is trouble; I have not seen such a mind as yours, or already, or wider.

Today, other aspects of this concept have developed, also noted by V. Dahl in such contexts: the mind is voluminous, wide, deep; the mind is the king in the head; the mind is strong, etc., comprehending the mind as a kind of tool that helps a person and determines his strength or weakness through the possession of this tool.

In Russian we speak:

A huge, wide, deep, thin, flexible, sophisticated, clear, gentle, high, fast, lively, rare mind; to have a mind; to occupy the mind, to gain the mind, (not) enough mind; to understand, reach, embrace with the mind; to strain the mind, to keep in mind, to apply the mind, to spread the mind; to be on your mind, to come to mind; to lose your mind, to go crazy, to drive you crazy; mindset; mind chamber; to count, to keep in mind; to live with your own, someone else's mind, to use someone else's mind; to survive out of mind; mind enough to do or not do something; to contribute confusion in the minds, to fight for the minds, to master the minds; it has come, it has come to mind; to understand what is on someone's mind; mind is strong; to bring something to mind.

We see that the mind is primarily thought of as inanimate at the figurative level and has several clearly distinguished material connotations:

1. Shovel-key. The mind as a tool or as a resource: you can have it, you can occupy it, you can understand it, you can use it to make a decision, it may or may not be enough. One of these most important actions is digging – the wider the mind, the deeper it penetrates into the soil, the better (characteristic context – digging deeper means "to understand, to comprehend"). Another action performed with the help of the mind-tool is the extraction of the essence – fragile and vulnerable, and in this sense, the thinner, more flexible and sophisticated the mind, the more valuable it is as a tool. When the extracted essence is large, it is important to embrace it with the mind, the mind must be able to contain it, and therefore it must also be large.

2. The mind as a firmament, as the basis on which a person stands: to go crazy, to go crazy; to drive someone crazy means to deprive him of the ground under his feet, landmarks, the ability to analyze and make a decision.

3. Mind as a receptacle: keep in mind, count in mind, mind chamber. To do something in the mind means to perform some action in secret from others.

Synonyms of the word mind – mind, reason, intellect ^[4] – of Latin origin (as well as consciousness) ^[5] – are not too common, since they still go back to the European tradition alien to ordinary consciousness. According to E. V. Uryson ^[3], these synonyms differ in the following semantic features:

1) the ability to designate an organ of thinking (mind is both an ability and an organ; intellect is only an ability); 2) various conceptual accents: in the word mind – an emphasis on obtaining knowledge, and, from our point of view, on developing qualitatively new knowledge, in the word mind – on the result of this process; 3) the ability to serve as a characteristic of a particular person (mind) or a person as a species (mind); 4) the type and value of knowledge (mind is associated with higher knowledge, reason with everyday knowledge), etc. "Synonyms mind and reason, - writes E. V. Uryson – emphasize the result of the process of cognition, that is, knowledge already achieved, achieved understanding.

Therefore, reason and reason cannot be characterized in terms of speed and methods of obtaining information. For the same reason, reason and reason, unlike the mind, are associated not with new, but with well-known knowledge. In this regard, reason and reason can serve to a lesser extent as a characteristic of a particular person" ^[3].

The synonyms reason and reason are associated with different types of knowledge, with different values. Reason is associated with higher ethical concepts such as good and evil. Reason rather presupposes everyday, everyday knowledge and thoughts. The word intellect comes closer to the word mind, but two other circles of usage are associated with it. These are, firstly, contexts where the word "intelligence" is used almost terminologically, and secondly, these are contexts where we are talking about a well-developed human ability to think creatively, to obtain fundamentally new, usually scientific knowledge" ^[3].

The word reason is not widely used, its rare uses are "cold reason", "cold, rational person", interpreting the activity of the mind as the opposite of emotional life associated with warmth. The word reason, reflecting the highest concept, has some connotations in common with the word "truth" (the light of reason, the power of reason), but in this usage this word is not a characteristic of an "ordinary" person, but only of a higher being (or a person elevated to the rank of such). It is curious that in the famous quote from the International "Our indignant mind is boiling and ready to go into mortal combat", the mind received an uncharacteristic connotation of "liquid" indicating a change in its temperature, which forces (through connotation) to understand the mind in this context as a receptacle of feelings, as a focus of emotional, not rational principle (cf. "to boil with indignation", "to vent anger", "to overflow with love, happiness", etc.).

Intelligence is a word borrowed in the atheistic era and represents the idea of human strength as a biological organism: strength, the power of intelligence, develop, train intelligence, exercises for the development of intelligence, intelligence quotient, strain intelligence, etc. From the above compatibility we see that intelligence in the Russian consciousness is associated with the muscle, with the body, but not with the ancient ideas about the unity of the spiritual and intellectual beginnings in man. We can say with full confidence that the mythological portrait of intelligence is the product of a new consciousness born in a new time and more focused on creating new images than on following the old ones, at least when it is amenable to conscious control.

Representation of the concept of "mind" in French language and culture

The French esprit (n.m.) came to the Old French language from Latin – spiritus, spiritum – at the end of the tenth century ^[6]. The modern spelling of this word has been established only since the XVI century. In classical Latin, spiritus meant "breath, air", from which the meanings emanation, "smell", as well as "inspiration" later appeared.

Like the Greek pneuma, spiritus also means "divine breath, spirit", "divine immaterial essence", whence the soul and personality (personne). In Christian Latin, spitirus takes on the meaning of "mentality (mindset)", "intention", "principles of moral life", "mind" (intelligence), an immaterial being (spirit, angel, demon, ghost, Holy Spirit) and, according to metonymy, "a person who has a good or bad esprit" Russian Russian language and the Russian linguistic consciousness do not allow us to determine exactly what it is about – the mind or the soul we are talking about. (we leave the French word in the interpretation, since the Russian language and the Russian linguistic consciousness do not allow us to determine exactly what it is about - the mind or the soul. The Russian mentality opposes mind and soul. For the French mentality, there is no such opposition).

Since the time of the Old French language, this word also means immaterial beings (angels, ghosts, etc.). By analogy, this word was used to denote a puny appearance, thinness, this meaning is outdated and completely out of use ^[7]. Also, by metonymy, esprit was used to refer to a person who owns it: un esprit penetrant, mediocre, etc. In the XV century, the word esprit also acquires the meanings of "mood, character" associated with its previous uses. In the XVI century, this word was used to mean "lightness, precision, subtlety of mind, wit", as well as intellectual gift. In the XVI century, this word denotes the deep meaning of the text ^[8]. By extension of this meaning, this word is also called a special selection of texts by a certain author, which makes it possible to understand the essence of his thoughts. To this already extremely complex meaning of the word esprit are added the meanings of "alchemical" – "emanation" ^[6], which subsequently unexpectedly responded in the word alcohol, as well as in phonetics – to denote certain sounds that require breathing.

In modern French, this word has the following meanings (the meanings are given in the order presented in dictionaries):

1. Biblical. The divine spirit. 2. Emanation of the body, light and subtle essence, emanations that were considered as the basis of life and feelings. 3. An immaterial being. 4. The thinking principle, the basis of thinking, the basis of psychic life, both sensual and intellectual, or only intellectual, opposed to the sensual principle in man. 5. Mental abilities, intellectual inclinations. 6. Thought, the idea that determines, directs action.

In modern French, the word esprit has a very extensive compatibility. From this compatibility, the following material-figurative connotations of the French word esprit can be distinguished:

1. Metal tool. In this hypostasis, the French soul-mind can rust, it can be improved, repaired, there can be a rotor, wire cutters inside it, it can be needle-like, rough, fragile, curved, it can be manipulated, it can be opened, lost, kept in a pocket, it can be heavy, split, simple (that is is primitive), etc.

2. The child. This creature is extremely emotional and is an object of human activity: it can be calmed, disturbed, impressed, corrupted, skipped, frightened, educated, put in a shy position, this creature can be agile, lazy, sneaky, curious, weak, deferential and judgmental, etc.

3. The pit. Esprit in French is also associated with a certain container located inside a person, which can be empty, which can be opened, deepened, which has a bottom, a depth in which something can be placed, and from which something can be extracted, it can also be illuminated and darkened.

4. The hand. Esprit is also associated with the image of a certain organ that can be bandaged, unwrapped, it can be turned out, be in the wrong position, reach somewhere, be sluggish, small, weak, etc.

The French word intelligence (n.f.) it came into the language from Latin - intelligentia – and it meant "understanding". In Christian Latin, this word had the meaning of "universal consent" and "spiritual essence, angel" ^[6]. Apparently, by analogy with esprit, the word intelligence also denoted a spiritual essence, which indicates a strong connection in the French consciousness of the intellectual and spiritual. The corresponding Latin verb intellegere – "to understand, to appreciate" — is inter and legere, that is, "to gather together, to bind". Perhaps this is where the European idea of understanding as such came from: to understand means to connect, to establish a connection, that is, to establish causes and effects. Hence, obviously, a special nuance in the meaning of intelligence – to think means to understand.

Russian Russian In French, intelligence is originally used with the Latin meaning – "the ability to know, to understand", where the "qualities" of esprit come from (we leave this word in French, so that in our descriptions we do not write a French concept that does not have an exact Russian equivalent, a Russian word). Since the XVI century, this word denotes secret relations between people, whence the use (since the XVII century) of the English word intelligencier (n.m)., as well as the word intelligences in the plural to denote diplomatic information ^[7]. The connection of these meanings with the corresponding meanings of the Latin word is obvious. Both of these words have disappeared from the modern language, but in the plural it has retained the meaning derived from the corresponding preceding meaning: les intelligences – means people sent to the enemy camp. In the XVI century, intelligence de qch means the act or ability to understand something. By extension of the meaning of "spiritual being", this word means "a person capable of thinking." The use of "a person distinguished by his mind", which appeared in the middle of the XIX century, was preceded by the expression intelligence de l'etat – "a person who plays a special role in the state."

The concept of intelligence was developed allegorically in the Middle Ages.

In modern language , intelligence is understood as follows:

1. The ability to know, to understand (up to modern language and consciousness, this ability is associated not only with the mind, but also with the soul. The following synonymous series is proposed for this meaning of Le Robert: ame, esprit, pensee, raison). 2. (Narrow meaning) A set of mental functions aimed at rational and conceptual cognition (opposed to feeling and intuition). 3. The ability of a living being to adapt to new situations.  4. The quality of the mind (esprit) associated with its ability to understand and adapt quickly. 5. Spiritual essence. 6. A human being. 7. The ability to understand something. 8. The fact and the ability of mutual understanding (communication between people who have a common secret purpose, synonyms: complicite, connivence; or the fact of such complicity, as well as mutual understanding between close people).

In modern French , the word intelligence has this compatibility:

Pouvoir et limite de l'intelligence; Developement de l'intelligence; A voir l'intelligence vive, penetrante, lente, faible, epaisse, deliee, prompte; avoir un minimum d'intelligence; Tendance fabricative de l'intelligence; L'intelligence elabore une idee;

«Intelligence est une machine a fabriquer les systemes d'abstraction» H. Delacroix.

The concept of intelligence, as we can see from its compatibility, has two distinct connotations:

1. A small animal, like a hunting dog. This hunting dog lives in the brain (le cerveau – siege de l'intelligence), its function is to penetrate into an object (like a burrow) and master it. This animal can be agile, lively, fat, that is, deprived of mobility, slow, awkward. The main quality, accentuated by compatibility, is the ability of intelligence to act deftly.

2. The mechanism. The image of intelligence as a mechanism generating abstract schemes, producing ideas, is widespread enough and created, from our point of view, by analogy with one of the connotations of esprit.

The French raison (n.f.) is also a rather specific concept relative to the Russian counterpart. This word comes from the Latin rationem – the accusative ratio, rationis, which in turn developed from the supine verb reri (ratum) – "to count, to think" ^[6]. The origin of this verb is unknown. Initially, ratio meant "account", then the way to count, as well as "case". Hence – a lot of semantic derivatives: ratio – a way to count, as well as – judgment, method, doctrine. This word was often used in the rhetorical language, where it was used to translate the Greek logos. Cicero often used this word when talking about the conviction of a criminal, designating with it an argument that qualified the case, from where the special meaning of this word in medieval Latin comes from – "quarrel, discussion". Cicero gives the word ratio the meaning of "subjective reason", distinguishing it from causa – objective reason ^[7]. Without going into a comparative analysis of the French concepts of raison and cause, we note that in the French mentality, the division of causes into objective and subjective has been preserved for this by a couple of concepts to this day.

Since the XII century, the word raison has had many meanings of ratio. In the Middle French language, the meaning of "counting, counting" has gone out of general use, remaining only in a special sphere (livre de raison) ^[8]. The semantic field of this word becomes very complex, especially in the classical era, when there is an active process of its phraseologization, which often brings confusion to its comprehension. In the XVIII century, there is another expansion of the meaning of the word raison – into the field of philosophy. This expansion is connected with the activity of philosophers of the Enlightenment, and subsequently also under the influence of Kantianism ^[7].

From the very first texts, raison by metonymy denotes what corresponds to truth or reality in connection with some opinion, action or behavior - the meaning realized in expressions where the word is used without an article and acts as an antonym for the word tort ^[6].

Since the end of the XI century, the word has been used to denote any way of thinking or action that makes it possible to establish a connection between phenomena and therefore makes cognition possible. The word also means thinking abilities in general. The expression perdre la raison (1559) meant "to become crazy" and then, by weakening the meaning, "to say who knows what" ^[7].

Since the end of the XI century, the word has also been used to denote the ability to judge things correctly, to distinguish between good and evil, possible and impossible, it was opposed to madness, passion, imagination ^[6].

In modern language, raison as the equivalent of reason, but not reason, is understood as follows: 1. A person's thinking ability that allows him to understand, judge and act in accordance with his beliefs. 2. Normative value: the ability of a person to think, to judge things correctly and to associate his judgments with action. 3. Thinking abilities and their functioning. 4. Natural knowledge, opposed to revelations or faith.

In modern language , the word raison has the following compatibility:

Conduire sa raison; Fonctionnement, structure de la raison; Mettre, ramener, reduire, rendre qn a la raison; Ma raison m'echappe; Perdre la raison; Retrouver la raison; Se rendre a la raison, revenir a la raison; Ne plus avoir toute sa raison; Entendre, ecouter la voix de sa raison; Parler raison; Laisser sa raison au fond d'une bouteille, noyer sa raison dans le vin; Age de raison; Se faire une raison.

From the above compatibility it is clear that raison in modern consciousness is represented, on the one hand, as:

1. The standard of correct action. It is this interpretation that also serves as a comparison of the etymological meaning of this word "account" and the presence of numbers on the belt of an allegorical character. A benchmark is something that has a scale and is based on objective evaluation criteria. Raison is what something or someone is brought to, reduced to in order to achieve the right result. This standard can be lost and found again, you can lose part of it, distort it, and then raison will cease to be a standard and will not be able to perform its main function.

2. The adviser. Raison is animated, he is endowed with a voice, you can listen to him, hear him. Interestingly, among the compatibility cited by Le Robert, there are many authorial contexts in which raison is animated, for example, "La raison habite rarement les ames communes et bien plus rarement les grands esprits" (France) or "Les choses les plus belles sont celles que soufle la folie et qu'ecrit la raison" (Gide).

Thus, we see two aspects of usage at once: the animation of raison is primarily the prerogative of the artistic author's text and it is this connotation that is the basis for productive artistic metaphors. As for free speech, from our point of view, the connection of this concept with reasonable action (hence age de raison), with reality, for the correct assessment of which raison is needed precisely as a standard of correctness, is important. It is important to emphasize that raison is by no means a tool in the hands of a person, a person acts independently, assigning raison exactly the passive role of a standard.

Representation of the concept of "mind" in Chinese language and culture

The key lexeme of the semantic field of the concept of "mind" is ? zh?. For a better understanding of the topic, we will turn to the linguoculturological method, conducting a semantic analysis of lexemes isolated from the "Frequency Dictionary of the Modern Chinese language" ^[9]. Examples of compatibility are mainly taken from various dictionary sources ^{[1],[10],[11],[12]}, and also from the system of the language corpus of the Center of Chinese Linguistics of Peking University ^[13].

zh? is a hieroglyph of the phonetic category, appeared when using the Jiaguwen script. The initial meaning of the hieroglyph is "mind" ^{[15, p. 291]}.

Starting from the Zhanguo period, the hieroglyph acquired a structure including the upper and lower parts, where the upper part consisted of the original writing of the hieroglyph ? zh?: ? zh? and the semantic grapheme ? y? with the meaning "ancient Chinese musical instrument" ^{[15, p. 291]}, and the lower part consisted of the hieroglyph ? k?u. In general, the hieroglyph ? zh? had the meaning of oral transmission of knowledge and experience ^{[15, p. 473]}, and the lower part of ? k?u denoted conversation ^{[15, p. 75]}. From this relationship, it can be seen that in the morpheme ? zh?, the mind is something that can be transmitted orally, while there is a connection between the sounds of a musical instrument with the heartfelt craft that a person wants to express.

This perception of the mind is not without reason associated with the hieroglyph ? zh?, which in modern Chinese has the meaning of "knowledge". This is the mind as an experience that was passed down from generation to generation and helped the ancient Chinese to survive and develop.

From this lexeme, two words are formed in the Chinese language, denoting the concept of mind, which make up the following semantic series: zh?hu? and zh?n?ng.

hu? is a hieroglyph of the phonetic category. The hieroglyph has the key ? x?n, and is phonetically read as ? hu?. The initial meaning of the hieroglyph is "mind" ^{[15, p. 929]}. The original meaning of the hieroglyph ? hu? was "to make a broom out of weeds" ^{[15, p. 225]}, and the key of the hieroglyph metaphorically connected this process of making a broom with human thinking, understood as the processing of chaotic and meaningless images into an expedient idea.

It is no coincidence that the first meaning of the lexeme zh?hu? in modern Chinese is "the ability to analyze, judge, create, think"; it is also the most commonly used lexeme denoting the mind in Chinese ^[9]. This token can be combined with the following verbs: y?ngy?u zh?hu? "presence of mind" , z?ngzh?ng zh?hu? to "expand the mind", ji?z?ng zh?hu? "growth of the mind" , y?u zh?hu? "have mind," g?ngxi?n zh?hu? "to devote the mind", chu?nd? zh?hu? of"the mind", p?iy?ng zh?hu? "grow the mind", c?y? zh?hu? "to set the mind", qu?f? zh?hu? "lack of intelligence", zh?ngw? zh?hu? "master mind" zhu?qi? zh?hu? "chase the mind", x?nqi? zh?hu? "to seek the mind", j?f? zh?hu? "open mind", d?i l?i zh?hu? "bring to mind", f?ngxi?n zh?hu? "to give away the mind", y?ny?ng zh?hu? "to use the mind", z z?nm?i zh?hu? "to praise the mind".

It is important to note that in comparison with other concepts, the compatibility with the lexeme zh?hu? is relatively small, which leads to the most concrete image of the real connotation:

Seed. This is an item, since it can be obtained physically, it is important, people look for it, praise it, and when it is missing from someone, other people immediately help and give him their supplies. If you pay attention to the fact that he also knows how to grow himself and a person can excite him, that is, accelerate the process of his growth, then the image of the grain immediately appears.

One of the most important foundations of Chinese culture is agriculture. Therefore, it is no coincidence that grain as a symbol of agrarian civilization has also become a symbol of the mind in the Chinese subconscious. In addition, this image shows the importance of the public and mutual assistance among the Chinese. In the Chinese language, there is a phraseology zh zh?hu? de ji?j?ng "Crystal of the mind", which in turn denotes the success of some kind of collective work, also this expression shows the image of a grain where people are ready to share, even give it away for free, for the sake of other people in society.

 The hieroglyph ? n?ng is a hieroglyph of the pictorial category; in its original image it looked like a standing bear, so the original meaning of the hieroglyph is "bear". The hieroglyph is included in the so-called borrowed category of hieroglyphs, because it borrowed the meaning of the ability ^{[15, p. 885]}. In modern Chinese, the meaning of "bear" is lost, and the hieroglyph ? xi?ng, which originally had the meaning of "sending a fiery flame", in modern Chinese began to have the meaning of "bear". Thus, the fact that the hieroglyph denoting the possibility is etymologically connected with the bear does not reflect its real meaning in the Chinese language in any way, since the hieroglyph is used only in its borrowed meaning.

If you pay attention to idioms associated with the token, then we will have the following picture: qu?nn?ng zh? qu?n "all-knowing and all-powerful", zh? qu?n qu?nn?ng absolute synonym of the previous word, zh? n?ng j?n su? "exhaust the mind and abilities of the person, that is, to remain with nothing," c?ngm?ng zh?n?ng "to have a sharp and practical mind", j?nzh?f?n?ng "to boast about his intelligence and abilities." Here we see that the token zh?n?ng is a combination of the concept of mind and abilities at once.

However, if we turn to ancient Chinese philosophy, then there we will see that the mind and skills can be described both separately and as a whole. In the philosophical treatise "Xun zi" was written the following sentence concerning the mind and abilities: : ";;"?"Zh?zh? Su?y? z?i r?n w?i zh? zh? zh?; zh? y?u su? w?i h? zh? zh?. Su?y? n?ng zh? z?i r?n zh? w?i zh? n?ng; n?ng y?u su? h? w?i zh? n?ng». "The innate ability to know things in humans is called perception; when our perception coincides with what we know, it is called mind (? zh?). The innate ability to solve a problem is called instinct; when instinct approaches the cases that we have ordered, it is called giftedness (? n?ng)" ^{[17, p. 125]}. We see that in this paragraph the author separates the concepts of ? zh? and ? n?ng, says that the mind and abilities are the result of completely different processes and they need to be evaluated separately, and not as a single aspect. But there is also another understanding that considers these concepts inseparable. For example, in the monument "Liushi chunqiu", created in the late period of the Warring States under the editorship of Lu Buwei, one can find the following combination of "du? q? zh?n?ng" to show off your mind and abilities" ^{[16, p. 236]}. There is also a quote from "Lun heng", written by the Chinese philosopher Wang Chong during the Eastern Han Dynasty: ", ? ,?, "?«G? zh?n?ng zh? sh?, b? xu? b?ch?ng, b? w?n b?zh?». "Therefore, even an intelligent and capable person will not succeed if he does not study, and will never learn new things if he does not ask" ^{[14, p. 971]}. In modern Chinese, this difference is absent, since these two concepts are considered exclusively unified in the Chinese language consciousness, that is, it is important for an intelligent person not only to have knowledge, but also to be able to solve problems.

In modern Chinese language, the original meaning of the mind gradually began to go by the wayside, and occurs most often was used as an adjective denoting the quality of any object that has some intelligence and human abilities: zh?n?ng sh?uj? "smartphone", zh?n?ng j?sh? "intellectual technologies", zh?n?ng zh?ngdu?n "intelligent terminal", zh?n?ng ji?nk?ng "intelligent monitoring", zh?n?ng t?ngch? ch?ng "smart Parking", etc., You notice that what is the main meaning of the word now is not a person's mind, and the mind machine, which gave her people. This feature just once again confirms the possibility of transferring the mind, spreading it even to inanimate objects, giving them intelligence that brings them closer to the living.

It is also important to note two more lexemes: l?x?ng and t?un?o. These lexemes are not directly associated in Chinese with the mind, however, according to explanatory dictionaries, the mind is one, but not the main meaning. To obtain a complete image of the concept, these tokens also need to be analyzed.

The lexeme l?x?ng consists of two morphemes: ? l? and ? x?ng.

The hieroglyph ? l? is a hieroglyph of the phonetic category, the original meaning is "carefully process ore into high–quality jade" ^{[15, p. 20]}. In modern Chinese , this root syllable has the following meanings: "1. The texture and the level of matter of the object, the objective order of things. 2. The regularity of phenomena. 3. Natural science. 4. Handle things according to certain standards. 5. React to the statements of other people" ^{[18, p. 699]} (translated by our. – N. E.). It can be noted that absolutely all the meanings of this root syllogism are associated with a one-sided process of transforming chaotic and disorderly into accurate and objective. If this value is associated with the mind, then it will be a process of processing necessary and unnecessary knowledge to obtain a rational conclusion.

The hieroglyph ? x?ng is a hieroglyph of the phonetic and ideographic category ^{[15, p. 924]}, its original meaning is "human nature". The hieroglyph consists of the key ? x?n, which shows the connection of the meaning of the hieroglyph with inner feelings, and the hieroglyph ? sh?ng means life, therefore ? x?ng has the meaning of what is generated inside a person from his birth, which is the foundation of his character and feelings. Quote from "Xun-tzu" ",;,"?"X?ng zh?, ti?n zh? ji? y?; q?ng zh?, x?ng zh? zh? y?". "The xing (nature) of a person is what he has from birth, and the qing (feelings) of a person are the essence of xing" ^{[17, p. 130]} just emphasizes the above, which shows the perception of the concept of ? x?ng is the same in Chinese and in Chinese philosophy.

Thus, the lexeme l?x?ng denotes precisely the process of rationalization of human nature, that is, the ability of self-control. This is a mind that absolutely does not depend on a person's feelings, everything should be controlled by the mind, not the heart.

If in Russian or French culture the human mind cannot be compared with the mind of God, then in Chinese culture the comparison of the mind of man and God is relevant even today: li?o sh? r? sh?n "to predict the future like God", ? j?bi?n r? sh?n "to solve things intelligently like god", mi?o c? r? sh?n "plan as smart as God", r? sh?n "manage an army like God". Using the example of these idioms, one can clearly see that when describing various mental activities, the Chinese do not talk about God's help to man, but conduct a direct comparison of God and man, which emphasizes the rational thinking of the Chinese worldview, because in this case God is not a symbol for worship and imitation for them, but the highest degree in the rational scale of the mind in chinese culture.

It can also be noted that all actions in idioms that confirm the highest degree of a person's mind are associated with such character traits as equanimity, calmness, and sometimes even composure, since a person owns his brain, not his feelings.

The lexeme t?un?o consists of two morphemes: ? t?u and ? n?o.

The hieroglyph ? t?u is a hieroglyph of the phonetic category, the original meaning of the hieroglyph is "head" ^{[15, p. 775]}. In addition to the original meaning, the word can also mean: "1. The top. 2. Chapter. 3. The front part. 4. Initial. 5. The limit 6. The End" ( x x?nhu? z?di?n ^[18]; our translation. - N. E.).Thus, ? t?u in Chinese, in addition to denoting something high, can serve as a designation of the extreme measures of the rational scale (beginning – end).

The hieroglyph ? n?o is a hieroglyph of the ideographic category, the initial meaning of the hieroglyph is "brain" ^{[15, p. 724]}. In Chinese, in addition to the meaning of "brain", the hieroglyph denotes the process of thinking itself, for example, you can say "move the brain" in the meaning of "think about something" or n?ol? "brain power" to denote mental ability. Here we see that brain and mind have a direct association in Chinese.

The lexeme t?un?o denotes a rational mind located in a person's head, but having certain boundaries. Therefore, in modern Chinese language, the word can be used to designate talent in a specific field: sh?ngy? t?un?o "commercial talent", zh?ngzh? t?un?o "a political talent", sh?xu? t?un?o "mathematical talent", j?nr?ng t?un?o "financial talent." And with the token describes a particular quality of the human mind: qi?zh? de t?un?o "inquisitive mind", m?nji? de t?un?o "lively mind", sh?n'?o de t?un?o "deep mind", l?nghu? de t?un?o "agile mind," w?nqi?ng de t?un?o "keen mind", q?ngx?ng de t?un?o "sober mind".

 Conclusions

The concept of mind is the broadest and most commonly used of the synonymous series corresponding to it. Of all the synonyms, this word came from the Greek language, perhaps that is why there is a lot of specific Slavic meaning in this concept. In modern language, according to our data, the mind is associated primarily with a person's ability to make a decision, that is, to generate new knowledge. From the compatibility of this word, we see that the corresponding concept is thought of as inanimate, unlike the other two internal organs – the soul and conscience. The concept of "mind" is accompanied by the following connotations: mind is a tool and a resource (recall Tyutchev: "You cannot understand Russia with your mind, you cannot measure it with a common yard"); the mind is the firmament on which a person stands; the mind is a receptacle. Instrumentality – the main thing in the image of the mind – is associated with a special way of knowledge in the Russian language.

Synonyms of the word "mind" – "mind" and "reason" – both of Latin origin, have their own specifics. The mind is associated with a higher ability, with the presence of basic ideas for a person, the mind rather assumes ordinary everyday knowledge and thoughts. The word "reason" is not very commonly used, we can cite as an example only such a compatibility that characterizes it, on the one hand, as an object (lose your mind, lose your mind), on the other hand, as an organ (common sense). The concept of reason, associated at the content level with the concept of truth, has some connotations in common with this concept (for example, a luminary).

The Russian word "intellect" is a recent borrowing that has received an unexpected biological–mechanistic connotation, given by the mythology of the new time: intelligence is associated with a muscle, with a body and does not fit into the ancient ideas about the unity of the spiritual and intellectual in man.

The central concept describing the "organ of thought" in French is esprit, a hybrid concept that designates both mind and soul in terms of the Russian language. This feature of the concept, which denotes the combination of two principles polarly divorced by the Russian language, is fully reflected in its functioning and connotative portraits. The main of these connotations are: a metal machine of large or small size; an animated extremely emotional being living inside a person and being a special object of his care; a container inside a person, a receptacle, an oblong organ like a hand, trunk or phallus. It is important to note the presence of this concept of a special nuance of meaning associated with its association with practical, pragmatic material activity and allowing it to be included in a row with other words in which we highlighted this aspect of meaning (fortune, occasion, bien, verite, etc.). It is also indicative of the presence of classification features showing the rationalistic beginning of French mentality. We also encountered such classifications in the words mensonge, conscience. Whatever connotation comes to the fore, it is important to understand that esprit is the inner part of a person, a person is its carrier, but not a user, a person does not work with it as a tool.

The French concept of intelligence (another equivalent of the Russian "mind") is a concept, from our point of view, especially emphasizing the element of understanding, analysis in human mental activity, the ability of mutual understanding between people. That is, in other words, it is a special kind of mind. The concept of intelligence has "adopted" a lot from the strongest concept of the synonymous series – esprit and also denotes a spiritual essence and a human being, that is, it has also acquired some features of hybridity. Especially among the meanings of this word, we would note the third meaning – the ability of a living being to adapt to new situations – which also connects it with the idea of practical action.

In French, the concept of intelligence is not sufficiently developed figuratively, we can only talk about some fragments that may have remained from a once-existing holistic picture. From some point of view, intelligence is a layer covering the brain, from some other point of view, it is a machine that generates abstract schemes. However, the image identifying intelligence and the machine, which is also present in raison, is a typical scientific and philosophical metaphor, and not a metaphor "that we live by."

Russian Russian Raison is usually perceived as the equivalent of both the Russian "reason" and the Russian "reason". The peculiarity of this concept is that it is associated directly with the action, and not with the human condition, there is no "soul" behind it, but only a specific etymologically motivated image of an account, calculation, standard that does not allow multiple interpretations. Just like esprit and intelligence, raison is not a tool, but a quality of a person, this is what they call for, raison is a given, not a creation of a person created by him for certain purposes.

Having analyzed the Chinese semantic field of the concept of "mind", we can draw the following conclusions:

I. The mind is a one-sided process of ordering information, aimed at identifying from a large and disorderly circle of knowledge exactly those that can be used to solve something.

II. In comparison with European cultures, in the Chinese worldview, a person's mind can be compared with God's mind, where God's mind is considered as the maximum point in the rational scale of the concept of mind for the Chinese.

III. The mind must be rational; it is also emphasized that the brain is responsible for all rational processes, the placement of knowledge and the generation of the mind.

IV. The mind can be divided into theoretical and theoretical-practical:

1. Theoretical. The process of thinking and drawing conclusions that can be transferred to another subject is important: zh?hu?.

2. Theoretical and practical. It is important not only the process of reflection, but also the application in practice to solve the problem posed: zh?n?ng.

Comparison of ideas about the mind in Russian, French and Chinese cultures: