Comparative analysis of the conceptual features of the concepts of YOUTH and JUVENTUD in Russian and Spanish linguistic cultures

Introduction

In recent decades, such scientific areas as linguoculturology and cognitive linguistics have been actively developed in Russian and foreign linguistics, aimed at human cognition of the surrounding reality through language and in language: "Modern linguistic research is characterized by pronounced anthropocentricity, that is, it focuses on a person as a native speaker of language and culture" ^{[1, p. 1219]}. One of the key terms of such studies is the concept, which is understood as a kind of mental formation reflecting the surrounding reality ^[2-4] or as a kind of cognitive ability that allows you to reconstruct the world around you ^{[5, 6]}. In the first case, we can talk about a linguocultural approach, in the second – about a linguocognitive one. Yu.E. Prokhorov describes the differences between the above-mentioned directions as follows: "Within the framework of the linguocultural approach, the concept is understood as a unit of culture that captures the collective experience of native speakers and is cognizable by a person. The linguocognitive approach defines the concept as a kind of mental formation in the human mind that allows us to know the collective cultural experience of native speakers" ^{[7, p. 90]}.

In our research, we use an integrated approach to understanding concepts as fragments of the linguistic picture of the world of a particular people, combining the principles of linguocultural and linguocognitive directions. So, we offer the following understanding of the "concept structure and its modeling algorithm:

 • verbalizer // concept indicator — the name of the concept, which is a lexeme or lexemes with the least stylistic connotation;

• a conceptual component that combines // includes concepts and meanings, which, in turn, are reconstructed on the material of encyclopedic dictionaries and on the material of dictionary definitions from explanatory, etymological dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms, etc.;

• the figurative component is reconstructed on the basis of phraseological units and/or paroemias and data from associative experiments);

• the value component is an obligatory component of the linguistic and cultural concept (reconstructed on the basis of phraseological units and/or paroemias and data from associative experiments)" ^{[1, p. 1223]}.

The purpose of our study is to compare the conceptual features of the concepts of YOUTH and JUVENTUD in Russian and Spanish linguistic cultures based on the material of lexicographic sources. It should be noted that no such comparative studies have been conducted before. There are a small number of works devoted to the study of the concept of YOUTH in Russian linguistics: Yaretz Ya.A. ^[8]; Lyzlov A.I. ^[9]; Vayrakh Yu.V., Dolgikh N.A. ^[10]; Motygullina Z.A., Nurgalieva L.A. ^[11]; Kryuchkova N.V., Kryuchkova O.Yu. ^[12]; Rudakova O.I. ^[13]; Fomina Zh.V., Borisenko E.G., Kravchenko O.A. ^[14] and others. It should be noted that a comparative analysis of the conceptual features of the concepts of YOUTH and JUVENTUD has not been conducted before, which undoubtedly represents the novelty of the study.

The results of the study

At the first stage of our research, we turn to the definition of youth in the socio-demographic aspect. Thus, the World Health Organization defines the age range of youth in the range of 18-44 years ^[15]. In the Russian Federation, people between the ages of 14 and 35 are recognized as young citizens ^[16]. The Great Russian Encyclopedia highlights the following "stages of individual development:

- infancy: from birth to 1 year;

- early childhood: from 1 to 3 years old;

- preschool age: from 3 years to 7 years;

- primary school age: from 7 years to 12 years;

- adolescence: from 12 years old to 15/17 years old;

- youth: from 15/17 years old to 19/21 years old;

- youth: from 19/21 to 25/30 years old;

- maturity: from 25/30 years to 55/60 years;

- old age: from 55/60 years" ^[17].

According to the Spanish Youth Institute, young people are considered to be people between the ages of 15 and 29. The encyclopedia Definici?n notes that due to the increase in life expectancy, the period of "youth" of a person is extended to 40 years ^[18].

Thus, the age limits of youth turn out to be approximately the same in both Russian and Spanish societies, and correspond to the indicator "14(19) – 29(40) years." But at the same time, the period of "youth" in Spain is longer and lasts up to 40 years, unlike in Russia, where the period of maturity already begins at 30-35 years old. This fact can be explained by the fact that life expectancy in Spain is higher than in the Russian Federation, respectively, and the duration of various age stages (youth, maturity, old age) covers a longer period of time.

As we noted earlier, the conceptual features of any linguistic and cultural concept are distinguished based on the analysis of dictionary definitions of lexemes – verbalizers of the concept. The concept of YOUTH is verbalized in Russian linguistic culture by two lexemes – youth and young, the most neutral in terms of their lexical meaning and stylistic coloring.

In the explanatory dictionaries of the Russian language, the youth lexeme is defined as follows:

·                   «1. The age between adolescence and adulthood; the period of life at that age. 2. transfer, collection. About the younger generation, about the youth (high)" ^[19];

·                   «1. The period of life from adolescence to adulthood" ^[20];

·                   «1. Young age, the age from adolescence to adulthood. 2. The second youth is a rise in energy, a surge of new strength in adulthood, old age" ^[21];

· "1. to the young (2-3 months). Youthfulness of gait. 2. Age from adolescence to adulthood. 3. The second youth: 1). The rise of physical and spiritual strength in adulthood, old age. 2). Success, recognition, returning to something after many years" ^[22].

The analysis of the above definitions shows that the archetype of the lexeme youth is the ‘period of human life'.

The verbalizer of the concept of YOUTH – the young lexeme reveals the following interpretations: 

· "Under the age of maturity; not old yet/ against. old" ^[19,23];

· "Recently appeared, started to grow, exist" ^{[19, 21, 23]};

· "full-fledged, inherent in youth" ^[19];

· "full. F. Of recent preparation (without sufficient strength, sharpness; about drinks, products)" ^[19];

· "young, wow, M. A person who has just married" ^{[19, 21, 23]};

· "razg. with inf. or with the union "to" and inf. Too young for anything, unsuitable for anything due to his youth, immaturity" ^[21];

· "east. An integral part of the name of some social and literary revolutionary-democratic movements that sought political and cultural renewal" ^[21].

In the etymological dictionaries of the Russian language, only one lexeme is represented-the verbalizer of the concept under study: the young lexeme. Presumably, the etymon of the young lexeme is the Slavic base

-mold b- with the meaning of 'newborn/ young, who has not reached adulthood', which is confirmed by the presence of related words with a similar meaning in other Slavic languages: "bolg. young, Serbo-Croatian. young, young, younger, Slovene. ml?d, ml?da zh., Czech., slvts. mlad?, Polish. Moscow, V.-luzh., N.-luzh. m?d"" ^{[24, 25]}. In addition, a connection is found between the Slavic base -mold b- and the ancient Russian words maldai ‘boy, maldian ‘foal’, the ancient Indian word mrd ‘soft, gentle, meek’, the Latin word mollis (from *moldvis) ‘soft' ^[25]. Summarizing the above, it can be assumed that the basis of the etymon of the lexemes young, youth is the seme ‘soft, gentle due to his young age'.

Semantic analysis of dictionary definitions allows us to reconstruct the conceptual features of the Russian concept of YOUTH:

v The period of a person's life from adolescence to adulthood, opposed to old age;

v Peculiar, inherent in youth;

v    A newborn who has recently appeared;

v Immature, unsuitable for anything;

v A person who has recently married;

v Is gentle, soft.

It is noteworthy that the Russian concept of YOUTH simultaneously reflects ideas not only about the intermediate stage of human life from adolescence to adulthood, but also about the period of the beginning of life. Youth, as a life stage, is opposed to old age, but in some situations, the characteristics of youth can manifest themselves in old age: an elderly person may have excellent physical and spiritual health, feel young, despite his advanced age. Such an ambivalent perception of old age is reflected in the expression "second youth". Thus, in Russian linguistic culture, the concept of YOUTH combines native speakers' ideas about the initial, intermediate and sometimes final periods of a person's or thing's life.

In Spanish linguoculture, the concept of JUVENTUD ‘YOUTH’ is verbalized by two lexemes: juventud ‘youth’ and joven ‘young'.

In the explanatory dictionaries of the Spanish language, we find the following interpretations of the juventud lexeme:

·"Periodo de la vida humana que precede inmediatamente a la madurez 'The period of human life preceding maturity'" ^[26];

·                   «Edad que media entre la adolescencia y la madurez o edad viril ‘The age between adolescence and adulthood or adulthood'" ^{[26, 27]};

· "Condici?n o estado de joven 'Condition or attribute: Young' ^{[26, 27]};

· "Conjunto de j?venes 'youth'" ^{[26, 27]};

· "Periodo anterior a la edad adulta en los animales y a la producci?n de los primeros frutos en los vegetales 'The first stage of life or existence of animals and plants (before the stage of maturity)’» ^{[26, 27]};

·                   «Energ?a, vigor, frescura ‘Energy, vigor, freshness'" ^{[26, 27]};

· "Primera etapa del proceso o desarrollo de una cosa 'The first stage of any process or development of any thing (phenomenon)’» ^{[26, 27]};

· "Rama juvenil de una formaci?n pol?tica, religiosa, etc. 'Young political or religious education'" ^[26].

Thus, the archetype of the juventud lexeme will be the ‘period of a person's life’.

The joven lexeme in the Diccionario de la lengua espa?ola de Real Academia Espa?ola dictionary is defined as follows:

·                   «Dicho de una persona: Que est? en la juventud 'About a man: being at the stage of youth'" ^[26];

· "De poca edad, frecuentemente considerado en relaci?n con otros ' the youngest (among several people)’» ^[26];

· "Propio de una persona joven 'Something peculiar to youth'" ^[26];

·                   «Dicho de un animal: Que a?n no ha llegado a la madurez sexual 'About an animal that has not yet reached puberty'" ^[26];

· "Que conserva caracter?sticas propias de una persona joven 'About someone who kept his youth'" ^[26];

·                   «Precedido del art?culo el y pospuesto al nombre o al apellido de una persona para indicar que esta naci? despu?s que otra llamada igual ‘In a construction with a definite article and a postposition in relation to a proper name: the nomination of a person born after his namesake', for example, Lucas Cranach, EL joven 'Lucas Cranach Jr.'" ^[26].

In the etymological dictionary of the Spanish language, we find that the lexemes juventud, joven come from the Latin word iuv ? nis, which is based on the Indo-European root - yeu - ‘young force'. It should be emphasized that the word iuv ? nis originally referred to young people aged 30-45 years who are in the prime of life ^[28]. Thus, it can be assumed that the meaning of the etymon of the lexemes juventud, joven will be ‘strong, young man'. Recall that in the Russian language, etymological analysis found a different meaning of the etymon of the lexemes youth and young – ‘gentle, soft due to young age'.

The semantic analysis of the definitions of the juventud and joven lexemes allows us to identify the following conceptual features of the JUVENTUD concept in Spanish linguoculture:

The v Stage of a person's life between adolescence and adulthood;

v Peculiar, inherent in youth;

v Youth;

v The first stage of the life/existence of an animal, plant or some kind of phenomenon;

v The youngest by age/time;

v Is strong, energetic.

By comparing the conceptual features of the concepts of YOUTH and JUVENTUD, we can identify the matching features:

1. a certain life stage of a person between adolescence/adolescence and adulthood;

2. characteristic of youth;

3. the first stage of life/existence (about an animal, plant, phenomenon);

4. Younger in age or time.

It should be noted that the number of non-matching conceptual features quantitatively exceeds the number of matching ones. Thus, the Spanish lexeme juventud, which verbalizes the corresponding concept, can mean ‘a collection of young people’ or ‘youth’, there is no similar meaning in the verbalizing names of the Russian concept of YOUTH.

In Spanish linguoculture, the concept JUVENTUD reflects native speakers' ideas of youth as the first stage of existence or development of something: so in Spanish, the constructions la juventud + noun are frequent: for example, la juventud de un proyecto ‘letters. the youth of the project, the young project'. In Russian, such meanings are more often expressed by the adjective new, for example: new project.

In Spanish linguoculture, youth is associated with ‘strength, energy’, while in Russian linguoculture, young is called ‘a person who does not have strength, is not ready for anything due to his young age’.

The Russian lexeme young, which verbalizes the corresponding concept, reveals the meaning of ‘just married, created a family', for example: The young immediately moved to a new house. The Spanish lexemes joven and juventud do not have a similar meaning.

Conclusion

Comparative research in the field of linguoculturology and cognitive linguistics, of course, make a significant contribution to the knowledge of fragments of the surrounding reality, reflected and cognizable in concepts. At the same time, it should be emphasized that the extra-linguistic reality is reflected in each language in different ways, which causes the presence of linguistic and cultural differences in the minds of native speakers of these languages. Russian Russian and Spanish linguistic cultures, in particular, the concepts of YOUTH and JUVENTUD, make a significant contribution to the development of comparative studies of the Russian and Spanish languages, the theory of intercultural communication, lexicographic activities for the compilation of translated dictionaries.

Despite the common human nature, the biological processes of birth, maturation and aging of the human body, the perception of each of these stages of human life is interpreted differently by native speakers of Russian and Spanish. Thus, the period of youth for speakers of Spanish linguoculture covers a greater number of years, compared with the same period in Russian linguoculture. Perhaps this fact is due to the fact that the total life expectancy in Spain is much higher than in the Russian Federation. In addition, since youth in Spanish linguoculture lasts up to 40 years, and in Russian – up to 30 (35) years, a young man in Spanish linguoculture is perceived as more ‘strong and energetic’ than a Russian-speaking young man who appears ‘young, immature, tender'.

The prospects of our research are seen in further comparison of the concepts of YOUTH and JUVENTUD on the material of phraseological, paremiological units, data from associative experiments to identify and describe the figurative and value features of these concepts and reconstruct their models in Russian and Spanish linguistic cultures.