VERBALIZATION OF THE CONCEPTS OF «FEAR» AND «VULNERABILITY» IN ZH. AIMAUTOV'S AQBILEK

Abstract

The study of the manifestation of human mental processes through language is one of the current areas of linguistic research. In this context, the study of emotional concepts that reflect the inner world of the individual and their attitude toward reality is of particular importance. Among these, the concept of fear occupies a special place, as it represents one of the basic and universal emotions that arise in situations of danger, violence, uncertainty, and social instability. The relevance of this study lies in the need to identify and describe the linguistic mechanisms of the verbalization of fear and to determine its role in a literary text. Zhusupbek Aimautov's novel «Aqbilek» provides valuable material for such a study. It is one of the first works in Kazakh prose in which the method of psychologism is actively employed, revealing the inner world of the protagonist through emotional and cognitive states.

This article examines the verbalization of the emotional concepts of fear and vulnerability in the novel from the perspective of cognitive-discursive analysis. The study applies a set of methods, including cognitive-discursive, contextual, semantic, and stylistic analysis.

As a result of the analysis, such subconcepts of fear as anxiety/excitement, fear, shock/fright, unease, and vulnerability were identified, and their linguistic features were described. It was established that the verbalization of fear in the text is carried out through a system of explicit and implicit linguistic means.

Despite the numerical dominance of lexemes associated with the concept of fear, vulnerability was recognized as the central concept shaping the semantic and narrative structure of the work. In this context, vulnerability manifests itself not only as an emotional state but also as an existential experience that determines the character’s behavior throughout the text.