CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC REPRESENTATION OF RAIN NAMES IN THE KAZAKH LANGUAGE

Abstract

Rain names in the Kazakh language are linguistic units that belong to the microgroup of precipitation. The lexical-semantic group of precipitation includes such units as rain, snow, hail, frost, dew, and other lexical items that clouds or separating from clouds or separating from the air.

This article aims to identify how rain names, preserved in the Kazakh peoples vocabulary, are reflected in their worldview. In accordance with their nomadic cultural tradition, the Kazakh people have distinguished various types of rain since ancient times, assigning each a specific names (aq zhanbyr, boz zhanbyr, qara zhanbyr noser, otkinshi zhanbyr, sylbyr zhanbyr, ets.), thereby enriching the linguistic treasury. These terms are not merely expressions of meteorological phenomena, but also reflect the peoples worldview, way of life, and are closely connected to their belief system. The study analyzes the ethnolinguistic aspects of these rain names, their role in the national linguistic worldview, and their use in literal, figurative, and symbolic meanings. Through ethnosemantic analysis of rain-related terms, the article explores the Kazakh peoples relationship with nature, their perceptions of natural phenomena, and their unique way of understanding the surrounding world shaped by different landscapes. This analysis helps to uncover the motivations behind the emergence of these linguistic units, provides insights into the peoples worldview and way of life, and reveals the cultural code embedded in the semantics of rain names. Following the anthropocentric paradigm of “language in the human world” and “the human in the world of language”, the study also includes a psycholinguistic perspective on the usage of rain names. A survey was conducted among respondents aged 17 to 25, revealing how the concept of rain is represented in the consciousness of Kazakh youth.

The value of the research lies not only in interpreting rain names as a linguistic phenomenon, but also in revealing cultural codes that define the national worldview and in contributing to the revival of the languages historical memory. The scientific and practical significance of the studys findings is manifested in the collection, systematization, and interpretation of rarely used and archaizing rain names, as well as in identifying their representation in the perception of the younger generation. Furthermore, the material gathered during the research can be used as a supplement to explanatory, encyclopedic, ethnolinguistic, and associative dictionaries.