The Concept of “Joy” in the Adyghe Linguoculture

The steady interest of linguists in the study of the emotional sphere of a person is far from accidental, Emotions are the most important phenomenon of everyday life and are the key to understanding the emotional and value picture of the world of an ethnic group. Meanwhile, this is the least studied aspect in all cultures, including the Adyghe. The study for the first time examines the features of conceptualization and linguistic representation of the emotion “joy” in the Adyghe linguoculture. The data of the Adyghe explanatory, etymological and phraseological dictionaries served as the research material. In the course of the study, the methods of component, contextual and etymological analyses were used.
The study of the specifics of the verbalization of the emotion of joy of the Adygs allowed us to establish the semantic and linguistic dominants of the Adyghe national personality. The conceptual, figurative and value characteristics of the concept of gushiuagyo in the Adyghe languages are determined. It is revealed that the main sign of joy in the Adyghe languages is an internal mental feeling, opposed to an external, physical sense of pleasure. The state of pleasure that has arisen under the influence of any external causes is transmitted by the synonymous lexemes chefygu and hyarygu of Arabic origin. The Adyghe culture allows the unity of the emotion of joy and the emotion of sadness, which is recorded in phraseological units. The materials and the main conclusions of the study can be used to clarify the theoretical provisions on the categorization of emotions, as well as in university courses of lexicology of the Adyghe language and in the practice of teaching it.