THE SEMANTIC LOAD OF MYTHOLEXEMES ACROSS CULTURAL LAYERS

Abstract

this article investigates the semantic load of mytholexemes across distinct cultural layers, drawing on cognitive linguistics, linguistic anthropology, and cultural semiotics, we examine how myth-related lexical units (mytholexemes) encode cosmological models, value hierarchies, and social practices, and how their meanings shift across diachronic strata (archaic, classical, medieval, modern) and synchronic registers (ritual, folklore, literary, popular). Methodologically, we combine descriptive, componential, conceptual field, and frame-semantic analyses with corpus-supported examples. The findings suggest that mytholexemes operate as dense semiotic nodes that integrate logical, figurative, evaluative, and axiological components, with their nucleus–periphery structures reconfigured by cultural translation, religious reforms, nationalism, and mass media.