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.
Keywords
mytholexeme, cultural layer, semantic load, conceptual field, frame semantics, cognitive linguistics, nucleus and periphery, cultural translation, intertextuality, diachrony, ritual discourse
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