NATIONAL SPECIFICITY OF LINGUOCULTURAL CONCEPTS

Abstract

The article explores the national specificity of linguocultural concepts as complex mental-linguistic formations that reflect the historical experience, cultural values, social norms, and worldview orientations of particular linguistic and cultural communities. The authors analyse how representatives of different linguocultures conceptualise the same phenomena differently, even when these phenomena are denoted by identical lexical units. Special attention is given to both universal and nationally marked concepts, such as ВОЛЯ, ДОЛЯ, ЛИХО, FREEDOM, LIBERTY, FAMILY and FAITH. The study examines differences in the semantic content of similar concepts, which are determined by historical, cultural, social, and value-based factors, as well as unique concepts characteristic of a specific linguistic community. It is shown that non-equivalent lexical units and cross-linguistic gaps reflect cultural and socio-historical differences in the mental representation of the world.
Using the example of Ukrainian nationally marked concepts ВОЛЯ, ДОЛЯ, ЛИХО the article demonstrates how cultural traditions, historical events and national values influence the axiological and imagistic content of concepts. Analysis of English concepts such as FREEDOM, LIBERTY and FAMILY highlights the impact of historical, political, and social contexts on their meanings and shows that even semantically similar words in different languages (and even in different varieties of the same language) function within different cultural systems, acquiring specific connotations and social significances. The research confirms that linguocultural concepts are not universal but are deeply shaped by socio-historical experience, collective memory, and the cultural priorities of particular communities.
The authors emphasise the importance of studying the national specificity of concepts for understanding intercultural communication, recognising differences in reality perception across linguistic communities, and forming a holistic linguistic worldview.