Family in the Russian linguistic worldview (as exemplified in Russian folk and authors’ tales)

We analyze lexemes in the Russian language, representing the idea of the family. The analysis materials are Russian folk tales from the collection of A.N. Afanasyev and author's tales of A.S. Pushkin, L.N. Tolstoy, A.M. Gorky and S.Y. Marshak. The concept of “family” in Russian folk and author's tales is represented by central and peripheral lexemes. The central lexemes are generally accepted, actively used lexemes (the immediate environment of a person: mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, son, brother, daughter, sister), and peripheral lexemes in Russian folk and author's tales are different (the distant environment of a person: relatives, relatives, relatives, friends, inner circle, etc.). Central lexemes objectify the idea family in Russian folk and author's tales and differ from each other; peripheral lexemes objectify the idea of the family and have similarities in their use. Tales of Russian authors pay more attention to the wife/mother in the family in comparison with Russian folk tales, because according to Russian family traditions the wife always “holds” the family.

lexemes objectifying, family, Russian folk tale, author’s tale