The lexeme ‘happiness’ in the language consciousness of Russian and Chinese university students

The paper aims to reveal the moral and ethical values represented by the lexeme ‘happiness’ that are reflected in the linguistic consciousness of Chinese and Russian university students. To this end, the author studies the semantic structure of the lexeme ‘happiness’ in the linguistic consciousness of students. Linguistic consciousness is a verbal reflection of our knowledge, our understanding of the world around us. The influence of socio-psychological factors ‘gender’ and ‘nationality’ on the understanding of happiness by students is determined in the article. The study employs the method of component analysis, on the basis of which the semes constituting the meaning of the word ‘happiness’ in the perception of Russian and Chinese informants are distinguished. In total, there have been identified 24 components in the consciousness of Russian informants and 18 components - in the consciousness of Chinese. The components are represented by a semantic field, which is understood as the structure of the lexical meaning of a word. It consists of a core, pre-core zone, and periphery. A comparison of semantic fields of the lexeme ‘happiness’ as perceived by the informants showed both similarities and differences in its perception in the linguistic consciousness of Russian and Chinese students. Most Russian and Chinese informants understand happiness as a state of contentment, which coincides with the definitions in Russian and Chinese dictionaries. At the same time, there are peculiarities in the understanding of happiness in different linguistic societies. Russians see happiness as calmness, fun, and the overcoming of difficulties, while Chinese students consider it to comprise enjoyment in life, being loved, anticipation of the future, and health.