Linguosemiotic realization of the concept shape shifting in the English folk culture (based on the folk tale discourse)

The research objective consists in the study of the linguosemiotic manifestation of the concept shape shifting in the English folk culture. The present work allows to identify the concept structure as a scenario frame whose structural minimum comprises the classifiers: the “subject of the shape shifting”, “object of the shape shifting”, “action” and “circumstances of the action”. The temporal and causal classifiers as well as the “state of the shape shifting object” and “consequences of shape shifting” belong to the optional ones having irregular linguosemiotic actualization. The English folk tale discourse demonstrates the diversity of the linguosemiotic manifestation of the concept represented by items of a wide range of codes (zoomorphic, ornithomorphic, amphibiomorphic, reptilemorphic, somatic, artifact, mineral, coloromorphic, temporal, numerological, esoteric, manipulative, etc.). The article confirms the idea that the original and the transformed shapes of the objects of shape shifting are opposed in the English folk tale discourse as “alive - dead”, “beautiful - ugly”, “sublime - terrible”. In its complete form the concept shape shifting can be revealed within one folk text more than once. All the elements of the structural-meaningful minimum are proved to remain constant; only the intention of the subject of the shape shifting becomes variable. Accordingly it concerns either casting a spell on, or taking a spell off, or punishing for doing the evil (shape shifting as retribution). The paper contains the examples of a discursive link between the first two shape shifting motifs (enchantment - disenchantment) manifested by the conditions of regaining the original shape.