Metaphorical conceptualization of family relationship: ornithomorphic model

The article deals with metaphorical conceptualization peculiarities of the family relationship sphere through the source-sphere «Birds» on the basis of electronic text subcorpus including Russian literary texts written during the period of 1990-2000. The author selects and analyzes metaphorical contexts within the framework of cognitive theory of metaphor, finds out a common ground for convergence of these spheres specifying metaphorical transfer schemes. The analysis of connotations of a metaphorical word usage gives an idea of character features, appearance, behavior and speech peculiar to people involved in the family relationship revealing the particular importance of family values for the Russian culture. The article examines individual ornithomorphic metaphors created by the authors as well as traditional metaphorical symbols with ambiguous connotations (cuckoo, hen, owl, pigeon and nightingale). Much attention is paid to gender aspects of family relationship metaphorization by means of ornithonyms that identify the archetypal opposition«male ↔ female» and its relevant characteristics.