On the national specificity of color symbolism in the Russian and Chinese languages

The article is devoted to the research on the national specific features of color symbolism embodied in color words in the Russian and Chinese languages. In a language system, each color is characterized by cognitive, emotional and information functions for all the peoples of the world. However, in a particular culture each color serves as a special symbol, which can be associated by native speakers with similar or different emotions and reflect rich potential of national cultures. Color words, having symbolic properties, are not only important means to describe the world, but also they perform a cultural-linguistic function to convey emotions of people belonging to different nations. In the Russian and Chinese languages, there are many color words with a strong national flavor. Apart from evoking rich associations and expressing emotional experiences and feelings, they also form a distinct national color culture and have a great influence on human life of the two countries. The vivid contrast between the two languages helps to comprehend the semantic motivation of color words, shades of meanings of color symbolism and cultural identity.