Extension of the semantics of words relating to the thematic group ‘plant world’ (on the material of the ‘Lexical atlas of Russian folk dialects’)

This article discusses the semantics of lexical units included in the thematic group ‘Plant World’. For a person with a traditional worldview, nature is the basis for the formation of a system of views, values, for numerous rethinking. The material for analysis in the article is provided not by a lexicographic source but by a linguo-geographical one. A collection of maps of the recently published first issue of The Plant World of the Lexical Atlas of Russian Folk Dialects allows us to make rather interesting observations. Work with the material of semantic maps makes it possible not only to establish changes in the semantics of lexical units but also to find areas that are associated with the use of a word in one or another secondary meaning. In some cases, there were created duplicate maps devoted solely to the functioning of lexical units in extended sense. Systemic analysis of maps makes it possible to identify patterns in the semantic shifts of lexemes denoting facts and phenomena of the world around as the main meaning. There have been revealed semantic shifts of lexemes from the thematic group ‘Plant World’ to the field of subject, locative and anthropomorphic registers. Such examples of the extensive use of words are not unexpected for the Russian language. It should also be emphasized that the analysis of comments and other materials accompanying maps allows us to establish the features of shifts in semantics. It has been determined that a shift to the subject and locative semantic register is mainly associated with metonymy mechanisms, while a shift to the area of the anthropomorphic semantic register - with the metaphorical transfer mechanisms. The author draws conclusions concerning both the use of map materials for analyzing the extension of semantics and the features of secondary nominations in lexemes belonging to the thematic group ‘Plant World’.