Semantic analysis of the group of adjectives denoting spatial orientation with core adjectives “big” and “чон” in the English and kyrgyz languages

Бюллетень науки и практики / Bulletin of Science and Practice

UDC 811.11-112                                    

a big problem, surprise, size, question, difference, smile, deal, event, favour, issue, lie, news, push, victory etc.

a big book — чоң китеп, a big story,— чоң ангеме, a big mistake — чоң катачылык

Чоң жумуш, ишчара, суроо, айырмачылык, катачылык, жеңиш etc.

Economical terminology:

a large check, sum of money etc.

a big money, number, sum, bank, bucks, business, fine, loan, order, ticket etc.

Чоң суммадагы акча etc.

Toys:

a big ball, doll, etc.

Чоң топ, куурчак, etc.

Body parts:

a big eyes, foot, heart, head, shoulders

Clothes :

A big hat, pocket

Чоң тон;

F.e. ...... үстүндөгү күпүйгөн чоң тонду да чечип, бери жагындагы жигитине жаба таштады ..... [6];

According to the collocation abilities the adjectives large and big have been used more than an adjective great, in the Kyrgyz language the core adjective чоң can express the size, volume, qualities and other characteristics [11-14].

The group of adjectives expressing meaning “too big”, “extremely big” or the periphery adjectives: huge, enormous, massive, vast, giant, tremendous, gigantic, mammoth, immense, monumental, colossal have also the significant role in the semantics of spatial adjectives. For example, the adjectives Huge, Vast, Enormous, Immense denote the noun’s size which is much bigger than normal or usual, f.e. incurred a huge debt- көп чоң карызга батуу ; an enormous expense - ыгы жок чыгым ; an immense shopping mall - ири соода борбору ; a huge giant- алп дөө; a vast tract of land- абдан чоң кең жер ; an enormous crime- бетпак(укмуштуу) кылмыш; the immense expanse - чени жок, өлчөөсүз жайыктык; a gigantic sports stadium - эң эле чоң спорт стадиону ; a colossal statue of Lincoln- Линкольндун эң зор статуясы; a mammoth boulder-дардайган, колдойгон тоо ташы.

The history of the adjective “huge” goes back to Middle English and Old French: ahuge, ahoge meaning "extremely large, enormous; mighty, powerful; the adjective “enormous”-"abnormal",“enormis”- “out of rule, irregular, shapeless; "extraordinary in size, very large", ex-"out of" + norma "rule, norm"; “enormyous” - "exceedingly great, monstrous"

The lexeme “huge” has several contexts:

• 1.    Extremely large in size or amount; great in degree — a huge crowd, huge debts, huge amounts of data, etc.

• 2.    Extremely large in amount or degree :

F.e. He gazed up at her with huge brown eyes. The sums of money involved are potentially huge.

F.e. I have a huge number of ties because I never throw them away... He is furious they are making huge profits out of the misery of young addicts. This is going to be a huge problem for us.

The adjective “huge” expresses the extraordinary size of a noun and may be collocated with the number nouns in different semantic contexts:

Plants:

F.e. Huge magnolia, trees, cedar, elm; абдан чон дарак, дүпүйгөн талдар.

Building, offices and other parts:

Huge palace, buildings, factory, fortress тибиндеги room, dome, steps, windows; зангыраган сарай, килтейген фабрика.

Transport means and other mechanisms:

Huge cart, Rolls, ship, machine, crane, apparatus, galley тибиндеги; аябай чоӊ кеме, килтейген кран.

Household means:

Huge mirror, bed, bureau, sofa, huge reservoir, vessels, pan, dish, pot,basket,bag өтө чоӊ күзгү, килтейген үстөл.

Clothes:

Huge hat, shirt, collar, slippers, калдайган чоӊ калпак, килтейген көлөч.

The adjective “huge” shows the big size of the inanimate objects and animate nouns as well. For example, Huge man- алп киши denoting the bigger size concerning human body; Huge horse, tortoise, butterfly — зонкойгон ат, дардайган кополок.

F.e. As Edward left the office at six o’clock, a huge headline caught his eye [12]. In this sentence the adjective “huge” expresses the big size of the headlines’ letters which attract attention.

F.e. You’ve wasted a huge amount of time. In this sentence the adjective “huge” shows the characteristics of an abstract noun time .

One more adjective denoting the big size of something is an adjective “vast” which comes from the Middle French “vaste”- “being of great extent or size, having origin from Latin “vastus”— "immense, extensive, huge- зор, эбегейсиз чоң" .

The adjective “vast” has the following semantic structure — “extremely large in area, amount, numbers or size:

F.e. To the south lay a vast area of wilderness.

At dusk bats, appear in vast n umbers.

His business empire was vast.

In the vast majority of cases, this should not be a problem.

Your help made a vast difference.

We've hired a marquee at vast expense.

The spatial adjective “vast” may be collocated with the following nouns with concrete semantics[11]:

Buildings:

Vast bank, hall, library, room; абдан эле чон банк, укмуштай чоӊ китепкана.

Spatial markers:

Vast scale, expansion, distance, scope; ири масштаб, өтө зор аралык.

Dimensions:

Vast amount, volume, sum, size, quantity, number, expanse, a vast amount of information;

F.e . That’s a vast amount of money to be wasted like that!

Nature resources:

Vast resourse, ocean, bog, gulf, pool, prairie, slum, territory, sky, wilderness, universe, sea, area, plain, a vast area of forest;

Possibility markers:

Vast wealth, improvement, fortune, knowledge; тереӊ билим,чириген байлык.

Majority, mass :

Vast crowd, army, audience, auditorium, herd, chamber, a vast crowd; толтура зал, көп сандуу армия.

The adjective “ enormous”has the following semantic structure : extremely large - өтө эле чоң : , “huge- абдан зор, чоң”:

F.e. They’ve bought an enormous house in the country.

The council has spent an enormous amount of money on this project.

The implications of such a proposal are enormous.

The problems facing the President are enormous.

The adjective “enormous” can be collocated with the following semantic “participants”[11]:

Building and related terms : Enormous house — килтейген үй

Human body parts; Enormous eye, foot, mouth — бакырайган көздөр, лакыйган бут.

Measurements: Enormous weight, amount, volume, sum, size, proportion, quantity, pile – ири сумма, чоӊ салмак.

Spatial markers : Enormous scale, expansion, distance, scope тибиндеги – абдан чоӊ аралык, өтө чоӊ масштабдар.

Economics terminology : Enormous cost, debt, expense, investment, waste, profit, mass – асманга чыккан баалар, көрбөгөндөй пайда табуу.

Feelings and emotions: Enormous fun, trouble, danger, pleasure, stress, enthusiasm – зор ырахат, болуп көрбөгөндөй интузиазм.

Possibility:Enormous success, value, wealth, improvement — чоӊ ийгилик, чириген байлык.

Nature and environment: Enormous resource, disaster, explosion, gulf, wavе – абдан катуу жардыруу, абдан чоӊ толкун.

One more spatial adjective denoting too big size and volume is “immense” which is also considered to be a periphery sememe of the semantic group; this adjective refers to the Middle French and Latin immensus- “immeasurable, boundless”- in Kyrgyz -ченеми жок, чексиз, учу-кыйры жок”.

The semantic structure of the adjective “immense” is following: “extremely great in degree: F.e. To my immense relief, he didn’t notice my mistake. The benefits are immense.

There is one more definition: “extremely large or great:

F.e There is still an immense amount of work to be done. The benefits are immense . A project of immense importance. To my immense relief, he didn't notice my mistake.

In the English language the adjective “immense” is being used in description of feelings or some other characteristics and mostly used in positive connotation: satisfaction, importance, value etc. This adjective may be collocated with the number of nouns in different semantic contexts:

Measurements: Immense amount, quantity, proportion, weight — in Kyrgyz we can use чексиз сан.

Possibilities: Immense wealth, fortune, success — in Kyrgyz we may use чексиз байлык.

immense       satisfaction,       relief,       pleasure,respect       —       immense prestige/popularity/charm/importance/significance/value.

The next adjective which also denotes the extremely big size or amount is “massive” taken from Middle French —“massiffe” meaning "bulky, solid — in Kyrgyz - чоң, зор, көлөмдүү; оор, чоң” .

The semantic structure of the adjective “massive” can include the following notions: extremely large or serious, very large, heavy and solid — in Kyrgyz -аябай чоң, оор жана катуу : a massive rock, the massive walls of the castle; extremely large or serious- in Kyrgyz — эң эле, өтө эле чоң же оор, кыйын :

F.e. The explosion made a massive hole in the ground.

a massive increase in spending.

He suffered a massive heart attack ( British English , informal).

Their house is massive. They have a massive great house.

The spatial adjective “massive” may be collocated with the following noun semantic contexts [11]:

Nature and environment: Massive blast, disaster, disaster, explosion, eruption, earthquake, wave, tree, star, mountain — аябай кучтуу жер титироо, алп тоолор.

Economics: Massive loan, outfil, inflation, fine, discount, debt, damage, bill – аябай чоӊ көлөмдөгү насыя.

Households: Massive wall, door, chest, desk — далдайган дубал, заӊгыраган эшик

Massive scale, sum, volume, quantity, amount, size — өтө чоӊ көлөм, ири сумма, абдан чоӊ масштабдагы.

Architecture terminology: Massive building, fireplace, tower — заӊгыраган имарат, заӊгыраган сарай, заӊгыраган курулуш.

The adjective “giant” can also be included into the semantic groups of spatial adjectives denoting quantity; this word may be referred to Old French — “geant”, Latin — “gigas”, Greek — “gigas, gigant” meaning somehing of really big size or volume giant- in Kyrgyz — зор, алп.

The semantic structures of the adjective “giant” — “extremely large; much larger or more important than similar things usually are, in Kyrgyz — өтө эле чоң; кадыресе окшош нерселерге салыштырмалуу чоңураак же кучтүүрөөк”.

F.e. The market is controlled by giant corporations which function as monopolies. Giant clams may grow to be a metre long.

The adjective “Giant” can have the following semantic structures:

Nature: Giant tree, wave — килтейген толкун.

Animals: Giant crab, spider, snake — килейген жоргомуш.

Transport means: Giant machine, tanker — данкайган машине.

Architecture: Giant marquee, skyscraper — асман тиреген имарат.

Giant step, stride – абдан чоӊ шилтем. F.e. a giant step towards achieving independence.

There is one more spatial adjective denoting big size — “tremendous” taken from Latin tremendus "fearful, to be dreaded, terrible meaning "extraordinarily great or good, immense-укмуштуудай чоң, чексиз, эби жок" .

The semantic structure of the adjective “ tremendous” includes the following contexts: “extremely large, especially in a way that makes you feel impressed, admiring or sympathetic : F.e. The noise of bombs, guns and engines was tremendous.

A tremendous amount of work has gone into the project.

He has been under tremendous pressure recently

“Very great- абдан чоң” :

F.e. a tremendous explosion .

A tremendous amount of work has gone into the project.

The adjective “Gigantic” (informal) can show something extremely large, especially in physical size: F.e. At the top of the steps stood eight gigantic marble columns.

The problem can assume gigantic proportions if left untreated.

I’ve had a gigantic amount of work lately.

The word “gigantic” has its roots from Latin gigant- stem of gigas "giant" +ic. Replaced earlier gigantine , gigantical , giantlike ; the Latin adjective was giganteus ; of material or immaterial things, actions, etc., "of extraordinary sine or proportions".

Gigantic extremely large : a gigantic house — аябагандай чон уй, килтейген уй, занкайган уй.

F.e. The problem was beginning to take on gigantic proportions.

The adjective “monumental” (rather formal) extremely great or serious: F.e. This book is a work of monumental significance. She had made one monumental error of judgment.

Monumental is used especially to describe actions that are very stupid and have serious consequences: an act of monumental folly; monumental incompetence; a monumental error “monumental” — "pertaining to a monument," from Late Latin monumentalis "pertaining to a monument," from monumentum; so this adjective may be found in the following contexts:

• a)    very important and having a great influence, especially as the result of years of work:

F.e. Gibbon's monumental work ‘The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

• b)    very large, good, bad, stupid, etc. F.e. a book of monumental significance.

We have a monumental task ahead of us.

It seems like an act of monumental folly.

We must act now to avert a disaster of monumental proportions.

• c)    appearing in or serving as a monument: F.e. a monumental inscription/tomb ; a monumental mason (= a person who makes monuments).

The adjective “colossal” has a meaning — extremely large: F.e. outside stands a colossal statue of Queen Victoria. They have spent a colossal amount of money on construction.

The adjective “colossal” comes from French colossal, from colosse, from Latin colossus, from Greek kolossos Colossal extremely large: a colossal statue. F.e. The singer earns a colossal amount of money.

In the English language the adjectives characterizing the big size or quantity may be divided into the core adjectives as big, large , and the number of periphery adjectives denoting different size and volume peculiarities meaning “extremely big” as big, great, huge, enormous, giant , vast, immense, collossal, mammoth, monumental, gigantic, tremendous, massive.

The Kyrgyz language is considered to be the language with rich and colourful vocabulary; belonging to the Turkic group of languages the Kyrgyz language has great number of adjectives denoting the size and volume of the object. Most part of the Kyrgyz spatial adjectives have been formed in onomatopoeic structure, expressing the size of a noun with a help of sound means, for example: дардайган, данкайган, лакыйган, донкойгон, дүпүйгөн, заӊкыйган and others, which sound representation gives the characteristics about the nouns’ size or volume.

If to pay attention to the semantic contexts of the Kyrgyz adjective “ дардайган” this adjective shows the size of an object which is much bigger than usual:

F.e. Береги ак чатырдай дардайган чоң ак үй — Кудайназардыкы ( Жантөшев).

Жүкөш эми дардайган чоң жигит болду (Сасыкбаев ) .

Өзүнө бет маңдай келип калган он чакты жөөнүн ири алдынан Болотовго көрүнгөнү бир дардайган зор киши:...

Атасы кургур уулуна туулган айылын, тоолуктардын жоруктарын, чоңдор тамшангыдай жомоктотуп айта берчи [13] . In this sentence the adjective “чоң” has been used in plural in order to say about the adults.

Үйдөй чоң таш Айдардын көзүнө эмнегедир жылуу учурады [12].

The adjective “ далдайган ” is being used in showing something or somebody big in an awkward way:

F.e. Жогору жактан далдайган чоң караан көрүндү.

Эшим дайым күлүңдөп турган, бакыракай көздүү, далдайган чоң киши (Байтемиров).

Далдайган эби жок күрөктүн шахтерлорго кереги жок (Сасыкбаев).

The spatial adjectives “килейген” and “килтейген”give us really big, huge size of an object: F.e. Аял үйгө кире бергенде килейген дөбөт аны балтырлап токтотту (Аалы).

Чоң балта менен килейген бир дүмүрдү жарып кирди (Байтемиров).

Килейген узун саптуу жыгач кашык (Байтемиров).

Кичинекей эле жылан килтейген балыкты тиштеп алыптыр.

Килтейген сөзү оозеки кепте көбүрөөк колдонулат.

The adjective “лакыйган” mostly is being used to say about the human body and its strength, sometimes the height:

F.e. Мансурдун лакыйган кең ийни баарынан жогору чыгып турат (Сасыкбаев).

The adjective “локуйган” may be used in order to describe something which has extremely big size or appearance:

F.e. Шамбет локуюуп ортодо отурганында, алп мүчөсү козголбогон кара таштай эле [7].

The adjective “бакыйган” mostly is being used about the human appearance:

F.e. Бакыйган жигит Колхоздун бакыйган азаматтары дан боюнча планды аткарууда көп эмгектеништи.

бакыйган толук чымыр денеси да анча шүйүп калган экен [7].

The semantic group of Kyrgyz adjectives denoting the big size or volume includes the following adjectives - чон, зор, улуу, ири, алп , these adjectives have contexts as “not small, big, bigger than others” :

The first adjective of this semantic group is “зор” :

• a) big in size, appearance:

F.e. Чоң Торуга мингенге Чаргын ого бетер зор, ого бетер шаңдуу.

Алымкул, Нурмат зор кара жыгачтын түбүндө поезд күтүп турушат(Абдукаримов).

• a)    big in territory, land, area:

F.e. Күчөй берсин, Улам биздин зор мекен (Үмөталиев).

Менин доорум- адилеттин, жаңы ойго, зор байгени баштап бара жаткандар (Мамытов).

• b)    Sufficient, more, lots of:

F.e. Зор иштерге түтпөй жалаң жүрөгүң, солк-солк этип согуп турсун бүт денең(Осмонкулова).

Табигый зор байлыктар.

The adjective “зор” may be collocated with nouns in the following semantic contexts:

Plants’ size: бак, жыгач, .etc .: F.e. Алымкул, Нурмат зор кара жыгачтын түбүндө поезд күтүп отурушат.

Natural notions: мекен, өрөөн, өлкө etc: F.e. Күчөй берсин улам биздин зор Мекен. Амир Темир Көрөгөндүн ченсиз зор өлкөсү өзүнүн көзү өткөн соң, жүз жылга бүтүн турбады [7].

Objects: үстөл, F.e. ....сыя челектер жасалгасы менен коюлган зор эмен үстөлүнө өбөктөй отурган улгайган буурул чач киши [8].

The adjective “улуу” describes a noun with particular characteristics which have higher, outstanding qualities than others:

F.e. Токтогул- кыргыз элинин улуу акыны (Токомбаев).

Бул миң жылдык улуу тойго аңданып, бул улутка алкыш сөзүн камдаган (Чойбекова).

Улуу адамдар жол карытат түбөлүк, Андайларга өлсө дагы сүү жок(Дөлөев).

Something big and large:F.e. Айбала отту улуу жагып тамак-ашына киришти (Жантөшев).

Күн улуу шашке болуп калды (Жантөшев).

Букардын тоосу бурулуш, Бурулуп учат улуу куш (Токтогул).

Тоо арасында жылаандай иймеңдеген кан жолдо тызылдаган автобус өрөөн жарган улуу дайрага салынган көпүрөдөн өтүп барып токтоду [12] . In this sentence adjective “улуу” demonstrates not the size of a river but its greatness and significance.

Торгойлуу талаа шаттык майрамын ыраза курган кези экен, табияттын улуу керемет ажатын кара, ушунча айдың талаада ашыкбаш бир тал чөп жок [12].

The adjective “aлп” has been used in folk works denoting the particular physical strength of a man; big in size and significance:

F.e. Өзүмдүн өскөн жеримден Азамат көрдүм, алп көрдүм (Осмонов). Айтматовдун алп карааны көрүнөт, cөздөрүнөн Шоола шаңы төгүлөт (Акматалиев).

Жер-эненин кучагында мермиреп, Аалам алпы, Айтматов да жатыры (Акматалиев).

Gigantic size: F.e. Жер жүзүнүн алптары, Каптаган менен жеңбейт- дейт (“Манас” С.К.).

Алп мүчөлүү. Алп денелүү.

The adjective “Алп” mostly can be used in description of human and animals’ characteristics:

F.e Азамат көрдүм алп көрдүм

Алп Манас;

Алп кара куш арбайып

Асмандан буту тарбайып [7]

Ушинтип Асан Болотовго кош колун сунган алп кишинин үнү муңайым, жай чыкты [7].

One more spatial adjective expressing big size or volume is “ири” with meaning “bigger in size or volume than others”:F.e. Бул алмалардын мөмөлөрү ири [7].

Динар Аскардын күндөлүгүн ири-ири жазуулар менен булгап койгонуна өкүндү(8; 1986).

“outstanding famous, great”: F.e. Музооке оң менен солду аралаган ири комузчу болгон (Тоголок Молдо)

The Kyrgyz spatial adjectives belonging to the semantic group of “big size or volume” may be used in colloquial speech and literary works as well. The core adjective “чон” can be both used in official texts and informal speech. The adjectives дардайган, далдайган, зонкойгон, занкыйган, данкайган, лакыйган, донкойгон, килейген, килтейген, локуйган, бакыйган, зор, ири, улуу, алп, зор, дупуйгон are the periphery adjectives of this semantic group.

Finally, we have come to conclusion that the spatial adjectives’ significance is great in the English language and Kyrgyz as well. According to the analysis, we can say that the semantic groups of spatial adjectives contain great number of adjectives in the English and Kyrgyz languages. Most of these adjectives may be considered as synonyms and only due to the semantic analysis we could clarify their distinguishing points. There a lot of adjectives in English expressing the big size or volume ( huge, gigantic, massive, enormous and etc.) and the same situation may be observed in the Kyrgyz language; in Kyrgyz there are plenty of adjectives created by onomatopoeic formation ( дардайган, даңкайган, заңкайган, доңкойгон, дүпүйгөн and etc.).