A Value System through the Perspective of Culturally Oriented Lexicography

Abstract

The article focuses on the analysis of the Value System which constitutes part of a cultural code from the perspective of culturally oriented lexicography. The analysis is based on the comparison of the Russian and Mongolian languages. The authors of the article discuss a number of closely connected theoretical and practical issues, which include: the essence of the Value System from the point of view of linguistics, culture studies and psychology; the functioning of this system; its influence on the formation of speech behavior and communicative competences; the possibility of using the knowledge about the Value System in the teaching of foreign languages and cultures. The article also touches upon the issues of linguistic lexicography aimed at compiling dictionaries, which explain the culture-specific meanings of its units. The authors give a survey of a culturally-oriented dictionary of Russian language and culture for the citizens of Mongolia where the material will be presented on a comparative basis. The core of dictionaries of this kind will be the Value System as a linguocognitive phenomenon. The idea is illustrated by the analysis of the semantics of three basic human values: health, family and education. The research provides an opportunity to state both similarities and differences in the meaning of the verbalized value orientations in the Russian and Mongolian languages and cultures. The analysis allows us to emphasize the significance of mapping the dynamics of the linguistic worldview as part of the ethnic mentality, which reflects both its cognitive and emotional components. The research develops basic postulates of cognitive linguistics, cultural linguistics, intercultural communication and culture studies.