Semantic Specificity of Adjectives Denoting a Successful Person /Thing in English and Ukrainian

Abstract

Comparative studies fascinate scholars working in various branches of human activity. In linguistics, onlycomparison helps find out both common and distinctive features of the languages and trace their interconnections as well as specificity. The present paper deals with the comparative research of two distantly related languages - English and Ukrainian - on the material of adjectives denoting a successful person/thing. The topic in question is relevant and contributes to further studies of lexical and comparative semantics, cross-language and crosscultural communication, lexicography, etc. The adjectives in question occupy significant places in the vocabulary of the languages under study. The concept of success belongs to basic social and cultural values and is studied in philosophy, sociology, psychology, linguistics and other sciences. Having introduced the methodology of formalized analysis of lexical semantics, one of the requirements of which is a formal criterion – belonging of the lexical units to one part of speech – the author of this paper collected, analyzed and classified the obtained language material from lexicographical sources. Depending on the degree of polysemy, three groups in English and two in Ukrainian have been formed. Each of them possesses its own features alongside with their common characteristics. Comparative research of the definite fragment of lexis resulted in in-depth analysis of its system and structural organization, semantic specificity, both common and distinctive featuresas well as its representation in corresponding language and culture bearers’ consciousness.