Fractal Semiotics Modeling of Concept Cup in Religious Texts

Abstract

The article considers the concept CUP as a special fractal-semiotic object in the field of the interaction of language and culture. The relevance of the research topic is determined by the increased interest in the application of a systematic approach to the study of a linguistic object, in particular to the use of a fractal approach to analyze the structure of a concept, including figurative and reflective components. The subject of the review is the fractal organization of the concept CUP in the speech-thought process. The mechanism of this concept, correlating between the mega-level (the spiritual semiosphere) and the micro-level (text), depends on the features of speech organizational patterns with which the synergistic principle of integrity is manifested. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that it reveals the experience of representing the structure of the concept CUP, reconstructed on the basis of Russian contexts with religious content. The “fractality” of this structure is due to the “non-linear” nature of the development by a number of symbolized values (LSW) cup . Quantitative data makes it possible to trace the features of symbolization (a movement from subject to symbol) and to justify the possibility of using the concept of fractal as a linguistic approach. The material for the analysis was religious texts that are distinguished by a pattern of implicit meanings and hierarchical internal organization, such as interpretations of scripture, instruction on spiritual life, patristic heritage, and sermons. The aim of the work is to present the structure of the concept CUP and to reveal its specifics of a dynamic nature by taking into account external and self-referential signs, as well as to consider the corresponding patterns of thinking that are repeatedly represented in religious contexts. The analysis showed that the semantics of the concept CUP incorporate a large volume of symbolic meanings. It has been established that at the lexical level, the language unit cup is formed over time and an abstract complex meaning or invariant meaning would be activated. These complex invariants are more likely open conceptual schemes that are given importance depending on contextual conditions, and this occurs as a result of cognitive operations at the conceptual level.