Sign nature of the riddle: Ecolinguistic aspect

Abstract

Linguistic researches at a turn of the 20-21st centuries often lift a problem of the semiotics nature of the text. Various, even contradictory points of view comment on it. Dividing the point of view about the sign nature of the text, authors of article analyze the text of a riddle, small folklore genre, regarding existence of a certain code and ways of his transfer. Riddles of the Russian, English and Chuvash languages act as an object of a research. The appeal to different structure languages is caused by the aspiration to track existence of universal codes, so, and universal representations of the archaic person of various national identity. During the analysis typical structural-semantic schemes of the description of a denotation in a riddle are selected. The analysis of lexicon of the allocated structural types confirms differences in perception of the world and typical elements of a picture of the world of this or that nation. During all research authors connect sign system with necessary for ritual action of functionality of a riddle. Change of living conditions of the person has immediately caused attitude change owing to what ritual activity became a rare subject of the address. Besides, many household objects became unnecessary in view of mechanization of many vital processes. These facts have led to the fact that sometimes the code of a riddle becomes inaccessible for the addressee. Authors reflect on need of reconstruction of the initial purpose of a riddle, a research its cognitive and the socio-linguistic the horizons as this genre differs in the versatility and multifunctionality.