Conceptualization of Shame in the Kazakh Linguistic Culture: Psycholinguistic Study

Abstract

The article deals with the concept of shame as an integral part of the Kazakh culture and mentality. It embeds in the upbringing of a child and covers the whole life of the representatives of the Kazakh language and culture. The study is aimed at exploring the concept verbally represented by the lexeme “ұят” (shame) in the linguistic culture of the Kazakh nation. Mixed methods research combining lexicographic analysis, semantic and cognitive analysis, and a psycholinguistic experiment was conducted to determine the meaning, content of the concept of shame in the Kazakh language and its impact on daily life and culture of the nation. The participants of a free associative experiment, administered via Google Forms, included 63 representatives of the Kazakh language and culture (19 male, 44 female) aged 17-45 years. The participants of the experiment were asked to provide associations (words that came to their mind as reactions) to the stimulus word “ұят” (shame). The number of associations was not limited. The experimental data were quantitively analyzed and further categorized for modelling the associative field of the concept under study. The results of the study demonstrate how extensive and diverse the concept of shame in the Kazakh linguistic picture of the world is.