Sense of Shame as a Realization of Displeasure with Oneself in Russian and Chinese Languages

Abstract

This article considers the problem of asymmetric reflection of sense of shame in the Russian language and in the Chinese language. Material for study included lexemes, phraseological units, proverbs extracted from defining, phraseological and paremiological dictionaries of the Russian and the Chinese languages. The study methods used included descriptive analytical method, definitional analysis, component analysis, comparative analysis. During the study it was found that in the Russian and in the Chinese languages ‘shame’ is one of the means of denoting ‘dissatisfaction with oneself’. The parameters for describing shame include assessment, intensity, and outward expression. The difference in understanding shame is that in Chinese the word shame has a meaning associated with luck and reflection of humility. Sense of shame can be characterized through symptoms of outward expression. In the Russian language it is set that from shame a person may not only blush but also become cold and tremble. In both languages‘shame’ is metaphorically associated with the concept of thickness of a person’s skin, but the emotional assessment in Russian is broader than in Chinese. The article contributes to the solution of the scientific problem posed since the study reveals the meaning of shame through the ways of its expression in the Russian and the Chinese languages.

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