Evaluative Vocabulary of Negative-Ethical Connotation DESCRIBING Condemnation in Modern English

Abstract

It is very important to find out lexical units that describe and, accordingly, express various qualitative aspects of condemnation, because categorization of emotions is carried out in vocabulary, and it is specified and supplemented in the sentence. In the course of the study, it was found that these language means, although diverse in their semantic characteristics, nevertheless share the same features. On the basis of analysis of dictionary definitions and component analysis, the general picture of the semantic organization of the vocabulary describing and expressing condemnation can be presented in the following way: 1) evaluative vocabulary of negative-ethical connotation which is used to denote content or nature of condemnation and 2) evaluative vocabulary for the expression of condemnation. The article deals with lexical means of negative-ethical connotation used to denote condemnation in Modern English. General picture of semantic organization of lexis describing emotional reaction of condemnation is under consideration. It was found out that lexical means describing condemnation in English are diverse in composition and semantics. They include different parts of speech, the most numerous of which is a group of verbs. A different degree of condemnation is expressed by synonymous series, which are united by a common component – expression of a negative judgment as to the committed action. The analysis of dictionary definitions has shown that the semantic component of “disapproval” allows one word to be determined by means of another, which also emphasizes synonymic closeness of the given words. The share of the “condemnation” seme is different and varies in the group of verbs with the meaning of disapproval.