THE NOMINATIVE LABELS FOR INDICATING THE NOTION OF «CHILDHOOD» IN ENGLISH FICTIONAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

The article highlights the formation of the body of the main nominative labels belonging to the notion of «childhood» according to the lexical-semantic principle in modern English fictional discourse. Particular attention is drawn to the definition of the notion of «childhood», its structure and composition. «Childhood» is a separate independent notion in modern English consciousness. The notion of «childhood» includes the period of a person’s life from his birth to the beginning of the next age period – adolescence. The topic of the article is determined by the general tendency of modern linguistic studies within the cognitive-discursive paradigm to objectively establish the body of nominative units referring to the notion of «childhood» in the English language. The notion of «childhood» is of a substantive nature and is based on the meaning of «child.» The centre of the notion of «childhood» is the lexeme «child». The basic nuclear and peripheral units, which designate the children, have been analyzed. Word-building analysis of the lexemes denoting the notion of «childhood” has been carried out.