The Concept of Cherry : Genesis of Cognitive Signs

The article describes the motivating signs in the structure of the cherry concept in the Russian linguoculture. The author defined the primary signs, determined their cultural relevance, illustrated them, and identified those that became cognitive. The research covered twelve etymological and historical dictionaries of the Russian language, as well as the National Corpus of the Russian Language. The methods included etymological, descriptive, conceptual, and component analyses of dictionary definitions. The study revealed fifteen motivating signs of the cherry concept, which were classified as follows: 1) the plant and its components: branch, tree, (shrub) plant, small / round, mistletoe, fruits, rods, flowers, cherry; 2) color: crimson, brown, dark red; 3) substance: (glutinous) juice, bird glue; 4) qualitative state: sagging under its own weight. All the motivating signs have retained their relevance and assumed the status of cognitive (conceptual) ones, except for mistletoe and rods, which were not confirmed by the National Corpus of the Russian Language. The demand for primary signs proved the preservation of the prototypes underlying the word as the representative of the concept under study. Vegetative linguocultural concepts were also interconnected with the corresponding symbols.