SEMANTICS AND FUNCTIONS OF COLOR TERMS IN LEO TOLSTOY’S LATE FICTION
In Leo Tolstoy’s folk short stories color terms are not symbolic, performing a descriptive function. Tolstoy’s novels of the 1880s are noted by color terms with negative semantics performing characterizing function. To the finale of L. Tolstoy’s novel “Resurrection” color terms acquire reassuring and optimistic semantics and are used in characterizing and prospective functions. In “Hadji Murad” the semantics of color terms differs in the depiction of Russians and highlanders; color terms are more found in the descriptive function, or at least in the characterizing one. In the “Resurrection”, unlike other books by Tolstoy, a colorative code is highlighted, not “colorful” writing. The evolution of color terms use is connected to Tolstoy’s searching the system of artistic methods truly reflecting his understanding of the world.