Ethnospecific Concept Gr ü ndlichkeit in German Liguoculture

• Main Author: T S Medvedeva
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) 2015-12-01
• Series: RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics
• Subjects: этноспецифический концепт; концептуальный анализ; экспериментальные исследования
• Online Access: http://journals.rudn.ru/semiotics-semantics/article/view/7516

The article represents an integrated analysis of an ethnospecific concept Gründlichkeit as a significant part of the German conceptual domain. The method of conceptual analysis used in the investigation includes the analysis of German-language literature that describes various aspects of German mentality; the study of the conceptual component of the concept through the generalization of the German-language lexicographic data; the interpretative analysis of different text types; and the association and receptive experiment with German informants. The analysis of German lexicography revealed the conceptual core of Gründlichkeit as а complex mental entity integrating several positive characteristics of humans and their activity. The study proved that the expression deutsche Gründlichkeit nominating a feature of the German mentality is widely used in publicistic texts. The German advertising texts are notable for giving very detailed information; similar tendency is present in the German public signs that regulate people’s behaviour in public areas in Germany. The experimental studies revealed numerous associations as well as the presence of prominent value component of the concept. It testifies that Gründlichkeit is a relevant concept for German informants. The most essential conceptual characteristic pointed out by the informants are ‘thoroughness’, ‘order’, ‘depth’, ‘going into details’, ‘planning’ that are extrapolated to any kind of activities, especially work activities. Thus, the concept Gründlichkeit is one of ethno specific concepts in the German linguistic culture and it is indissolubly related to the concepts Ordnung, Fleiß, Arbeit, Sicherheit , that objectify the key values of the German worldview.