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IDEAS ABOUT THE WORLD IN THE INDO-EUROPEAN TRADITION

Russian Studies. Germanic Studies. Romance Studies , UDC: 81-112 DOI: 10.24412/2076-913X-2026-262-82-92

Authors

  • Proskurin Sergey G. Dr. Sc. (Philology), Professor Russian Federation Novosibirsk

Annotation

The given article examines the reconstruction of the Indo-European model of the world. The prerequisites for the study were two models of the world by T. V. Gamkrelidze, V. Vs. Ivanov (1984) and Yu. S. Stepanov, S. G. Proskurin (1990–1997). The relevance of the research is determined by the significance of the reconstruction of the most ancient ideas about space. The research methods are based on classical comparative historical linguistics, semiotics, and cultural theory. The article discusses the conceptual versions: middle > tree and interpretation of (world) tree > middle. As a result, it turns out that the conceptualized area of the world is built according to the tracing paper of the second interpretation, and the reconstruction itself makes it possible to restore the conceptual geographical models associated with the idea of the center. The article reveals that archaic systems of geographical order are based on the world model of the Indo-European stratum. The world is presented in two reconstructions that are compatible and complement each other. The first perspective forms the stratification of living beings into the middle, upper and lower worlds. The second perspective represents the world tree as a spatial landmark of the center and as a point of synonymization and association of the roots «tree» and «middle». The reconstruction of representations of ancient worldviews is based on algorithms adopted in individual traditions. Nowhere does the vocabulary of the Indo-European dictionary differ as much as in the designations of the world. Unlike the restoring of material vocabulary based on lexical archetypes, the restoration of protoforms of lexemes — the world is possible only based on the signifier for a particular layer. The materials presented in the article make it possible to trace the formation of the lexical segment that comes to the expression of the basic semantem «world». A certain type of conceptualized domain is found, emphasizing the idea of a center. The developed technology will make it possible in the future to consider other conceptualized domains in comparative studies based on the given methodology.
Tags:
comparative studies , conceptualized field , perspective , synonymization , Топос

How to link insert

Proskurin, S. G. (2026). IDEAS ABOUT THE WORLD IN THE INDO-EUROPEAN TRADITION Bulletin of the Moscow City Pedagogical University. Series "Pedagogy and Psychology", 2 (62), 82. https://doi.org/10.24412/2076-913X-2026-262-82-92
References
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