“Representation of the temporal concept “Saskè” in the linguistic consciousness of Kazakh youth”

Abstract

The applying of the associative experiment considering one of the most effective methods in the research of modern psycholinguistics and the features of verbal association in the study of ethnic consciousness are analyzed in the article. The role of worldviews specific to ethnic groups and national-cultural identity in shaping this consciousness is analyzed here. Linguistic consciousness is considered a decisive factor in worldview and its conceptual representation. The purpose of this study is to identify associative representations of the temporal concept “saskè” (morning – the period between dawn and noon) in the linguistic consciousness of Kazakh youth. In this context, the semantic features of the word “saskè”, which is related to the concept of time, were analyzed during the experiment. The analysis of semantic proximity and verbal associative connections of seventeen responses given to this representative word were evaluated based on concrete linguistic data. The hidden associative responses provided by modern youth were analyzed, emphasizing the significance of these responses in shaping national-cultural identity. The response words in this study are considered in three groups: responses belonging to the same semantic field, responses with individual characteristics, responses containing foreign language elements. These responses not only reveal individual cognitive abilities but also help determine the internal connections and semantic characteristics of lexical units in the language, as well as the extent to which traditional concepts rooted in folk knowledge are preserved in the consciousness of today’s youth. The associative experiment uncovers logical-semantic relationships among the concepts stored in consciousness. Considering the multidimensional relationship between language and ethnic identity, the study highlights the crucial role of linguistic consciousness in understanding national, cultural, and cognitive connections. This article was prepared within the framework of the grant project AP23488671 “Linguistic Representations of the Ethno-cultural Consciousness of Kazakh Youth”, funded by the Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.