FEATURES OF THE NUMERALIZATION PROCESS OF THE MODERN CHINESE PHRASEOLOGICAL PICTURE OF THE WORLD

Abstract

This paper considers the linguistic features of numerals in Chinese phraseological units of various types, but special attention is paid to Chengyu idioms and their role in the satire-fantasy novel “Journey to the West”. Particularly it has been analyzed the phraseologisms, containing numerals of the universe, that is reflected in the lexical units ‘five’, ‘six’, ‘seven’, ‘eight’, ‘eighteen’. It is suggested to consider the thesis about functioning of the process of numeralization of the Chinese-language picture of the world not only at the lexical, but also at the phraseological level of the language system. It has been investigated that both explicit (manifest) and implicit (hidden) functioning characterize this process in the Chinese language. In addition to the classical understanding of numericalization as the acquisition of numeral qualities by other parts of the language, the Chinese worldview is characterized by the direct use of numbers to denote the phenomena of the surrounding reality. It has been imprinted in the consciousness of every native speaker since ancient times, entering many treatises, classic works, quotes of sages and philosophers. Among the analyzed works, it was decided to pay particular attention to the philosophical treatise Yi Jing (易经), the enlightenment encyclopedia San Zi Jing (三字经), in particular the Chinese classic novel “Journey to the West” (西游记), in which the peculiarities of the functioning of both implicit and explicit numerals were studied. It was found that the lexical level is characterized by greater variety (numerals from 1 to 10 are widely used), instead, at the phraseological level there are designations of a smaller number, among which are 5, 6, 7, 8 and 18. These and other numerical designations, which take an active part in the process of numerization, play an important role in the formation of the Chinese phraseological picture of the world. A whole layer of the Chinese phraseological units, among which Chengyu idioms occupy a prominent place due to their content, as well as brevity and clarity of construction represent it.