The notion of irrational vocabulary defines semantic class of irrational lexemes presenting the aspects of world perception that do not concern with human’s rational thinking and occur without the participation of human’s mind. Such semantic class is singled out in the English, German and Ukrainian languages with the method of representative selection.
The originality of thesis concerns with the comparative research of semantic models of irrational vocabulary in the English, German and Ukrainian languages in semantic-cognitive and semantic-functional aspects. The model of prototypical irrational situation is examined for the first time. This model enables to define the conceptualization of irrationality by native speakers of the English, German and Ukrainian languages. According to the semantic-cognitive models singled out by the author researched lexical material is presented as a concept of IRRATIONALITY for the first time. This concept contains the core, closer internal, closer external, further and extreme periphery. The study of the concept has got its further development in the aspect of etymological analysis of keyword-representative, characteristic of the image component, informational content, and interpretative field. The author suggests new lexical and semantic groups of nominative concept field, the research of derivational concept, and also hypo-hyperonymic and synonymic relations in a nominative field. For the first time it is presented image-scheme models, analyzed conceptual metaphors of the irrational vocabulary semantics and semantic derivation models of irrational vocabulary in the English, German and Ukrainian languages in comparative aspect. According to the semantic-functional models it is presented for the first time five thematic groups of the predicates to denote the process of irrational state acquisition, irrational state demonstration, irrational behavior, and irrational perception caused with the irrational state with the following analysis of the predicate and actant models in each of the groups. For the first time it is analyzed the semantics of irrational vocabulary in the comparative aspect in the English, German and Ukrainian languages. It is established similarities and differences towards the perception of the notion of irrationality for the native speakers of different languages.
Theoretical importance of the obtained results deals with the defined semantic-cognitive and semantic-functional models of irrational vocabulary on the base of the English, German, and Ukrainian languages in a comparative aspect. Theoretical significance concerns with the enrichment of theoretical and methodological fundamentals of semantics modeling of irrational vocabulary using a situation model and specifying the notions of semantic model, concept, image-schemes, conceptual metaphors, model of semantic derivation, predicate, actant and specifier.
Practical value concerns with the use of research results to develop theoretical courses and special courses in cognitive linguistics, functional and comparative linguistics, linguistic semantics, conceptual analysis, image-scheme, metaphorical and predicate-actant analysis, and also to develop teaching aids for education applicants at the first, second and third educational degrees of philological specialties. The use of research material will help while lexicographical guides and guide-dictionaries developing of the English, German and Ukrainian languages.
