Semantic Features of the Word Qonyr (Brown): Conceptual Analysis of Two Separate Works

It is known that the Aesopian language was used in the works of many writers to convey the parable. This article shows how and why Kazakh writers used the Aesopian language during the Soviet era. The study analyzes the contextual and symbolic meanings of the word qonyr, one of the most important concepts of Kazakh cognition. The research material was taken from O. Bokey’s novel Kajdasyn, Kaska Kulynym? (Where Are You, My Foal with a Star on His Forehead?), and a poem by Zhumeken Nazhimedenov titled “Kyran-Kiya” (“Mountain Eagle”). A conceptual research method in modern linguistics was chosen for data analysis. As a result, new implicit meanings of the word qonyr (“brown”) were revealed, such as “longing”, “sadness”, and “nobility”. The juxtaposition of these meanings with Soviet ideology is presented. The results and conclusions of the study are a kind of contribution to studies in cognitive linguistics and decolonization.