Headwear as an element of a nation's linguistic and cultural code: a study of Russian and Chuvash languages

This study aims to identify the specific features of the representation of the "clothing" code in Russian and Chuvash linguistic cultures through a comparative semantic analysis of Russian and Chuvash lexemes and phraseological units belonging to the lexical-semantic group of "headwear." Within this group, the lexemes "шапка" (Chuvash: çĕлĕк), "шляпа" (Chuvash: шлепке), "колпак" (Chuvash: калпак), and "платок" (Chuvash: тутăр) were analyzed. The interpretative potential of lexemes denoting traditionally Chuvash headwear (tukh'ya, khushpu) was also examined separately. The scientific novelty of this research lies in the fact that, as a result of semantic analysis of linguistic material, both universal features of the linguistic realization of headwear and nationally-specific features, conditioned by the difference between Russian and Chuvash cultures, have been identified. The study established that headwear, occupying an important place in the material culture of the Russian and Chuvash peoples, plays a crucial role in transmitting nationally-conditioned cultural meanings and representations. The emotional and evaluative interpretation of the considered lexemes is determined by the axiological attitudes of the peoples and receives different metaphorical content within the framework of the linguistic cultures under investigation.