Metaphorical model «Life – Way» in the aspect of variation

The aim of this study is to analyze the functioning of the image of Way as one of the main tools for conceptualizing life in the aspect of variation. The research was conducted on the textual examples extracted from the National Corpus of the Russian Language. To achieve the set goal, the research employs methods of componential analysis of lexical units, contextual analysis, and conceptual analysis. The results of the study showed that the metaphor of Way in the Russian language represents a universal and flexible conceptual model, providing a multifaceted understanding of the complex and highly abstract phenomenon of life. The universal nature of this metaphorical model is ensured by the mechanism of variation inherent in the image of movement through space. In the process of reproducing the metaphorical image in speech, there is an interaction of three types of variation: lexical, which involves the engagement of a broad associative-semantic field in its verbalization; semantic, which represents the actualization of any component of the semantic structure of the concept «Way»; and variation in the associative connections between the components of the original situation and the components of the denotative sphere of life.