Зрно / зерно у култури и лексичком систему руског и српског језика

A direct impetus for this research is the dictionary of metaphorical values of names for dishes in the Russian language (Словарь русской пищевой метафоры), whose editor is E.A. Jurina. This linguistic and cultural dictionary contains an abundance of data on food lexemes, on the basis of which it is possible to reconstruct the place of names for certain dishes in the cultural and lexical system of the Russian language. In addition to the basic meaning, the dictionary also lists all the metaphorical meanings of the chosen lexeme, derivatives and their meanings, and expressions and their meanings. A particularly useful segment of the dictionary entry is the linguo-cultural commentary, in which the authors exhaustively list the cultural significance of food, as well as its properties on which metaphorical meanings are based on. Dictionaries of the Serbian language were also used as source (primarily the Речник српскохрватског књижевног и народног језика Српске академије наука и уметности), as well as electronic corpora of both languages. In the paper, the meanings of the lexeme zrno / зерно (‘grain’) were analyzed and compared in Serbian and Russian, as well as derivatives, phraseology, verbal associations, as well as the most common phrases in which this lexeme appears in both languages. The research is based on the theoretical and methodological foundations of cognitive semantics and linguocultural studies. According to the terminology of Milka Ivić, zrno (‘grain’) belongs to particularizers and shapers. The paper answers the question of whether this meaning is primary or whether the edible fruit (seed) of the grain from which flour is made can still be treated as the primary meaning. The paper presents the criteria for determining the primary meaning of this lexeme. The similarities and differences in the way in which substances are particularized with a zrno ‘grain’ in relation to other particularizers used to indicate a small amount (eg crumbs or pieces) were analyzed. The lexeme zrno (‘grain’) attracts attention because in both languages it appears in expressive phrases as a particularizer (grain of truth, grain of humor), so one of the goals of this paper was to examine which phenomena in small quantities can be conceptualized as grain: are there pragmatic limitations that prevent some abstractions conceptualize in the form of grains, and how the round shape of the grain and its solid state relates to it. Many concrete phenomena of small scale and round shape can be called a zrno ‘grain’. The paper answers the question of whether there are any limitations in this and whether there are differences in the Serbian and Russian languages in this regard. Based on the meaning of the seed, the symbolism of the grain was developed as the essence of a phenomenon of significant value. The germination of grain is metaphorically projected onto the development of an idea. In the conclusion of the paper, the similarities and differences in the way the grain is conceptualized in the Russian and Serbian languages are analyzed, and the semantic and creative potential of this token and the symbolism of the zrno ‘grain’ are presented.