Verbalization of the concept FEAR in Stephen King’s idiolect (based on the novel “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon”)

The article examines the verbalization of the emotional concept FEAR in Stephen King’s idiolect, with a focus on the novel “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon”. The study is motivated by the relevance of understanding how fear is conceptualized within literary discourse. Grounded in the core principles of cognitive linguistics and, more specifically, the linguistics of emotion, the research aims to identify the structural features of the conceptual domain of FEAR in the novel. It seeks to define the core and periphery of the concept and to analyze the linguistic means by which it is expressed. The methodology combines dictionary definition analysis, componential analysis, and semantic text analysis. Central to the study is the noun fear, the dominant verbalizer of the concept, the semantic structure of which encompasses both emotional and cognitive dimensions. A comparative analysis of its dictionary definitions has helped identify key conceptual features. The findings reveal that the conceptualization of FEAR in Stephen King’s idiolect is marked by rich semantic and stylistic variation, reflecting its nature as a complex psycho-emotional phenomenon. Future research may extend this analysis to a broader selection of King’s works to further explore the nuances of the representation of FEAR in his literary language.