Once again on semantic syncretism of the lexical units "wonder" and "fear" in the Vernacular Languages of Renaissance Europe (based on the Early Modern English of Shakespeare’s Works)

Abstract

The present article is dedicated to the issue of semantic syncretism of words denoting emotions of surprise and fear in Early Modern English. The relevance of the study is determined by the necessity to clarify the mechanisms of interaction of emotive units in the vernacular languages of Renaissance Europe and to reveal the linguistic fixation of the Renaissance theory of affects. The author notes that conceptions of the similarity of the states of surprise and fear are inherited from medieval thought through the reception of ideas from Plato and Aristotle and late antique medical-philosophical tradition in the works of Galen, the Stoics, and others, which were later actively addressed by theorists of the Cinquecento. Special attention is paid to the lexeme with a narrow denotative sphere, "amaze," as well as its derivatives "amazement," "amazing," "amazed," "amazedly," which are historically linked to the semantic fields of "fear"/"terror"/"horror." The material for the study includes the dramatic works of William Shakespeare ("Love's Labour's Lost," "The Rape of Lucrece," "As You Like It," "Troilus and Cressida," etc.), whose language reflects the main trends in the development of Early Modern English. The object of the study is the emotive vocabulary of Early Modern English representing states of surprise, confusion, fear, and horror in the works of the English playwright. The subject is the semantic syncretism of the lexeme "amaze" and its derivatives, manifested in the combination of the senses of 'surprise', 'astonishment', 'confusion', 'fear', and 'horror.' The methodological foundation of the study consists of the principles of historical-philological, historical-semantic, and lexicosemantic analysis, allowing for an examination of the emotive vocabulary of Early Modern English in a broad cultural-historical and poetic context. It is concluded that in the vernacular languages of Renaissance Europe (in Early Modern English, in particular) reflects the theory of affects, ascending from Antiquity and the Middle Ages, about the proximity of the emotions of admiratio and timor. The author's personal contribution to the study of the topic includes the selection and analysis of lexicographical sources, allowing to trace the historical semantics of the examined units and establish the differences in their meanings in Early Modern English and contemporary English; comparing dictionary definitions with specific contexts of use of the indicated lexemes in the dramatic works of W. Shakespeare; and providing own translations of several fragments, which allowed for a more accurate transmission of the semantic nuances of words related not only to surprise but also to confusion, anxiety, fear, and horror.