GUSTATORY EPITHETS IN CHINESE PROSE: STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC ASPECTS

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the study of structural-morphemic and semantic features of gustatory epithets in modern Chinese, based on the material from Mo Yan’s novel «Red Sorghum: A Family History» («红高粱家 族», 1987). It has been established that in Chinese linguistics gustatory lexical units (感觉词) belong to sensory vocabulary and encompass basic lexemes such as 苦 (bitter), 酸 (sour), 甜 (sweet), 辣 (spicy) and 咸 (salty). As adjectives, gustatory units can combine with both concrete and abstract nouns. Simple and complex gustatory epithets are predominantly formed using the particle 的. A simple gustatory epithet consists of a single gustatory morpheme, while a complex one consists of two morphemes or an adverb of degree combined with a gustatory morpheme. During the analysis of the research material it was found that the morpheme 苦 (bitter) was used 125 times, predominantly indicating pain, suffering and sorrow in the emotional-expressive sphere. For instance, when describing appearances, sounds, and struggles, Mo Yan actively employs the epithet 痛苦 (painfully bitter). The morpheme 酸 (sour) was used 38 times, however, unlike 苦 (bitter), it functions in epithetic structures for object description. It was observed that gustatory structures with the morpheme 甜 (sweet) appeared 46 times and create imagery elements with both positive and negative connotations. The lexical unit 辣 (spicy) was used 30 times, where it predominantly combines with morphemes like 热 (hot), 老 (old, aged), and 火 (fiery) within epithetic structures. It was noted that the expressive sphere of epithets containing 辣 (spicy) carries a negative connotation, indicating heavy emotional experiences. The gustatory morpheme 咸 (salty), which was used 33 times in the analyzed novel, also imparts a negative hue to the epithetic structure, creating an expressive-evaluative sense of disgust. The article also outlines the stylistic potential of reduplication, features of gustatory epithets with secondary taste meanings and the morpheme 淡 (bland).