The secondary signifier of entrails in the Russian language: The psychological man

Abstract

In the Russian language, the entrails are widely used to express different psychological states - together with emotions and sensibilities: laughing, crying, tenderness, excitement, satisfaction, joy, spirit, languor, anxiety, the capacity for empathy, repentance, regret, anger, grudge, concern and fear. The concept of psychological man also encompasses intelligence, intuition and premonition. The guts are thus invested with a capacity for reasoning that is not logical - as well as with aesthetic perception, artistic inspiration, an organic feeling for different situations and relationships, and an intuitive knowledge of people. In most cases, the vocabulary refers to internalised sensations and reactions, but it sometimes refers to gestures and postures expressing feelings. Despite the significant continuity of the secondary semantic meaning of entrails found in both literary language and dialects, it should be noted that intuition remains ignored with respect to the dialects. © 2018 Institut d'Etudes Slaves. All rights reserved.