Modeling of semantic structures of tactile perception on the example of the German verb tasten

Aim. To describe the cognitive model of the German verb with the semantics of touch tasten, as a basic verb explicating tactile perception.
Methodology. The cognitive model of the German tactile perception verb tasten is presented. This model includes mandatory and optional signs of human tactile activity, represented in speech situations by means of this verbal lexeme. The research material was text extracts from modern German fiction, where the verb tasten is used in its direct meaning. The study was conducted using contextual analysis, analysis of cognitive interpretation, comparative analysis of a sample from lexicographic sources.
Results. According to lexicographic sources, the tasten lexeme in the predicative function belongs to the thematic group of active contact-directed action. This verbal lexeme and its semantic derivatives represent such nuclear semantic features as “feeling” and “movement”. Contextual analysis of the language material has shown that in speech utterances the verb tasten in its direct meaning objectifies both a typical idea of the tactile perception process and additional cognitive features associated primarily with the purpose of this type of perception, with the physical and emotional state of a person. The structure of the cognitive model of the verb tasten includes, along with the action (predicate), mandatory components – the subject and the object of tactile perception, and optional components – the characteristic of the subject, the characteristic of the object, the instrument of perception, time and place of action. In language utterances, mandatory and optional components are presented both explicitly and implicitly. Optional characteristics of the subject, which include awareness of actions, emotional state, and the purpose of the action, appear in various combinations with the characteristics of the object, such as the properties of the object, its function, and its presence / existence. The analysis of the language material based on the constructed cognitive model proves that the purposeful action of the subject is directed at an object that has certain properties and performs certain functions. The unconsciousness of the action or the emotional state of the subject is more often correlated with the quality of the object or with the very fact of the presence of the object in the surrounding reality.
Research implications. The theoretical significance of the study is related to the possible use of its results in cognitive linguistics. The practical significance can be determined by the possible use of language material and research results in the practice of teaching German lexicology, as well as German as a foreign language.

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