Nowadays, one of the most actual issues in linguistics is text research. Text is the subject of several sciences, such as philology, stylistics, linguistics, culturology, hermeneutics, semiotics, textology, and others. Kubryakova understands text as “a thing, from what people, who has some averaged knowledge about the language and the world, make rather reasonable inferences” [4]. We determine text as a certain purposeful and informative message, having semantic integrity and oriented with an address. Text is created for colleagues, students, descendants. There are some text styles, such as usual, publicistic, formal and business, scientific, literary.
In our research we consider a literary text. E. A. Ogneva determines a literary text as “a conglomerate of a deep peoples’ ethnicity in the refracted projection of a writer’s worldview, as a creative linguo-construct of the reality, as a representative symbol of the synergy of past, present and future; the synergy, which is verbalised through linguistic signs that form the literary world, so the model of which takes place in the center of linguocognitive, linguoculturological, and other researches”[7]. We consider a literary text as a concept-sphere. Z.D. Popova and I.A. Sternin D.S. understand a concept-sphere as “an ordered totality of nation’s concepts, informational base of thinking” [9].
Likhachev characterises concept-sphere as “a totality of the main elements of the ethnos’ culture, reflected in its language” [5]. Concept-sphere of a literary text, according to E.A. Ogneva and Y.A. Kuzminyh, is “a totality of literary concepts where each of them is a part of individually authored concepts, which range of the representation is conditioned by a plot outline of a work” [8]. As a concept-sphere is a totality of concepts, literary concept is “a unit of consciousness of a poet or a writer that gets its own representation in a literary work or a totality of works, and expresses individually authored understanding of essence of objects and facts” [1]. It is known that literary concept has a nominative field.
Z.D. Popova and I.A. Sternin determine a nominative field as “a totality of language facilities which objectify <…> a concept in a certain period of the development of the society” [9]. Linguistic signs, which compile the nominative field, can be neutral, connotatively colored, and cultorologically colored.
In this article we consider the structure of linguo-culturemes which are meant as a culturologically painted nominee of the literary concept. L.G. Vedenina assumes linguo-cultureme as “names of objects, concepts of one linguo-cultural commonality, which are absent or transformed in the other linguo-cultureme” [2]. V.V. Vorobyov represents lingo-culturem as “a totality of linguistic sign’s form, its content and cultural meaning, which accompany this sign” [3]. It is known that linguo-culturemes are represented as single component and multi-component nominees. Based on researches of E.A. Ogneva, we can say that single component nominees are meant as a language structure, consisting of one core and one or several dependent words, which characterise defined parameter. Multicomponent nominees differ from single component ones in having several components which characterise two or more parameters. Such parameters can verbalise quality, quantity, time, place, etc. [6].
We consider a nominative field of the literary concept “Medieval way of life” based on the novel “The Greatest Knight” by E. Chadwick in which we have found a large number of linguo-culturemes. We analyse the following ones:
Example 1. Sun-flooded chamber [10, p.2]. Our research has showed us that the nominee is single component. The kernel of the linguo-cultureme is the noun chamber, and the attribute is the adjective sun-flooded, represented degree of illumination of a room. We can conclude that this room is a part of a castle or a mansion, because medieval plain houses did not have big windows and were dark and gloomy.
Example 2. Silver flagon and cups [10, p.2]. This nominee is also single component. The kernels of the linguo-cultureme are the nouns flagon and cups. The attribute is the adjective silver, represented quality. We can make a conclusion that some part (if not all) of tableware in the house is made of silver. Average people were not able to get such quality of tableware.
Example 3. Besides a large bed <…> stood an ornate coffer like the one in his parents’ chamber at Hamstread [10, p.6]. In this context we analyse the linguo-cultureme an ornate coffer. The nominee is single component. The kernel of this linguo-cultureme is the noun coffer, and the attribute is an adjective ornate, which represents quality of the coffer. The word ornate shows us that the coffer is luxurios, there is a possibility that these coffers were made exclusively for the family. The owner might keep their jewelry or clothes in there.
Our cognitive-hermeneutic analysis has showed us that among single component nominees there are mostly nominees with attributes, characterised quality.
Example 4. A large bed with embroidered bolsters and covers of silk and fur [10, p.6]. The key word is bed, represented as a noun. Attributes are shown as adjectives: large, verbalised space, and embroidered, verbalised quantity; also nouns silk and fur characterised quality. All the above mentioned attributes give us information about opulence of the owner because a large bed can be fit only in a big room, and only rich people could have houses with big rooms. Besides, silk and fur were parts of luxury, so only people of the upper class could get it.
Example 5. A breeze lifted the silk banner on the lance and it fluttered outwards, making the embroidered red lion at its centre [10, p. 4-5]. In this context we analyse the linguo-cultureme the silk banner on the lance making the embroidered red lion, where the kernel is the noun banner, and the attributes are adjectives silk, characterised cloth quality, and the collocation embroidered red lion, verbalised quality of the decoration, and represented with adjectives red and embroidered.
It is considered that a lion is a symbol of bravery and courage, so we can suppose that this banner belonged to a knight’s family. The title of a knight, as is known, is an honorable title of the aristocracy. Red color is associated with a symbol of richness, it is named as a “royal color”. That can say about the owner’s high status.
Our cognitive-hermeneutic analysis has showed us that among multi-component nominees there are mostly nominees with attributes, characterised quality.
In the row of the contexts we have determined several linguo-culturemes which characterise one phenomenon of medieval way of life, e.g. meal:
Example 6. Replete with spiced chicken and saffron stew served with fresh wheaten bread and washed down with satisfying quantity of mead [10, p.33]. There are four linguo-culturemes in the example. The nominees spiced chicken, saffron stew and satisfying quantity of mead are single-component, the nominee fresh wheaten bread is multi-component one. The kernels are the nouns chicken, stew, bread, mead. All the attributes are represented as adjectives. The attributes spiced and saffron show specificity of the meat taste. The attribute fresh characterises freshness of bread, and wheaten shows what its quality. The attribute satisfying quantity represents the amount of mead.
The meal that is shown above consists of two dishes, bread and a drink. The variety of meat dishes (chicken and stew) says that this meal was meant to be for a rich person, because for peasants it was a luck to have meat. It is important that the author has mentioned the freshness of bread, because poorer people not always had the opportunity to eat fresh and soft bread. Rich people often had ovens and their own bakers, so they could eat fresh bread every day. Besides, peasants, as a rule, had dark rye or barley bread, while the upper class ate bread made of wheat flour.
To sum up, the research of the literary text of “The Greatest Knight” by E. Chadwick, especially the research of the nominative field of the concept “medieval way of life” has showed us high frequency of linguo-culturemes, among which there are mostly single component nominees. The core of all the mentioned contexts are nouns. There is high frequency of adjectives, which represent quality and testify the richness and a high social status of the owner as well.