Metaphorical uses of words of olfactory perception in Russian and Chinese

Ma Ying

The article deals with the lexemes with the semantics of smell and their metaphorical use in the Russian and Chinese languages. The article provides a comparative analysis of the metaphorical use of the most common words with the semantics of smell in the Russian and Chinese languages, summarizes the universal and specific features of the use of these metaphors. The presented material allows us to conclude that the metaphorical use of Russian and Chinese lexemes with the semantics of smell have similarities and differences associated with the transfer of the semantics of smell to other spheres. The analysis of the metaphorical use of verbs, nouns and adjectives of olfactory perception enriches the comparative study of vocabulary with olfactory semantics in the Russian and Chinese languages, and also deepens the understanding of these languages and ways of thinking of the Russians and Chinese.

Keywords:metaphor, perception, olfactory metaphor, smell, lexicon with olfactory semantics.