The Semantic Structure of Verbs in Abai’s Prose

Abstract

This article examines the semantic structure of verbs in Abai’s prose from the perspectives of modern functional-semantic and cognitive linguistics. The aim of the study is to identify the lexical-semantic features of verbs in Abai’s Book of Words, determine their semantic groups, describe their functional characteristics, and reveal their role in representing the author’s worldview. The study systematizes verbs denoting action, state, cognition, speech, perception, emotional-psychological processes, and modality, and analyzes their functions in text organization. Furthermore, the semantic potential of verbs is explored to reveal the linguistic representation of Abai’s conceptual views on human beings, society, cognition, and moral values. The findings demonstrate that the verbal system in Abai’s prose constitutes one of the principal linguistic means of shaping the national worldview, cognitive models, and the distinctive features of the author’s individual style. The results of the study may contribute to further research in the fields of functional grammar of the Kazakh language, text linguistics, cognitive linguistics, and Abai studies.

The article analyzes the semantic structure of verbs in the prose of Abai Kunanbayev. It examines the semantic layers of verbs in the poet’s “Words of Edification”, their metaphorical uses, and their role in shaping philosophical meaning. The study shows that the verb functions not only as a grammatical category, but also as a text-forming, image-creating, and cognitively loaded linguistic unit.