Representation of the concept of URE 'mountain' in the linguistic culture of Evenks

The main purpose of the study was to analyze the lexical units involved in the representation of the URE 'mountain' concept in the language picture of the world of the Evenks. The identification of word meanings involved the examination of bilingual dictionaries of the Evenk language and field records of authentic texts narrated by informants who knew the Evenk and Russian languages well. According to the source study, the lexemes ure, yah, and kadar are the most commonly used representations of the concept URE in the Evenks' world picture. The analysis revealed the meaning of lexemes ure, yah, and kadar and allowed their semes to be identified. The ure lexeme was found to have the semes: 'overgrown with trees,' 'low hill,' 'inhabited by moose, bears, and other wild animals,' and 'master spirit of the mountain.' The following semes were found for the lexeme yah: 'stony,' 'covered with grass or reindeer moss,' 'inhabited by wild deer,' 'suitable for residence in summer,' suitable for roaming,' 'suitable for deer grazing in summer,' and 'a good place for hiding deers from wolves.' The lexeme kadar is characterized by the semes: 'rocky,' 'high,' 'made of stones,' 'cool place,' and 'inhabited by bighorn sheep, tarbagans, and musk deer.' A conclusion is made that the URE 'mountain' concept formation was influenced by Evenks' hunting and nomadic lifestyle combined with their animistic views on nature. The URE 'mountain' concept is a part of the BUGA 'world' concept structure.