Idiomatic space of the concept of LOVE/ КОХАННЯ in the discourse of fiction: linguocognitive and translation aspects

Abstract

The article examines the idiomatic space of the concept LOVE in Nicholas Sparks' novel “The Best of Me” and its Ukrainian translation through the prism of linguistic-cognitive and translation approaches. The object of analysis is idiomatic units that verbalize the emotional and conceptual sphere of love, and the subject is the ways in which they are reproduced in translation, their semantic, stylistic, and pragmatic potential in the original and the translation, aimed at verbalizing the emotional and conceptual sphere of love. The study uses methods of semantic, contextual, and comparative analysis to identify the dominant idiomatic models of the concept of LOVE in the original and their functional counterparts in the target language. The article proposes a semantic classification of idioms related to the concept of love and identifies dominant conceptual models, in particular “LOVE AS EMOTION,” “LOVE AS STRENGTH,” “LOVE AS FATE,” “LOVE AS LOSS, and “LOVE AS BODILY METAPHOR.” The concept of “idiomatic space of love” is introduced as a complex system of phraseological means, a set of linguistic means that verbalize the emotional, value, and cognitive aspects of the characters' love experiences. The main types of idioms with love-related semantics are identified, their functions in the narrative are analyzed, and translation strategies for their reproduction in Ukrainian are outlined. It has been established that the translator preserves the emotional intensity and conceptual integrity of the discourse of love by adapting English idioms to culturally and linguistically relevant Ukrainian forms. The idiomatic space of love in translation appears as a dynamic system that reflects both universal and nationally determined features of romantic experience. It has been proven that the translator preserves the emotional richness of the original through a combination of equivalent phraseology, contextual modulation, and expressive reformulation or reconceptualization. It has been concluded that idioms are not only stylistic devices but also cognitive markers of the author's vision of romantic relationships. It has been established that idioms denoting the concept of LOVE/КОХАННЯ are key markers of emotional depth and play a decisive role in both the formation of the romantic discourse in the work and its reproduction in translation.