Nationally-specific quantification in the Adyghe linguistic consciousness (based on an analysis of the prose language of B. K. Zhurtov)

The aim of the research is to identify nationally-specific ways of expressing quantitative semantics in the Adyghe linguistic consciousness based on the analysis of the language of B. K. Zhurtov’s literary works. The paper investigates the specifics of verbalizing the semantics of indefinite-large and indefinite-small quantities, the peculiarities of using numerals with non-quantitative semantics in artistic speech, and ways of realizing the semantics of zero quantity and singularity. It is noted that numerals in literary language are often used not as carriers of the semantics of specific quantification, but perform the function of amplification and hyperbolization. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that, for the first time in Adyghe linguistic science, the prose language of B. K. Zhurtov, distinguished by its special uniqueness and ethno-specificity, is considered from the point of view of the realization of nationally-marked ways of explicating the idea of quantity. Models and constructions that realize the semantics of excess, mechanisms for transmitting the meaning of emptiness and zero are identified. The results of the study showed that the implicit semantics of zero in the Adyghe linguistic consciousness can be transmitted by an untranslatable, nationally-marked unit that does not possess quantitative semantics.