The Semantics of Idioms with Components 気 “ki” and 心 “kokoro” and Somatic Components in Modern Japanese Language

Abstract

Based on the anthropocentric approach, this article analyzes the meaning of idioms which contain the components 気ki ‘spirit’ and 心 kokoro ‘heart’ and somatic components, 頭 atama ‘head’, 胸 mune ‘breast’, and 腹 hara ‘belly’. The analyzed idioms were taken by way of sampling from Japanese dictionaries. The aim of this study was to compare the meanings of idioms with component 気 ki ‘spirit’ and 心 kokoro ‘heart’ and idioms with somatic components and to describe their common and individual meanings. The opposition of the spirit and the body is absent in Japanese tradition, as the spirit and body are considered as a unity. The spirit (lexemes 気 ki and 心 kokoro ) is not bound to a particular place in the human body so the given meaning may be expressed with the help of somatic words which are considered as vessels for the spirit. Most of the analyzed lexemes formed polysemantic idioms. In one of the expressed meanings, idioms may be synonyms: 1) Idiom semantics remain unchanged but the component composition varies. 2) Idioms with different components being stable semantically and structurally may be synonyms, component composition remains unchanged. The meanings of idioms with component 気 ki ‘spirit’ are related to the feelings that characterize a person’s attitude to a phenomenon or an object, or even their subjective perception of a situation. Idioms with component 心 kokoro ‘heart’ have meanings directly related to the 気 ki component as a spirit and as a vessel for the spirit. Idioms with components 頭 atama ‘head’, 胸 mune ‘breast’ and 腹 hara ‘belly’ describe the various characteristics of 心 kokoro ‘heart’. Idioms with the somatic component 頭 atama ‘head’ are generally linked to the mental process; as for the feelings, with anger. The description of emotional state is profoundly connected with intellectual and rational activities. Idioms with component 胸 mune ‘breast’ generally express the meaning of ‘feelings related to compassion’. Idioms with component hara ‘belly’ express the meaning ‘genuine thoughts and intentions’ on one side, and ‘feelings related to the instinct of self-preservation and egoism’ on the other.