Lexico-semantic and psycholinguistic analysis of the Kalmyks' attitudes to work

The article presents the analysis of the Kalmyks' attitudes toward work, based on a combination of lexico-semantic and psycholinguistic approaches. The authors examine the language means associated with the concept sphere of "work", and present the outcomes of a psycholinguistic experiment conducted in 2015. The experiment included a survey and an essay authored by 100 respondents, residing in 13 rayons of Kalmykia and the city of Elista. All of them were ethnic Kalmyks belonging to either of the two age groups - 18 to 30 (juniors) or 60 to 80 (seniors). The experiment and its outcomes have never been published before. Особенности традиционной хозяйственной деятельности сформировали в калмыках такие черты характера, как старание, ответственность, прилежание, целеустремленность. Помимо этого, для калмыков характерны неспешность, планомерность, выносливость, непритязательность. Трудолюбие оценивается калмыками как добродетель, залог благополучия и достатка, понимается как морально необходимый вклад в благосостояние семьи, близких людей. Более высоко оценивается умственный, а не физический труд. Linguistically, the article makes use of a number of dictionaries published across the span of several decades, and of the labor-motivated attribute words found in these dictionaries. The authors have also analyzed set expressions selected out of lexicographic sources by means of continuous sampling. The Kalmyk language is rich in words describing various personal characteristics which arise under a number of circumstances or in the course of upbringing and appear in communication and work, informing the main behavior strategies. The specific features of their traditional economy made Kalmyks value diligence, responsibility, determination, endurance, regularity and unpretentiousness. Kalmyk culture sees industriousness as a virtue, a guarantee of prosperity and as a moral contribution to the well-being of the family and the loved ones. Intellectual labor is valued more than menial work