ANAGRAMMING AS A MEAN OF CONCEPTUALIZATION

ANAGRAMMING AS A MEAN OF CONCEPTUALIZATION

Author:  N.M. Azarova

Affiliation:  Institute of linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Abstract: 
Anagramming in poetry is caused by certain concepts existing in national cultures. The concepts are made up of sound combinations likeмрт/трм/тм (mrt/trm/tm) in Russian. Such concept asdeathin the majority of poetic traditions is represented by strong regular anagrams aimed to elude death, transform, adjure it or remind of it. Anagramming the key concepts explains the appearance of a whole number of constants in poetry which are traditionally considered as symbols, e.g. март (March), трамвай (tram) etc. Typological characteristics of regular anagrams is speaker's 'naming oneself' function. The problem of anagrams' verification based on formalized frequency of occurrence vanishes due to regular reappearance of certain anagrams in poetry of different periods and poetic styles; and also dueto the fact of stable conceptualization of certain sound complexes (identical to ones of anagrams') in a certain language and culture.

Keywords:  аnagram, sound complex, conceptualization, рoetry