Verbal representation of an animalistic horoscope

Abstract

The article examines the animal horoscope as a multi-level semiotic construct in which zoomorphic images function not as designations of biological species but as symbol-classifiers encoding notions of character, fate, and qualitatively marked temporality. It is demonstrated that the linguistic framework of horoscopic texts serves as an active mechanism for constructing «tangible» meanings: abstract categories of time and behavioral scenarios are translated into the realm of everyday consciousness through metaphorization, evaluative lexicon, allegories, and stable predicative models. The analysis of verbal characteristics of signs reveals the principle of selecting animal traits followed by anthropomorphic transfer and semantic hyperbolization; positive and negative descriptors form ambivalent pairs, where pejorative interpretations often represent the «flip side» of socially approved qualities, thereby ensuring interpretive flexibility and the effect of apparent personal accuracy. The cultural-historical variability of zoomorphic codes is emphasized, along with the semantic tension arising during intercultural circulation (particularly the divergence of connotations for the same images in Eastern and European traditions), which necessitates the application of cognitive-linguistic and linguocultural tools. Considerable attention is devoted to describing the suggestive potential of zoonyms, which, incorporated into the discourse of «legitimized tradition», trigger stereotyping and establish normative expectations while retaining acceptability even when carrying potentially negative connotations in the general language system. Dualistic models based on the opposition «totem – anti-totem» are characterized separately, where lexical choices acquire an ethical-normative character reinforced by categoricity, as well as mechanisms for modifying the basic archetype through elemental and color attributes that function as meaning-forming operators and expand the generative potential of the horoscopic text.