Verbal and Nonverbal Components in the Structure of the Targeted Dastarkhan: a Linguistic Perspective

Contemporary humanities increasingly turn to nonverbal forms of communication as independent and meaningful sources of information about the culture, mentality, and social structures of ethnic groups. This study attempts a comprehensive conceptualization of Kazakh gastics – a relatively unexplored but promising field within nonverbal semiotics that focuses both food-related rituals and its communicative, symbolic, and cultural functions. The aim of the research is to reveal the semiotic nature of the dastarkhan as a cultural space through which archetypal images, ethnocultural values, and mental frameworks of the Kazakh people are transmitted. Particular attention is paid to targeted dastarkhans (such as as, toi, merekelik dastarkhan, etc.) as structures of cultural memory and mechanisms of cultural representation. The scientific and practical significance of the work lies in expanding the boundaries of research on nonverbal communication and actualizing gastronomic culture as an object of linguocultural analysis. For the first time, an attempt is made to systematize the conceptual framework of Kazakh gastics and to interpret it as a sign system. The methodology of the study is based on semiotic and cultural approaches with elements of linguistic and stylistic analysis. The main empirical material includes works of Kazakh literature (M. Auezov, O. Sarsenbayev, T. Asemkulov, and others), in which food rituals and their symbolic meanings are reflected. The main results include a structural and semantic description of the dastarkhan as a sign system, an interpretation of the symbolism of national dishes, and an analysis of the gastronomic space as a component of ethnocultural identity. The findings confirm the hypothesis about the existence of a distinct nonverbal semiotics of food that functions stably within Kazakh culture. The scholarly value of the work lies in forming a theoretical foundation for further research into gastics within ethnolinguistics and semiotics. The practical significance is manifested in the potential application of the results in courses on linguoculturology, ethnology, intercultural communication, as well as in the field of preservation and promotion of intangible cultural heritage.

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