THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF HAPPINESS IN KAZAKH AND ENGLISH LANGUAGES

This article explores the national and cultural specificities of the concept of “happiness” in Kazakh and English through a comparative linguocultural and cognitive analysis. The research is grounded in a qualitative paradigm and aims to uncover the relationship between language and culture, as well as the unique features of national worldviews. The main objective is to identify the conceptual structure, semantic field, metaphorical models, and national-cultural representations of the notion of “happiness” in both languages. The analysis includes three main components: an etymological overview, a linguocultural examination based on paremiology and set expressions, and the interpretation of data from a semistructured survey. Paremiological analysis shows that in Kazakh, “baqyt” is often portrayed as a gift or blessing that comes from outside (“the bird of happiness”, “fortune shines”), while in English, “happiness” is typically viewed as a state resulting from personal action and choice (“Happiness is a choice”, “Happiness blooms from within”). The metaphorical models associated with happiness in Kazakh include “light”, “bird”, “blessing”, and “gift of fate”, whereas in English, the metaphors revolve around “path”, “flower”, “light”, “choice”, and “product”. The survey was conducted in Almaty and East Lansing, with responses from 30 Kazakh-speaking and 30 English-speaking participants. The interview questions focused on the personal and cultural perceptions of happiness. The semantic dominants, motivational characteristics, and cultural associations of the concept differ significantly between the two languages. The methodological framework of the study includes interpretive-phenomenological analysis, conceptual metaphor theory, as well as comparative and discourse-based linguistic approaches. The research material consisted of data from literary texts, proverbs, idioms, and natural discourse. The entire text and survey response data were plotted with Python in the Jupyter Notebook.

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