Yulia D. Egorkina

Postgraduate Student of the Department of Documentation and Stylistics of the Russian Language

Tula State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical University

(Tula, Russia)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22405/2712-8407-2025-2-166-175

Abstract. The article examines verbal charms as unique carriers of key cultural codes that play an important role in preserving and transmitting the values and traditions of a linguacultural community. It considers the concept of a cultural code to be a complex, dynamic system that organizes the perception and interpretation of the surrounding world within a certain culture. The analysis focuses on five main types of cultural codes: biomorphic, animistic, anthropomorphic, fetish and spiritual. These are all reflected in verbal charms, enabling us to identify the relationship between linguistic forms and symbolic content. The biomorphic code is a symbolic system that establishes a connection between humans and nature by using images of animals and plants to represent qualities, ideas and meanings that are enshrined in cultural tradition. The animistic code reflects the spiritualization of natural phenomena, ascribing spiritual properties to them, thereby strengthening the sacred unity between humans and the environment. The anthropomorphic code functions by transferring human characteristics to inanimate objects and phenomena in order to simplify their perception and interpretation by humanizing them. The fetishistic code focuses on material objects endowed with sacred significance within cultural symbolism, which are perceived as carriers of magical power. In turn, the spiritual code records interactions with transcendental forces that shape attitudes and ideological guidelines, forming the basis for the structuring of cultural and personal experience. Through the analysis of verbal charm texts, this study demonstrates how cultural codes contribute to the creation of a ritual protective space that unites the sacred and the everyday.
Keywords: cultural code, perception and interpretation of the world, verbal charm, protective function, cultural values.

Full text of the article (PDF)

For citation: Egorkina, YuD 2025, ‘Specificity of Cultural Knowledge Encoding by Charms’, Tula Scientific Bulletin. History. Linguistics, issue 2 (22), pp. 166–175, https://doi.org/10.22405/2712-8407-2025-2-166-175 (in Russ.)

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