THE CONCEPT SAFETY IN THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD PICTURE

Abstract

Summary. The article considers the diverse ways in which the idea of safety is introduced in the English-speaking world picture. It is evident that as people gain knowledge about the world, the concept becomes a fundamental component of information, representing the essence of the cognitive process. The reflection of reality in speech consciousness occurs at the level of concepts, phenomena that arise in the consciousness of an individual, since they reflect their perception of an object, and are closely related to the culture of the people and most clearly reflect the specifics of collective consciousness. Despite the fact that the scientific literature presents quite a lot of scientific research devoted to various concepts in the English-language picture of the world, the concept of safety has not yet been the subject of separate research in this context. In this regard, the problem of perception of the concept of safety and its understanding seem particularly relevant in modern society in the face of modern challenges. The purpose of this research is to establish the boundaries of the concept of safety in English based on studying the categorical definitions of safety/security (protection) that make up the core of this concept, as well as their derivatives. This study covers the main values of the tokens safety (protection), security (security), secure (protect), safe, which when comparing dictionary data revealed a common range of values. In the course of the study, the definitions and meanings of the above-mentioned lexemes in four English-language dictionaries (the MacMillan English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Cambridge International Dictionary of English, and Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English) are considered. It is concluded that the key meanings of the security are marked by each of the dictionaries under consideration and make up the main set of meanings of the analyzed unit. It is noted that the definitions of the two units considered in this study (safety and security) in English partially coincide. Common to them are such meanings as does not pose a danger or risk; is not threatened or risky; safe; secure, that is, protected from the risk, threat, or danger. However, definitions, which have the same root as safety and security, also express their own independent meanings.