Oksana Kharlay
From the perspective of cultural linguistics, this paper a) investigates and compares the conceptualisations of beauty in the Chinese, English, and Slavonic (Polish and Ukrainian) languages, b) analyses the cultural contexts in which beauty is conceptualised, and c) reveals the crucial peculiarities of human perception and evaluation of beauty in the selected languages. Based on the theory that language is an activity whose character and structure express the culture and individuality of its speakers (Humboldt 1907), the study focuses on the interrelationship of language and culture, highlighting the ontological features of the Chinese, Polish, English, and Ukrainian worldviews and perceptions of beauty. A sufficient number of examples demonstrate the ontological features and the empirical generalizations embedded in conceptual images of beauty in the analysed languages. Furthermore, the findings of the paper may assist in understanding the axiological value of beauty and its origins in the chosen languages and cultures.