Az erza-mordvin седей ’szív’

The Erzya Mordvin седей ‘heart’ The paper investigates the role of the Erzya lexeme седей ‘heart’ in the conceptualization of emotions and human traits in the Erzya Mordvin lan- guage. The framework for the analysis is provided by the theory of cognitive metaphor (Lakoff – Johnson 1980, Kövecses 2000, 2005) and the cultural linguistics approach emphasizing the culture-specific nature of metaphors (Sharifian 2017). The research material comprises phrases and idioms with the lexeme седей gathered from bilingual Erzya Mordvin dictionaries as well as dictionaries of phrases and idioms. Language data are also derived from a native Erzya speaker. In Erzya Mordvin, in the many other languages, the heart plays a central role in the linguistic representation of emotions, encompassing both positive and negative feelings. Beyond emotions, it is also an important means of expressing human traits. In metaphorical expressions, the lexeme ’heart’ can be conceptualized as an object, highlighting various material properties, or as a living entity. The conceptualization of the heart is based on multiple image schemas with the container and movement schemas being particularly prominent; their linguistic manifestations also follow universal patterns. Keywords: Erzya Mordvin, cognitive metaphor, conceptualization, heart