One of the notable features of the Russian language is its ability to use words in a figurative sense. Transference is a direct consequence of ambiguity. Words in a language can be single-valued and polysemantic. Polysemy refers to the ability of one word to denote various objects or phenomena. The meanings of polysemantic words have a common semantic core and interconnection. Polysemantic words have an initial, or primary, meaning, and a number of derivatives formed later.
The formation of new meanings becomes possible due to the transfer phenomenon. Linguists have established 2 types of transfer of names. The first is transfer by adjacency, or metonymy. Metonymy is characterized by the transfer of names, the replacement of a part by a whole, or vice versa. Consider examples.
| Figurative meaning of the word | Direct meaning |
| wife in sables | wears a fur coat |
| championship gold | gold medal |
| class left after class | all students left |
| blueCollars | workers |
| Beijing sent a note | China government |
| hold your tongue | stop saying that |
The second type is similarity transfer, or metaphor. Two objects or phenomena have a common feature. Such a sign can be color, size, shape, human perception, functional purpose. Let's imagine the direct and figurative meaning of the word. Examples for comparison are given in the table below.
| Direct meaning | Portable |
| heartbeat | army beats |
| hairband | road tape |
| sharp needle | sharp mind |
| musician drumming | rain drumming |
| wolf pack | wolf look |
| snow-capped mountain | mountain of suitcases |
| cutting pine | nag spouse |
| bitter medicine | bitter fate |
| milk boiled | he seethed with anger |
| mixture sediment | residue after the conversation |
In colloquial speech, people often use the figurative meaning of a word to enhance expressiveness, brightness of communication. Animal names can be used: fox - cunning, ram - stubborn, elephant - clumsy, ant - hardworking, eagle - proud. It is not uncommon for figurative meanings to lose their figurativeness over time and began to be perceived as direct. The figurative meaning of the word has already been lost in phrases such as: mushroom cap, nail cap, bow of a boat, chair leg. In modern dictionaries, these meanings are assigned to words and are indicated as functional direct meanings.
Perhaps, the economy factor played a certain role in the appearance of the transfer - it is natural for a person to make life easier for himself, and, taking an already existing word as a basis, he was looking for a new phenomenon in the world around him that he could describe with this word. Perhaps the human imagination is to blame for this phenomenon. Having once received a round piece of cheese from sheep's milk, the hostess rightly noted that its shape is extremely similar to a head.
The figurative meaning of the word is characteristic not only of the Russian language. This phenomenon is inherent in many European languages. In English, for example, this language feature is a real challenge for students starting to learn it. Often, understanding the meaning of a word is possible only by context, since a word can act as different parts of speech. Nevertheless, the transfer enriches any language, makes it figurative, lively and juicy.
