Развитие ономасиологической категории ранговости в системе префиксации английского языка

Abstract

The aim of the present article is to give а brief account of the investigation results concerning the ways of the rank onomaseological category development in the prefixal system during the whole fifteen century old history of English. The author gives а thorough analysis of prefixes rendering rank notions in four periods of language development: Old, Mediaeval, Early and New English. The article illustrates those kinds of associations which underlie the gradual transformation of locative world perception into the perception of the rank hierarchy as reflected in the definition of worІd-identifier of the analysed prefixal derivatives.