STRUCTURAL-COGNITIVE FEATURES OF ENGLISH RIDDLES

Abstract

The article considers structural and cognitive peculiarities of English riddles and the main principles of their formation. The object of this research is ethnocognitive principles of the formation of lexical and semantical structure of English riddles. Here has been noted about the emergence of the genre of the riddle, that is the period of old English culture (5-11 c.). The article presents the theories on which the definition of the term “riddle” is based. There are theories that refer to the structure of the riddle and those, based on cognitive aspects. It presents A. Taylor’s understanding of “a real riddle” and “riddle questions”. A riddle forms a certain view of the world. A genre is directed on finding out not only people’s aptitude but it’s also the means of the development and improvement of people’s mental abilities. The article provides a variety of English riddles from different resources.