LEXICAL MEANS OF EXPRESSING TIME IN NOVELS AUDREY NIFFENEGGER

Abstract

The article analyzes lexical means of expressing time in Audrey Niffenegger’s novels “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and “Her Fearful Symmetry”. Time in these novels is not just a chronological background but a key concept that determines the structure of the plot, characters’ characters, and the reader’s perception of events. The novel “The Time Traveler’s Wife” analyzes the non-linearity of time, which is reflected through specific lexical units. Time markers – words and phrases that indicate a specific time or period (for example, dates, days of the week, age), as well as vocabulary that conveys the subjective perception of time by different characters are studied. Particular attention is paid to lexical means that create the effect of a broken chronology and reflect the protagonist’s chaotic movements in time.In the novel “Her Fearful Symmetry”, time is a multidimensional category combining past, present, and future. In this novel, symbolic lexical means play an important role, emphasizing the connection between temporal dimensions and spatial aspects. The use of lexical repetitions that create a sense of cyclicity, time metaphors that allow us to comprehend time through images and comparisons, and epithets that add emotional color to temporal descriptions are analyzed. The article also examines the role of vocabulary that conveys the atmosphere of mystery and mysticism characteristic of this novel.The article examines the functional load of lexical means in the context of philosophical ideas about time embedded in the texts. The texts of the works are analyzed to see how the lexicon contributes to creating a certain emotional mood associated with the passage of time, memory, loss, hope, and other experiences. Particular attention is paid to the interaction of lexical devices with the general style of the novels, which allows us to better understand the role of time as a narrative tool that shapes the plot and the emotional impact on the reader. The study covers the analysis of nouns, adverbs, adjectives, verbs and other parts of speech that express time, which allows for a comprehensive study of the problem of expressing time in Audrey Niffenegger’s novels.