DESCRIPTIVE ELEMENTS AND CONTRADICTIVE RELATIONS IN THE STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH RIDDLES
Abstract
This article explores the typological characteristics of the English riddle as a traditional folkloric genre from a linguistic and cultural perspective. Relying on thematic and structural approaches developed in linguistics, folklore studies, and ethnology, the study aims to identify the main principles of riddle classification and to reveal the invariant mechanisms of riddle construction. Particular attention is paid to the riddles of the Exeter Book, whose interpretation is complicated by the absence of explicit answers and by the plurality of scholarly readings. The analysis demonstrates that English riddles encode fragments of the worldview through stable thematic spheres and recurrent descriptive structures, reflecting everyday life, nature, warfare, and the spiritual domain.
Keywords
English riddle, typology, thematic classification, structural analysis, Exeter Book, folklore discourse.How to Cite
References
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