The Role of the Concept in the Formation of Cognitive Representations of Students (on the Example of the Concept “Appearance” in the Russian, English and German Languages)

The appearance of a person as a special object of study in the humanities (philosophy, cultural studies, psychology, kinesics, ethnology, law, and aesthetics) appears as a multidimensional phenomenon connected through culture with the surrounding world, with social relations, aesthetic perception. The synthesis of these components is the concept of “Appearance”. The article is devoted to the study of “Appearance” concept objectivation through highlighting the expressive features of a person, namely, his face and hair in the Russian, English and German languages and its role in the formation of cognitive representations of students. As a rule, when identifying a particular person, great attention is paid to some certain, personal features of appearance. Eyes, hair, lips, complexion usually attract people’s attention most of all. The appearance of a person is valued by others and, as a result, it is endowed with the ability to transmit information about the inner world of a person, to identify individual qualities and properties inherent only in this person. It is from this point of view that appearance is informative and communicative. The article also considers the connection between such aspects of Linguistics as a concept and the language, as well as the way the features of the concept under study are being realized in the Russian, English and German languages. The work provides a large number of examples taken from the authentic works of literature that can be used in the teaching both Russian and foreign students.