Verbalization of the Mountain Image (“Khaya”) in the Linguistic Consciousness of Abyysky District Residents: Evidence from an Associative Experiment

This article investigates the verbalization of the image of “Khaya” (‘mountain’) in the linguistic consciousness of Yakut language speakers residing in the Abyysky District of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The relevance of the study is determined by the need to document and preserve the linguistic heritage of Arctic indigenous peoples, whose worldviews assign a central role to sacred landscape concepts. The aim of the research is to identify the specifics of the mental representation of the mountain image within an ethnolocal group of northern Yakuts through the analysis and comparison of data from an associative experiment. The empirical basis comprises the results of an associative experiment conducted by the author in 2025 in the village of Kuberganya of the Abyysky District (n=32), alongside materials from the Associative Dictionary of the Yakut Language (2005-2010) for comparative analysis. The study employed interpretive analysis of responses, classified according to the type of associative links (similarity/ contiguity). The findings reveal the dominance of a spatial code in the perception of the concept. The key feature is verticality (the frequent response “ürdük” – ‘high’ - 32%), which actualizes the image of the mountain as a spatial dominant, an obstacle, and an object to be overcome. A unique thematic emphasis on the North (“khaar” – ‘snow’, “khotu doidu” – ‘North’) was identified among the Abyy respondents, reflecting the influence of the natural and climatic context. It was established that the associative field of the stimulus is predominantly syntagmatic in nature (74%) and also contains singular responses that reveal the polysemy of the lexeme ‘khaya’. The study demonstrates that, despite the polysemous nature of the concept, its actual content in the speakers' consciousness is determined by both the cultural-historical background and direct life experience within a specific natural environment. The obtained results underscore the value of local studies for a comprehensive understanding of the Yakut people's linguistic worldview and can be utilized in further comparative and diachronic research on the Yakut language's conceptual sphere.