Қара ‘black’ is underworld, kingdom of evil, and death. According to Laulanbekova
[9], Ақ has an extended meaning of CLEANNESS (ақбосаға [aķ bosağa] lit. a white
threshold, ақотау [aķ otau] lit. a white family, ақбесік [aķ besik] lit. a white cradle),
BEAUTY (ақтамақ [aķ tamak] lit. white meal, ақдидар [aķ didar] lit. white image,
ақшабет [aķşa bet] lit. white-faced), ELDER (ақсақал [aķ saķal] lit. white-bearded,
ақбас [aķ bas] lit. white headed, аққас [aķ ķas] lit. white eyebrowed), SACREDNESS
(ақана [aķ ana] lit. white mother, ақсүт [aķ süt] lit. white milk, ақшаш [aķ şaş] lit. white
hair), JOY (ақкүн [aķ kün] lit. a white day, ақсарбас [aķ sarbas] lit. a white warrior)
and FAIRNESS (ақжол[aķ jol] lit. a white way, ақниет [aķ niet] lit. a white intention,
ақбата [aķ bata] lit. white blessing). Қара ‘black’ is conceptualized as BAD (қарақағаз [ķara ķağaz] lit. black paper, қарату [ķara tu] lit. a black flag), CRUEL (қараниет [ķara
niet] lit. a black intention, қаракөңіл [ķara könil] lit. a black wish/mood), PRIMARY
(қарасу [ķara su] lit. black water, қаратау [ķara tau] lit. a black mountain), SACRED
(қарашаңырақ [ķara şanїraķ] lit. a black house, қаражер [ķara žer] lit. black soil),
PLAIN (қарақазақ [ķara ķazaķ] lit. a black Kazakh, қарабұқара [ķara buķara] lit. black
people), and SORROW (қаракүн [ķara kün] lit. a black day, қарауайым [ķara uaiїm]
lit. black grief, қаратүн [ķara tün] lit. a black night). Ak (white) as a common Turkic
monosyllabic word has a figurative meaning of Milk and Dairy; also, the meaning of
Truthful and Innocent. The analysis done by Laulanbekova mostly places Ақ and Қара into opposition to each other – ‘white’ is good and ‘black’ is bad.
At the same time, the examination of these two colour terms as idiom components
can reveal more extended, not contradicting, meanings. Of course, in combination with
Қaрa black, Aқ white creates binary pairs with opposing, contrasting connotations of
Right/ Wrong, Fair/ Unfair, and Good/ Bad, e.g., Ақты қара деді [aķtї қara dedi] – lit. to say black on white, fig. to replace truth with a lie; Ақ қараны таныды [aķ ķaranї
tanїdї] – lit. to recognize white and black, fig. to recognize good and bad.In combination
with Көк [kök] blue, Ақ[aķ] white represents a colour denomination, e.g., Ақ безер де көк безер болу[aķ bezer de kök bezer bolu] lit. to escape being both white and blue, fig.
not to admit one’s guilt.
Sadykbekova [10] gives a semantic characteristic of the word Қара[ķara] (black) and
its application in their description of people and their body parts. She also compares the
connotative meaning of the word in three languages – Kazakh, Russian, and English – and
comes to the conclusion that in Kazakh the word Қaрa has a positive connotation rather
than a negative one. Zharkynbekova [14] explains it by the association of Қaрa with the
earth/ land/ soil (Умай ана[Umai-Ana] mother Umai) which provides people with food
and water and with femininity (sacred Mother-land). Қaрa stands in opposition to Кök (blue) which symbolizes the heavens/ place where God lives (Көк Тенгрі[Kök Tengri])
and masculinity (Тенгри Ата Father Tengri). The word Ақ[aķ] (white) is a symbol of
the mankind birth and the prime origin of life in the world which hierarchically stands
higher than Көk blue; that is why the colour of Ақ ‘white’ is regarded with reverence
and referred to as a memory of ancestors. It is also associated with the month of Nauryz
(March) which has been considered as the beginning of the year Ақ наурыз (aķnauryz white March) when nature ‘awakens’, the green and offspring grow, and dairy (Ақ) is
produced in big quantities.
Akberdiyeva [2; 3] notes an importance of myths in revealing the conceptual
meaning of lexical units through their reflection in the language. At the time when myths
originated, the world was perceived as a whole unique place without clear-cut distinction
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of its comprising parts: there was no separation of such notions as objective and subjective
world, internal and external form, a human being and the nature, the sky and the earth,
and living beings and objects. The concept of integrity of the world found its reflection in
language itself and its products, i.e., folklore and myths, etc. Akberdiyeva [2] classifies
three groups of semantic symbols: 1) binary (аспан-жер [aspan-žer] the sky-the earth,
оң-сол[on-sol] right-left, алды-арты [aldї-artї] front-back); 2) pair (жақсы-жаман [žaksї-žaman] good-bad, өмір-өлім [ömir-ölim] life-death, жоғары-төмен [žoĝarї-
tömen] up-down, күн-түн [kün-tün] day-night); and 3) triad (Ақ-Ала-Қара [aķ-ala-
ķara] white-multicoloured-black). As it was mentioned above, Көк (blue) symbolizes
the sky, Қара(black) represents the earth, and the space between them is described as
Ала [ala] (multicoloured). The connotational meaning of a colour designation Алаhas
already been examined by me [1]; the present paper studies the cognitive base of Ақand
Қара as components of Kazakh idioms.