Religious Semantics and Mythologeme-Based Worldviews in Kazakh and English Traditions: A Systematic Contrastive Review

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to reveal the role of mythologemes in the formation of linguistic worldviews by examining the religious semantic transformations of mythological origin in Kazakh and English traditions within a comparative and systematic framework. It is designed as a systematic literature review structured within the qualitative research tradition. In this context, studies published between 2000 and 2024 in English and with full-text access in the Web of Science and Scopus databases were reviewed. A total of 44 publications were included in the final sample considering predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. A four-stage process was followed: review, evaluation, synthesis, and analysis. Content analysis techniques were used to classify conceptual elements into themes and sub-themes. The findings showed that mythological and pagan concepts in both Kazakh and English have not completely disappeared through monotheistic religions, but rather have been reinterpreted within new religious frameworks, continuing their existence in the deep semantic structure of the language. In particular, the concepts of God, fate, the sacred, and nature were found to exhibit mythological continuity in both languages. In conclusion, the language is found to be the carrier of cultural and mythological memory. It is recommended that mythological and religious semantic dimensions taken into consideration, especially in language teaching and curriculum development processes.