CONCEPTUAL AREAS OF “SHELL-NOUNS” IN ENGLISH

The article deals with the cognitive basis for the formation of meanings nouns general semantics (shell nouns) in the process of functioning of the language. Based on the analysis of the existing classifications of “shell-nouns”, we selected the following English nouns for more detailed learning: thing, matter, fact, case, stuff, point, idea, way, as having the deepest functional potential. In the paper one of the areas of conceptualization, but also indicates a number of meanings, formed on the conceptual background of this field is described. The analysis of dictionary prescriptions of these lexical units allows to identify the most characteristic aspects of the interpretation of their concepts