LINGUOCULTUROLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF VERBAL PHRASEOLOGICAL COMPOUNDS (ON THE MATERIAL OF RUSSIAN AND ENGLISH LANGUAGES)

Abstract

The linguoculturological approach makes it possible to determine the scope of the semantics of phraseological units of different languages in relation to an identical fragment of reality; show how a similar set of semes is configured in phraseological units; identify the original archetypes reflected in their internal form; reveal the ethnospecificity of phraseological images; show how culturally conditioned conceptual models underlying these images form the axiological content of phraseological units; and match their patterns of usage in different communicative contexts. Such an approach makes it possible to consider phraseological units not only as stable linguistic combinations but also as important carriers of national cultural information. The comparative analysis of phraseological units is particularly significant because the same reality can be conceptualized and represented differently in different linguistic cultures. Phraseological expressions preserve culturally significant information concerning traditions, customs, social relationships, historical experience, everyday life, and the emotional evaluation of reality. Therefore, the study of phraseology at the intersection of language and culture provides a more complete understanding of the national linguistic worldview. The linguoculturological interpretation also helps to identify the relationship between the literal image of a phraseological unit and its figurative meaning. In many cases, the internal form of an idiom contains cultural associations that cannot be understood exclusively through the dictionary definition of its components. Consequently, comparative research should consider semantic, structural, stylistic, pragmatic, and cultural characteristics simultaneously