The reflection of the linguistic picture of the world with the help of phraseological units

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the reflection of the linguistic picture of the world with the help of phraseological units

Gudko Karina Sergeevna

Every language possesses inner form specific for every nation which expresses national spirit and its culture. The linguistic picture of the world is a common cultural heritage of a particular language community. It is a consequence of the historical development of the ethnic group and language, as well as the cause of a peculiar way of their further development. The linguistic picture of the world is passed on from one generation to another due to the certain worldview, rules of conduct and way of life, which are imprinted by means of language. It creates a unity of the language essence and helps to consolidate language and cultural heritage, its originality of vision of the world [1, p. 4-6].

The relevance of my work: the research of phraseological units will be always a significant topic, as the field of phraseology in any language is so varied and fascinating that one could spend an entire lifetime considering and analysing it from various viewpoints. A phraseological unit is an established, universal and essential element that ornaments and enriches the language.

The purpose is to study phraseological units in English and Russian languages, which reflect, identify, preserve the achievements of the human cognitive activities, especially the national psychology, and provide a dialogue of the past with the present and the present with the future.

Phraseology of any language is the most valuable linguistic heritage, which reflects mentality. It is the soul of each national language, which shows in a unique way the spirit, the vision of the world, national culture, customs and traditions, belief, history of certain speakers. Phraseology helps Russian and English languages to model phraseological picture of the world on the basis of the phraseological images and its describing as an element of the national linguistic picture of the world [2, p. 48].

The study of the linguistic picture of the world of particular nation is the best way to learn better all the specifics of its speech, to understand its ideas, identity and mentality and at last, it opens us a window for international communication. At all the stages of historical development the linguistic picture of the world assumes new modifications and the study will help to look more deeply at the causes and characteristics of evolution of a particular society [2, p. 52].

Any language becomes incomprehensible without understanding of national spirit, the features of the national psychology, mentality and culture of any society. Different languages have many similar features due to the physical nature of people, the functions of the brain and nervous system. But every language defines a special outlook of the speakers of this language. Phraseology teaches us what kind of picture of the world is built by people, peculiarities of the national and identity of the nation [1, p. 46-47].

In Russian and English languages we can find many phraseological units, which are related to a certain sphere, occupation, economics, politics, geography, a period of life and reflect people's attitude to the world, its views of life. There are a lot of phraseological units, which are related to the religious sphere: prodigal son - “блудный сын”; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth- “око за око, зуб за зуб”; a doubting Thomas - “Фома неверующий”; living off the Fat of the Land - “как сыр в масле кататься”; a millstone about smb.'s neck - “камень на шее” [3, p. 97-100].

The phrase living off the fat of the land means living off the best of the land or well-fed or being able to eat from the best of the crops or living well. The origin of the phrase is from the Bible in Genesis. In the 16th century «the fat» meant the richest, choicest part of something. At time of Kievan Rus cheese and butter were expensive products. To slow down the process of spoiling cheese was stored in the tub with butter. That's the origin of this expression [3, p.98].

There are a lot of praseological units, which reflect traditions, customs and belief of English and Russian nation: baker's dozen - “чертова дюжина”; to break a leg - “ни пуха, ни пера”; to call smb.over the coals - “намылить голову” [4, p. 320- 321].

An interesting origin has next phraseological unit: baker's dozen - “чертова дюжина”. The word dozen penetrated into Russian language from European languages and exactly from Latin, and it means just number 12. If we translate it into Latin, it will be duodecim, into French - douzaine, into Italian - dozzina: duo-decim = two plus ten. But why is the number 12 a single word? Not 11, not 14, 15 finally ... As one can imagine, it's related to the old duodecimal notation. The number 13 goes after 12 and it's considered to be unlucky. There was an old superstition, which is connected with the Last Supper: if 13 people get together at table, one of them will die during the year. That's why we say that this number is “чертова дюжина”. As for expression baker's dozen, it's widely believed that this phrase originated from the practice of English bakers giving an extra loaf when selling a dozen in order to avoid being penalized for selling short weight. England has a long history of regulation of trade; bakers were regulated by a trade guild called The Worshipful Company of Bakers, which dates back to at least the reign of Henry II. The law that caused bakers to be so wary was the Assize of Bread and Ale. In 1266, Henry III revived an ancient statute that regulated the price of bread according to the price of wheat. Bakers or brewers who gave short measure could be fined for selling bread that was underweight [5].

A classic example of the reflection of culture in is the expression: carry coals to Newcastle - ехать в Тулу со своим самоваром. Newcastle Upon Tyne in England was the UK's first coal exporting port and has been well-known as a coal mining centre since the Middle Ages, although much diminished in that regard in recent years. Carrying coal to Newcastle was a pointless activity - there being plenty there already. A Russian saying equivalent to carrying coal to Newcastle is “ехать в Тулу со своим самоваром”. The first historically recorded samovar-makers in Russia were the Lisitsyn brothers. In 1778 they made a samovar, and the same year Nazar Lisitsyn registered the first samovar-making factory in Russia. These and other early producers lived in Tula, a city known for its metalworkers and arms-makers. Since the 18th century Tula has been also the main center of Russian samovar production, with tulsky samovar being the brand mark of the city. So it was useless to go to Tula with your own samovar [5].

Phraseological unit “сам себя высек” means a man, who self-harms by thoughtless words or acts. It's a Russian expression, which arose in in the middle of the XIX century from drama « Revizor» by Nikolay Gogol. The governor of the town, responding to a complaint of a widow, justifies himself that “она сама себя выскла”. Have kissed the blarney stone / the Blarney Stone is an English expression, which is based on an old superstition: people, who kiss the stone, located in the Irish Blarney Castle, acquires the ability to flatter [5].

One can cite a whole number of examples, where phraseological units, which reflect traditions and customs, exist only in one define language: “хлеб-соль” in Russian language and dance attendance on smb in English [3, p. 64].

Omens and superstition are unique. Thus, a superstition “встать не с той ноги” comes from heathen time, where there was a belief in opposition of good and evil, white and black, right and left sides. We can meet this symbolics in other languages. For example, in English get out of bed with left leg can be explained by a belief that everyone has his good or bad spirit, which exists on his right or left [5].

It's a striking demonstration of the fact that phraseological units are closely associated with a way of life of define nation and reflect its universal linguistic picture of the world.

Literature

1. Добровольский Д. О. Национально - культурная специфика во фразеологии / Д.О. Добровольский. - М., 1997. - 48 с.

2. Корнилов О.А. Языковые картины мира как производные национальных менталитетов / О.А. Корнилов. - М., 2003. - 348 с.

3. Мальцева Д. Г. Страноведение через фразеологизмы / Д. Г. Мальцева. - М.: Высш. шк., 1991. - 172 с.

4. Кунин, А.В. Англо-русский фразеологический словарь.- 4-е изд. / А.В.Кунин. - М. : Рус. язык, 1984. - 944 с.

5. С. Н. Денисенко. Відображення фразеологічної картини світу [Електронний ресурс] / Денисенко С.Н. - Львів, 2008. - Режим доступу: http://archive.nbuv.gov.ua/portal/Soc_Gum/Apfil/2011_2/Denysenko.pdf

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