GERMAN PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS WITH ANIMALISMS

Abstract

This article examines animalistic phraseological units in German phraseological units. Animalistic phraseological units constitute one of the largest and most diverse groups of phraseological units in modern German. In Russian linguistics, so-called animalistic phraseological units (animalistic phraseological units, zoonym phraseological units, and zoonym metaphors) have become the subject of study for many renowned linguists. The national and cultural specificity of animalistic phraseological units is manifested in various spheres of human activity, as well as in various positive and negative character traits. Animals can be ascribed various human qualities, and the combination of character traits reflected in phraseological units constitutes a unique «portrait» of a person. The main goal of this work is to identify and describe the cultural meanings of the above units within phraseological units. From a cultural linguistics perspective, phraseology, as the value-laden content of culture in language, is a universal means of nomination. Cultural linguistics studies the reflection of mentality and material culture in a national language. In turn, these are realized in linguistic processes and also convey the linguistic and cultural experience of a particular ethnic group. Cultural linguistic analysis allows us to characterize the national and cultural specificity of the German mentality. The object of our study is phraseological units containing a zoonym component. The term «zoonym,» widely used in linguistics, is a general term for all living beings. The purpose of this article is to identify the universal and nationally specific features of zoonym phraseological units. The following animalisms were presented: der Hase, der Hund, der Bär.