UDC

811.111-26

Authors

Aleksey I. Lyzlov
Smolensk State University; ul. Przheval’skogo 4, Smolensk, 214000, Russian Federation;
e-mail: aleksej-lyzlov@yandex.ru

Abstract

This article dwells on English phraseological units. The term phraseological unit is regarded here in its broad meaning, including proverbs and sayings. The object of research is the concept cow, reflected in the linguistic units under consideration. The term concept is one of the basic terms in cognitive linguistics, a modern trend in linguistic studies. The concept cow is a significant element of English linguistic culture, which explains its presence in English idiomatic expressions. The latter are characterized by having an evaluative component in their meanings. Traditionally, evaluation is understood as the speaker’s attitude towards the referent. This article aimed to study the axiological potential of the concept cow, which is an important constituent part of this concept. Cognitive modelling was used as the key method of this research. The concept cow was analysed by identifying axiologically marked models, contributing to the systematization of our knowledge of concepts. The objective of this work was to explore the mechanism of realization of the concept under study in the language, taking phraseological units as an example. Human ideas are transformed into statements by means of modelling a number of situations which, due to their axiological charge, also are evaluative. English phraseological units objectify a number of mental models reflecting the evaluative nature of the concept under study. Moreover, the considered models serve as the basis for objectification of various evaluative features, both positive and negative. It should be noted that the majority of the described features are negative.

Keywords

English phraseological units, the concept “cow”, axiologically marked model, evaluative feature

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