Structural and semantic types of English paremias on the subject of "financial situation"

Mikheev Nikita Aleksandrovich ORCID: 0009-0002-1957-2618 post-graduate student, Department of general and Russian linguistics, Peoples` Friendship University of Russia 6 Miklukho-Maklaya str., Moscow, 117198, Russia mikheev.nikita.a@gmail.com

Introduction. The relevance of the chosen topic is due to the fact that paroemias characterizing a person's financial situation are widely used in modern English, while most of them have partial or full semantic equivalents in Russian. The study of these paremias contributes to an understanding of the English-speaking linguistic picture of the world and the mentality of the English-speaking population. The purpose of this study is to study the structural and semantic features of the English language paroemias used to characterize a person's financial situation. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set: to study the features of the structural and semantic analysis of paremias using the frame method, to compile a structural and semantic classification of paremias, which can be used to characterize a person's financial situation. The subject of the study is paroemias, denoting a person's financial situation in English, and their Russian equivalents. The object of the study is the structural and semantic features of paroemias denoting a person's financial situation in modern English. The research material was 200 English paroemias denoting a person's financial situation, obtained by continuous sampling from the "Great English-Russian Phraseological Dictionary" by A.V. Kunin ^[1], "Oxford Dictionary of Idioms" ^[2] and Cambridge Idioms Dictionary ^[3].

The research used such methods of general scientific research as the analysis of theoretical literature, synthesis, classification. A scientific linguistic method such as definitional analysis was also used, this method was used to identify groups of semantic equivalents. The method of definitional analysis is based on the fact that dictionary definitions from explanatory dictionaries are used in order to get an idea of the semantics of certain linguistic units, in this case, paroemias with different structures.

The main part

Groups of words that are united by a common theme are mutually defined and structured using specific unified constructions based on knowledge or experience, and for these constructions in modern linguistics it is customary to use the term "frame". A frame is the general base of an image, which at the same time can be represented by any single word that is part of this frame ^[4].

The concept of "frame" in modern linguistics is used to use thematic groups of words, thus, a frame is commonly referred to as a means of structuring a subsystem of vocabulary. The multidimensional frame, studied in the context of the communication space, has a hierarchical structure that consists of three levels. The top level is the cultural context of communication. The second level is the discursive context. It includes the general knowledge that communicants have. The third level is the social context, which includes aspects such as the nuances of interpersonal communication, including the intention and type of speech activity, as well as the social status of communicants. These tiers have a hierarchical organization and are located at the intersection of two planes, the first plane has a cognitive-psychological character, and the second is socially conditioned. Frame analysis is used to identify certain thematic groups of lexical units in a particular language, and this analysis is also used for structural and semantic analysis of lexical units related to a specific topic, for example, with a person's financial situation ^[5].

From a cognitive point of view, all English paroemias denoting a person's financial situation can be structured as a level-by-level frame. At the same time, concepts that, taking a hierarchical form, are arranged in the form of a frame, are not nominated randomly, but on the basis of ideas that people develop in the course of their lives and practical activities, as well as on the basis of assessments and opinions that people have.

Thus, it seems necessary to define the conceptual organization of English paroemias denoting a person's financial situation and present a set of these paroemias in the form of a frame, and it is also necessary to perform a comparative analysis of the thematic group of paroemias under consideration. For this, in particular, it seems necessary to use linguistic means of objectification of those groups that are used to structure the frame under consideration ^[6].

In this study, it seems necessary to present the semantic group "financial situation of a person" in the form of a frame. In this case, the frame is interpreted as a cognitive linguistic model, which reflects information about the object in a linguistic form ^[7].

Based on this approach to the semantic group "human financial situation", several groups were identified in the frame hierarchy of the thematic group of phraseological units of the English language under study. The first group is conventionally designated by the sign "+", the second group is conventionally designated by the sign "-", the third group is conventionally designated by the sign "+‑", since a person's financial resources can be interpreted as sufficient (the sign "+") or insufficient (the sign "-"). A group of concepts denoted by a "+-" sign is used if it is impossible to make an unambiguous assessment of the amount of financial resources available to a person. In this case, we are talking about a situation where a person has enough financial resources to meet some needs, but at the same time not enough financial resources to meet other needs.

Based on our definition of a person's financial situation within the framework of the above-mentioned groups, it seems necessary to identify subgroups. First of all, these are subgroups of a person's permanent good/bad/dual financial situation, which are contrasted with subgroups of a person's financial situation, which is temporarily deteriorating or improving, and also opposed to subgroups of a financial situation, which is temporarily (not permanently) good/bad/dual.

In the studied material, groups of structural and semantic equivalents were identified that have the meanings "to have a low income, to live poor", "to lose a fortune, to go bankrupt, to lose financial well-being", "to enrich oneself, to improve the level of financial situation", "to have a high income, to live rich", "wealth, rich", "poverty, poor man." In the group "to enrich oneself, to improve the level of financial situation", the object is action (acquisition of material wealth) + the purpose of action (state of prosperity) + characteristics of the final state (financially rich status).

The following paroemias of the English language can be cited as examples:

Coin it (in) "quickly make a high profit", there is no similar phraseology in Russian;

Golden handshake "large profit to someone upon dismissal from work", there is no similar phraseology in Russian;

Rake in the dough "to make a lot of money", similar phraseological units in Russian: "shovel money", "make money", "hit the jackpot", "chop cabbage";

Make money hand over fist "earn big money easily, easily, without doing anything", similar phraseological units in Russian "shovel money", "make money";

To line one's pockets is "to profit, exploit, make money dishonestly", a similar phraseology in Russian is "to fill pockets".

In total, 25% of all paremias studied belong to this structural and semantic group, among them paremias with a positive connotation predominate, while the positive connotation is associated with the ease of making money: a person who easily earns a lot of money is presented as a prudent owner worthy of respect. If in the Russian-language picture of the world a person who earns a lot of money is more often seen as dishonest (a fraudster who earned money by fraud), then in the English-language picture of the world it is not a shame to earn a lot of money, and a person who quickly earned a lot of money has a high social status and is respected in society.

The group of structural and semantic equivalents with the general meaning "to lose a fortune, to go broke" makes up a total of 20% of all paremias studied. The following English language parodies can be cited as an example:

To break the bank is "to go broke, spend all the money", there is no similar phraseology in Russian;

To go to the wall is "to go broke, to be left without money", there is no similar phraseology in Russian;

To be flat broke "to be completely ruined", a similar phraseology in Russian "to be broke";

To feel the pinch "to experience financial difficulties due to a decrease in income", similar phraseological units in Russian are "to put teeth on a shelf", "tighten your belt";

To lose one's shirt means to go completely broke, a similar phraseology in Russian is "to be left without pants."

The paremias included in this group have a negative connotation.: In both Russian and English, the loss of money is considered a threat to human health and life, and the loss of money is associated with unreliability and unreasonableness of a person, therefore, in some paroemias of this group, the loss of money or income is associated with the loss of clothing - an attribute that distinguishes a reasonable person from animals. At the same time, most English paroemias belonging to this group contain verbs denoting active movements and actions (to go “go”, to lose “lose”, to break “break”), that is, it is emphasized that a person is responsible for his own financial situation, unlike Russian paroemias with a similar semantics, mainly containing the verbs "to stay", "to find oneself". Russian Russians believe that poverty is a condition to which a person leads himself, and for Russians, poverty is a condition to which a person comes by the will of fate, because the English worldview perceives poverty as something shameful, and Russian – as a normal human condition, from which no one is immune.

The third structural and semantic group, which makes up 15% of all paremias studied, is paremias with the semantics of "living richly, having a high level of income." The following phraseological units can be cited as examples:

To be (to live) in clover "to live comfortably", a similar phraseology in Russian "like cheese rolling in butter";

To have deep pockets "to have a good financial situation", a similar phraseology in Russian "to have thick pockets";

To have money to burn "to have a lot of money", similar phraseological units in Russian "money is not worth money", "money is like dirt";

To live off the fat of the land "to live in luxury", a similar phraseology in Russian "like cheese in butter to ride";

In the lap of luxury "in luxury", a similar phraseology in Russian "like Christ in his bosom".

In the group under consideration, paremias with positive connotations prevail. A few paroemias with negative connotations are based on the fact that a person with a lot of money can spend a lot and it is unreasonable to spend a lot, while in English paroemias money in this case is represented as an ephemeral substance that suddenly appears and can also suddenly disappear (money "burns up"), and in Russian paroemias with similar semantics money is represented as as a substance that causes disgust and rejection ("chickens don't bite money", "money is like dirt"). Unlike Russian, English parodies lack pronounced contempt for money, despite the fact that a person who spends money thoughtlessly is negatively characterized in both languages.

The fourth group consisted of the paroemias of the semantic group "living poor, having a low income", the paroemias of this group accounted for 20% of the total number of studied paroemias. The following paroemias can be cited as an example:

To live from hand to mouth "to live half-starved, make ends meet", a similar phraseology in Russian "to live from paycheck to paycheck";

To make both ends meet "barely fit into the amount of earnings, live poorly", a similar phraseology in Russian, which is an almost literal translation of "making ends meet";

To be on the breadline "to have an extremely low income", a similar phraseology in Russian "to be below the poverty line";

To be hard up "to experience financial difficulties, to be in need", a similar phraseology in Russian "to be broke";

To be in dire straits "to be in a terrible financial situation, in a distressing situation", a similar phraseology in Russian is "a hole in your pocket, but a mouse in the bow";

The paremias that belong to this group almost all have a negative connotation, while in most cases the semantics of money constraints are expressed using boundaries, lines, and frameworks that a low-income person has to fit into. The Russian equivalents of the paremia group under consideration have similar semantics and connotation. A person experiencing significant financial difficulties is interpreted as a person who is forced to fit into certain narrow boundaries (breadline “poverty line", ends “ends", straits “straits") and not cross established boundaries.

The fifth structural and semantic group includes paroemias, which have the semantics of "wealth, high income", "rich, high income". This group makes up 10% of all the English language paroemias we studied. The following paroemias can be cited as an example:

In the chips "rich", the Russian equivalent of this phraseological unit "in chocolate";

Born with a silver spoon "to be born into a rich family", the Russian equivalent of this phraseology, which is almost a complete structural and semantic equivalent: "to be born with a golden spoon in your mouth";

Laugh all the way to the bank "it's easy to make money, especially at the expense of others", Russian analogues of this phraseology are "forging money", "shoveling money";

To have a nose for money is "to have a natural opportunity to accumulate wealth", the Russian equivalent of this phraseology is "to have a nose for money".

English phrases with positive connotations prevail in this group, wealth is interpreted as a sign of high social status, and a rich person is a person who deserves respect, without taking into account how a person made his fortune – honestly or dishonestly. As for Russian paroemias with similar semantics, a person who earned money easily or dishonestly is described by paroemias with negative connotations, while money is interpreted as an unpleasant substance similar to earth or dirt ("to shovel money" means "to earn money without hard work").

In both English and Russian paronyms having this semantics, wealth is associated with the attributes of material wealth – food (bread, chocolate, cheese, butter, bread, chips) and precious metals (gold, silver, gold, silver).

The sixth structural and semantic group includes paroemias that have the semantics of "poor, low-income", "poverty, low income". This group accounts for 10% of the total number of all paremias studied by us. For example, the following paroemias can be attributed to this structural and semantic group:

Short of cash "not with money", there is no similar phraseology in Russian;

On the rocks "financial distress", a similar phraseology in Russian "broke";

On one's uppers "to have a very small income that is not able to cover needs", a similar phraseology in Russian is "to be beyond the line";

Skating on thin ice "risky or difficult financial situation", a similar phraseology in Russian "playing with fire";

Getting by on a shoestring "difficult financial situation", a similar phraseology in Russian for "making ends meet".

English paronyms, which belong to this structural and semantic group, have a negative connotation, while poverty is interpreted as a condition when a person is limited by a narrow space - financial limits, while these limits are rigid (on the rocks, on thin ice). Russian paremias, which have similar semantics, also have a predominantly negative connotation.

Conclusion

Thus, the conducted research allowed us to conclude that the English language phrases denoting a person's financial situation can be divided into several semantic groups: "wealth", "poverty", "getting rich", "impoverished", "being rich", "being poor". Based on the structural and semantic analysis of these paroemias, it is possible to formulate a number of differences in the English-speaking and Russian-speaking linguistic worldview based on the different attitudes towards money and finance among the British and Russians.

1. If the British are responsible for their own financial situation (they are to blame for their own poverty or they achieve wealth themselves), then the Russians make a person rich or poor according to the will of fate (a person cannot be blamed for poverty).

2. Among the British, a person who has wealth and has achieved it himself always deserves respect, regardless of how his fortune was made. Among Russians, respect for a person with a lot of money can be not only respectful, but also contemptuous, because wealth is often associated with a lack of honesty and kindness.

It is also possible to identify a number of similarities in the attitude of Russians and British to wealth and poverty.

1. Universal to the English and Russian worldviews is the fact that wealth is primarily associated with material wealth – an abundance of food and precious metals, while a rich person is not positioned as a person with any spiritual virtues, and material poverty is not associated with spiritual poverty.

2. In the English and Russian worldviews, material wealth is perceived as something transitory, most often impermanent. Wealth is a temporary status of a person that can change dramatically overnight. At the same time, it is more difficult to become rich than poor.

3. In both English and Russian paronyms having this semantics, wealth is associated with the attributes of material wealth – food and precious metals.

Taking into account the above, the structural and semantic analysis of the English language paroemias denoting a person's financial situation allowed us to identify a number of features characteristic of the English mentality and compare these features with the mentality of a Russian-speaking person. In this regard, this topic is relevant and important for further study.