ETYMOLOGICAL PECULIARITIES OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS WITH A ZOOCOMPONENT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Abstract

The given article aims at analyzing etymological peculiarities of phraseological units with a zoocomponent in the English language. The following methods of research have been employed in the process of our investigation: general scientific such as analysis of scientific sources and systematization; the method of etymological analysis for establishing the origin of the phraseological units under study and the quantitative method to summarize the received data. Zoonyms are characterized by a wide-spread nature and are actively used in English to reinforce the human image, situations, life experience, and their main features of character. The most traditional principle of phraseological units classification is based on their origin, the latter is regarded as a peculiar sphere of human activity or a natural phenomenon. These are the expressions typical for the representatives of various jobs, or connected to agriculture, daily routine, fauna, sports, etc. There also exist borrowings from the Bible or the works by Shakespeare, or other famous authors.  
Having analyzed the origin of 1000 English phraseological units with a zoocomponent, we found out that English proper idioms are dominant and comprise 51% of all the material under study. 17% belong to the aphorisms of famous people, mostly by W. Shakespeare and G. Chaucer. Classical origin from Ancient Greek or Roman mythology have 14% of the idioms under analysis. The job sphere represents another source of their origin including only 9% of phraseological units. The ones with Biblical origin are quite few in number (only 6%). Another 3% have a vague origin.