SELECTED ENGLISH IDIOMS AND SIMILES WITH FARM ANIMAL ZOONYMS AS THE SOURCE DOMAIN AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS IN SERBIAN

Abstract

This paper presents an exploration of figurative comparison expressions featuring farm animal zoonyms in the English language and their possible equivalents in Serbian. Farm animal idioms are integral to linguistic discourse, contributing to the richness and diversity of language use. Their complexity often necessitates a deep understanding of cultural and contextual factors for their accurate interpretation, highlighting the potential for cross-cultural comparative studies to enrich our understanding of idiomatic expressions. These expressions transcend mere linguistic curiosities and play a vital role in meaning construction and imagery formation within discourse. The paper provides an overview of expressions divided into five categories according to the type of farm animal used as the source domain: bovines (cows and their male counterparts, bulls and oxen), equi (horses and mules), pigs, sheep and poultry, and attempts to assign an equivalent phrase in Serbian, comparing the usage between the two languages, in order to shed some light on the intricate interplay between language, culture, and cognition in the realm of idiomatic figurative expressions involving farm animals.

Keywords

• farm animal metaphors, farm animal idioms, figurative comparison expressions, English, Serbian.