Peter and Paul: Images of Pair Personages by Linguistic Data (on Material of English, French and Russian Languages)

Abstract

The phraseological material of the English and French languages that includes appellative derivatives from personal names Peter ( Pierre ) and Paul is considered. Based on the analysis of paremiological, folklore and lexical material, the author draws conclusions about the nature of the microsystem of anthroponymic derivatives of these names. Some features inherent in the image of saints bearing these names in folk culture are revealed. It is shown that the images of Peter and Paul in texts and linguistic units embodied the motive of exchange (the meaning ‘one and /or another’ is realized), the motive of nearness to God, the motive of keeper of the gates of heaven, etc. The author also puts forward hypotheses concerning the motivation of some expressions. In addition, the image of Peter and Paul and the manifestation of this image at the linguistic level are also analyzed on the material of the Russian linguistic culture, in particular, the proverbs and charm text are given. A brief review of domestic research of pairness as a sacred concept is made, in which the author puts the material under consideration. The conclusions of the article are a comparison of the images of Peter and Paul reconstructed on the basis of linguistic data in the English, French and Russian linguistic cultures.

Keywords

• anthroponyms
• anthroponymic derivatives
• peter and paul
• english
• french
• phraseology
• folklore