Actualization of metaphoric-associative space of mythonym with in phraseological units

Abstract

This article studies the specific processes of the worldview representation by dint of phraseological units based on mythonyms. It considers questions of relevance or irrelevance of the mythological component in various spheres of life in modern society, the validity of archaic forms of worldview as an inalienable part of culture in the aspects of regulatory and prognostic functions of contemporary communication, which mostly explicate scientific worldview’s structural peculiarities. The focus of our research is devoted to the phraseological borrowings that had been modified during the process of penetration into the English language, and that are originally based on lore of Celtic mythology. Continuous sampling technique was used to find adjuvant means of speech, that subsequently led to component and concept and conceptual analyses, the sustainable speech figures are identified by structural-semantic classification; there is a research on linguacultural peculiarities that conduce the occurrence, establishment and actualization of naive and mythopoetic overtones of meaning in phraseological units of English with a Celtic mythonym as one of the essential components. The phraseological units, containing a component of Celtic mythonym as the core, molding generalized meaning, are mostly presented as substantive, adjectival and verb derivatives, that are based on referential-denotative metaphorical transfer. Mythonymical overtones are actualized in speech carrying the same imagery and its implication of significance that were laid intentionally into mental imagery in naive and mythological worldview. Within the implementation of prototypical opposition of «my/other’s» in the perceived mythologeme the negative meaning is found as dominant.

Keywords

• mythonyms
• phraseological units
• mythological worldview
• naive worldview
• sense components
• actualization
• conceptualization