Contemporary Approaches of Slavic Phraseological Studies to General Issues of Phraseology

Abstract

Contemporary linguistics devotes increasing attention to the study of the linguistic picture of the world as a reflection of the mentality of an ethnic group. Phraseology is one of the most effective means of conceptualizing reality. It preserves in its structure cognitively significant representations of the surrounding world that are deeply embedded in the linguistic memory of a given culture. The aim of this study is to conduct a cognitive-linguistic and linguocultural analysis of phraseological symbolism in selected Slavic languages, namely Ukrainian, Polish, and Bulgarian. The methodological foundation is cognitive-linguistic analysis, which seeks to identify the interconnections between linguistic form, conceptual content, and cultural codes, with theoretical grounding in cognitive linguistics. Two analytical vectors were employed: verbalization from sign to concept and from concept to linguistic expression. The empirical material was drawn from phraseological dictionaries, associative and frequency databases, and texts of both fiction and non-fiction literature. This approach made it possible to outline the main principles of linguocultural analysis of phraseological units. The results revealed the mechanisms by which phraseological units are formed through symbolic representation of culturally significant concepts across the studied languages. The cross-linguistic analysis demonstrated both universal and culture-specific dimensions of phraseological symbolism within a broader interlingual context. The study holds practical value for translation studies, lexicography, and the development of linguocultural resources, particularly a multilingual dictionary of attributive comparisons. Its findings create a solid foundation for further interlinguistic investigations in cognitive linguistics and linguocultural research.