Psycholinguistic Criteria for Understanding Phraseological Units

Abstract

This article deals with the problems of mental perception and cultural interpretation of phraseological units in their occasional use in the English and Russian languages. The role of phraseological unit’s inner form in ability to undergo any transformations is investigated, imagery associations are compared, functions of stylistic devices in transformation of phraseological units are defined in structurally different languages as English and Russian. The main goal is to investigate the cultural and national specificity of phraseological units in occasional use, to define language standards and stereotypes, as well as the cultural interpretation of phraseological units. The hypothesis stating that phraseological unit possesses a structure of knowledge including denotative, evaluative, emotional, cultural and stylistic components was experimentally confirmed.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4s2p353