Let's imagine the main palette of colors: red, blue, green ... There are not so many. And now let's turn to shades, tones and midtones. There are hundreds of them ... Our language is also roughly structured. Words are the main "colors" that, when combined with each other, entering into complex semantic relationships, create amazing shades. With their help, we can convey the true beauty of the world, and what is hidden inside us is thoughts, feelings, emotions, experiences. From this point of view, such stable combinations as phraseological units make the language more vivid, colorful and rich.
What are phraseological units?
In linguistics, the science of language, there is a direction called phraseology. The world of phraseology of the modern Russian language is multifaceted and large. What is he studying? What explores? What is looking through a magnifying glass of knowledge? Of course, in phraseological units or phraseological units, which are stable combinations consisting of two or more words, with a fully or partially rethought meaning. For example, in the phrase âwind in the headâ the words âwindâ and âheadâ lose their primary meanings âair flowâ and âmind, reason, part of the bodyâ, and surprisingly transform into figurative, allegorical - âfrivolity, carelessness, surface ". How does this happen? On the one hand, scientists seem to give a description of such mental processes of a person, and on the other hand, it is impossible to fully understand how human thinking works, there is a great mystery, and we only deal with its final result.
Phraseologism with the word "head"
It is so arranged by nature that a person, observing what is happening around him and himself, seeks to âbreathe lifeâ, to humanize both the living world and inanimate objects. In other words, we strive to spiritualize everything that surrounds us, we strive to ascribe to our subjects character traits, aspirations that are characteristic of ourselves. From this point of view, phraseological unit with the word âheadâ is interesting, and in scientific terms, somatic phraseological units with the âheadâ component. Somatic phraseological units - in phraseology a group of figurative expressions, one of the âingredientsâ of which is the name of a particular part of the body, in this case the name of the upper body - the head. By the way, this group is one of the most numerous.
What are phraseological units-somatisms with the âheadâ component
What is a head? First and foremost, this is the upper part of the body of a person or animal, the "receptacle" of the brain, organs of vision, taste, and smell. Hence the secondary values. The head is one of the most ancient symbols of life, a definition of the mind, intellectual abilities, some internal qualities, by which a person is evaluated. Perhaps that is why both in Russian and in many other languages ââand cultures there is a huge layer of figurative expressions with this word.
Phraseologisms, which include the word "head", are mostly figurative, so-called metaphorical turns. At the heart of many, there are traces of the features of human or animal behavior. For example, the expression âhide your head in the sandâ (to run away from problems, pretend that you donât notice problems) is based on the well-known feature of ostriches to hide their heads in the sand.
Phraseologism with the word âheadâ can also express attitude, a personâs assessment of the objects surrounding him, other people, reflect the relationships of people: âsit on your headâ - impose your opinion, dictate your conditions, make your own demands.
Often the described group of phraseological units with its inherent brightness and accuracy conveys the subtle emotional and physical states of a person or gives his general characteristic: âthe head goes roundâ - lose the ability to think sensibly, âhold / bear the head highâ - be reputed to be proud, to be independent. This category also includes stable expressions, the meanings of which are associated with the emotional and mental life of a person: âthe head swellsâ, âflew out of the headâ, âlose your headâ, âleave with your headâ.
Quite often, phraseologism with the word âheadâ has the meaning of life, for this part of the body is truly a vital organ: âanswer with the headâ - assume full responsibility; âPay with your headâ - pay with your life; "Headlong" - desperately, recklessly.
Other languages
It is interesting to note that in all languages ââthere are phraseological units-somatisms with the word âheadâ. In some of them more, in others - less. There are similar in composition and meaning, and there are - characteristic of only one language and culture. For example, in German there is the expression âein Brett vor dem Kopf habenâ, which literally means âhave a board in front of your headâ, and figuratively means âbe known as a foolâ. The origin of this turnover was the tradition of hanging a stubborn bull on the horns before the eyes of a plaque. Thus he was blinded, and the animal, having lost orientation, moved in the direction necessary for the farmer. The English figurative phrase âto wash an ass's headâ means trying in vain, wasting energy, the literal translation sounds differently - âwash a donkeyâs headâ, and, accordingly, has no equivalents in Russian.