Comparative Study of Idioms in Romance and Germanic Languages
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56294/sctconf20251505Keywords:
germanic languages, comparative analysis, lexical equivalents, linguistic features, linguistic identity, romance languages, phraseologyAbstract
Introduction: The study of phraseological units with a comparison structure in English, Spanish and Ukrainian revealed these linguistic units' universal and culturally specific features. The lexical and semantic analysis showed that a significant part of the phraseological units is based on universal associations that can be easily translated between languages without losing meaning. At the same time, specific images inherent in a particular culture require adaptation that preserves the original's meaning and style.
Objective: The study is devoted to the comparative analysis of phraseological units in Romance and Germanic languages and the peculiarities of their translation into Ukrainian.
Methods: The lexical-semantic, structural-grammatical and comparative-comparative methods were used in the study.
Results: The structural and grammatical analysis confirmed that comparison phrases have a similar syntactic structure in the three languages, but demonstrate different levels of flexibility in use. In particular, Ukrainian proved to be more variable in grammatical transformations, while Spanish and English adhere to stricter formal rules. The quantitative analysis of translation strategies showed that most phraseological units (60%) are translated based on direct equivalence, 30% require semantic adaptation, and 10% require lexical substitution.
Conclusions: The study has confirmed that phraseological units with the structure of comparison are an essential element of the linguistic picture of the world, reflecting both universal and unique aspects of each culture. The results obtained may be helpful for further research in translation studies, lexicology and intercultural communication.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Kateryna Filatova , Nataliia Riabokin, Iryna Horokhova , Olha Osaulchyk , Valentyna Drobotenko (Author)
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