Information on the thesis

The dissertation focuses on objectivizing the concept HUMAN BEING by
anthropocentric comparative phraseological units of the English language. Such
phraseologisms are identified and systematically described. Attention is paid to the
analysis of their structural-semantic features which foster the whole units to be an
effective expressive means in the system of nominations of the human being in order to
objectivize the concept HUMAN BEING.
The dichotomous approach is employed to model the structure of the given concept,
since the human being, like most phenomena of the environment, is characterized by a
contradictory content organization, where some features, properties or qualities coexist
with the opposite ones simultaneously. And it determines the presence of a series of
dichotomous oppositions concerning the human being’s external and internal worlds.
According to the defined principles of the conceptual-linguistic organization, the
macroconcept HUMAN BEING consists of two hyperconcepts OUTER and INNER
НUMAN BEING. The hyperconcept OUTER HUMAN BEING comprises the concepts
APPEARANCE, PHYSICAL STATES, and the hyperconcept INNER HUMAN BEING –
the concepts PSYCHO EMOTIONAL STATES AND FEELINGS, VOLITIONAL
POWERS, INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES, MORAL QUALITIES, and SOCIAL
CHARACTERISTICS. The latter concepts consist of hypoconcepts which are
differentiated into 74 dichotomous oppositions BEAUTIFUL, HANDSOME –
UNBEAUTIFUL, UGLY; HEALTHY, STRONG – UNHEALTHY, SICK; CHEERFUL,
HAPPY – SAD, UNHAPPY; BRAVE, COURAGEOUS – TIMID, UNCOURAGEOUS;
SINCERE, DECENT – INSENCERE, INDECENT, etc. These oppositions are verbalized
by anthropocentric comparative phraseological units that all together objectivize the
concept HUMAN BEING.
The significant components of the concept HUMAN BEING – associative-
figurative, evaluative, cultural-specific and gender ones are under study from the point of
the semantics of anthropocentric comparative phraseological units. The research of the
associative-figurative component of the concept HUMAN BEING is aimed to consider the
semantics of comparative phraseological units with the help of cultural codes which makes
it possible to reveal that this concept is closely related to other conceptual spheres and they
are the donors of symbols for forming comparative phraseologisms to objectivize the
concept HUMAN BEING. The evaluative component of the present concept is mainly
formed by two main groups of comparative phraseological units – positively and
negatively charged ones, that is explained by the dual, contradictory and ambiguous nature
of the human being. At the same time, the number of negatively evaluating units
significantly exceeds the positively charged ones (50 % (-) and 39% (+). The concept
HUMAN BEING is universal specific and unique. It is proved by the semantics of the
comparative phraseological units which contain the corresponding features and verbalize
this concept. The given concept is also gender-marked, as it is objectivized by comparative
phraseological units with the semantics reflecting the gender-relevant information about
women and men.
An extensive ideographic, cognitive and linguocultural investigation of the
anthropocentric comparative phraseologisms is carried out according to the parameters of
the human being’s external and internal worlds. This analysis allows us to achieve the
main target – to clarify the specificity of objectivizing the concept HUMAN BEING by
means of the English comparative phraseology, to take inventory and to systematize their
volume, to specify the sources of their origin and on their basis to make a complex
analysis of this macroconcept.
The corpora analysis shows that almost a quarter of the comparative phraseologisms
are not registered in the British National Corpus and the Corpus of Contemporary
American English. These are mainly the units which gradually become archaic. The
analysis also reveals a number of comparative phraseologisms that have not been recorded
in lexicographic sources yet, nevertheless they are frequently used in speech.
Key words: concept, the concept HUMAN BEING, anthropocentric comparative
phraseological unit, comparative phraseologism, dichotomous approach, macroconcept,
hyperconcept, hypoconcept.