Idioms and Proverbs With a Plant Component in English Language and Culture

Abstract

The article is aimed at analyzing the symbolic specificity of the Plant component, being a part of idioms and proverbs, formulating English language and culture ground.The research methodology is complex and is based two groups of methods, which are general scientific methods group, including analysis and synthesis, generalization, and special methods group, including the descriptive method, the method of component analysis, and the quantitative method.The research proves that the symbolic component, being the part of idioms or proverbs, make specific images in a person's mind causing special associations. The Plant component in idioms and proverbs especially in modern English culture is an integral part formulatung special part of lexis in English culture. The author identifies such subgroups of Plant components as part of idioms and proverbs as “tree components”, “tree names components”, “tree parts components”, “tree fruit components” and systematizes their properties from the standpoint of language and culture symbiosis understanding. The research asserts that the qualities typical for Plant components realization are associated with a person and various aspects of his activity.The research work results in two groups of idioms and proverbs with a Plant component classification types revealing main aspects of British culture by means of symbolic ideas: the group “man” describing peculiar features of man’s appearance, character, speech, mental abilities; and the group “specific features of human life”, being subdivided into subgroups “material life” and “immaterial life”, representing the features of tangible and intangible values of English language and culture.