Abstract
This article looks at the drunken person image in terms of Czech and Eastern Slavic phraseology. Person’s “relationship” with alcohol is described in a significant amount of cases using a comparing construction containing conjunction “like”. Most often a drunken person is compared to animals (свинья, скотина), also sometimes biblical references are used: Russian (пьян) до положения риз, Belarusian да божай моцы напіцца, Czech opilý pod obraz (boží). In phraseology the alcohol theme also refers to the motif of temptation with devil and snake as the tempters. In all of the analysed languages we can find a phrasing [drunk like a (various craftsmen) / (thing) / (natural phenomenon) ], while foul language uses disgraceful expressions for reproductive organs. The analysis of dictionaries allows us to identify a number of ethnophraseologisms: Czech opilý jako Dán; Russian пьян до положения риз; Belarusian набрацца як Марцін за рубля; Ukrainian п’яний як чіп. The end of the 20th century is connected with a process of phraseological innovation — e.g. пьяный мажор enters Eastern Slavic languages. In Russian colloquial dictionary we meet contemporary examples пьян в сосиску и пьяный в щи, Czech contemporary analogue is na rokytku/Rokytku. The analysed idioms show us that a drunken person is distanced from his “usual” self and becomes “strange”. Given individual characteristics, phraseological image of a drunk is very similar in four Slavic languages.
Highlights
This article looks at the drunken person image in terms of Czech and Eastern Slavic phraseology
Most often a drunken person is compared to animals, sometimes biblical references are used: Russian до положения риз, Belarusian да божай моцы напіцца, Czech opilý pod obraz
The analysis of dictionaries allows us to identify a number of ethnophraseologisms: Czech opilý jako Dán; Russian пьян до положения риз; Belarusian набрацца як Марцін за рубля; Ukrainian п’яний як чіп
Summary
This article looks at the drunken person image in terms of Czech and Eastern Slavic phraseology. Person’s “relationship” with alcohol is described in a significant amount of cases using a comparing construction containing conjunction “like”.
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