Scholarly Article

Animals and the World of the Supernatural

Kmecová, Svetlana

2021-11-27 · Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne · Adam Mickiewicz University Poznan

Download PDF

Abstract

Phraseological stocks of all languages contain numerous phrasemes with zoonym components. Inthe paper the author deals with Slovak and Slovene zoonym phrasemes which demonstrate ancient ideas of ancestors about interconnections between animals and the world of the supernatural, in relevant cases she also deals with other phenomena related to the subject of the paper. A number of phraseological units reflect the belief that animals used to have the ability to sense upcoming events, predict the weather, misfortune or death. The units listed in the paper are often rather archaic, however, many of them are still in use or the idea they represent is still alive. The analysed language material has shown similarity not only between Slovak and Slovene languages but also between the mental concepts which form the language picture of the world of their users.

Keywords

Slovak phraseology, Slovene phraseology, zoonyms, supernatural, mythology, slovenská frazeológia, slovinská frazeológia, zoonymá, nadprirodzeno, mytológia

Citation Details

Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne, pp. 35-52