The image of the fly in Polish, French and English phraseology. A comparative analysis

Abstract

The article concerns the image of the fly in Polish, French, and English phraseology. Connections between language and culture are discussed, with comparative semantic analyses as an important element of intercultural dialogue. Such analyses also benefit translation studies and language teaching. It is considered what properties of the fly are important for a given linguistic community, how the insect is viewed axiologically, and what experience of the insect has been preserved in the language’s phraseology. In the analysis, parallel phraseological units in all three languages are identified, with an account of the connections motivated by the physical properties of flies, their behaviour and axiology in relation to humans. In each language, different features of the fly are preserved so that the overall images of the insect are different. The frequency of the units with the nominal ‘fly’ in these languages also varies.