German idiomatic expressions with the names of countries, nationalities and languages: Structural-semantic and linguoculturological features

Abstract

The paper examines German idiomatic expressions with the names of countries, nationalities and languages, which are of great interest both from a linguoculturological and a structural-semantic point of view. The aim of the study is to identify and interpret the basic principles of figurative and semantic reinterpretation of components – the names of countries, nationalities and languages – as part of German idiomatic expressions, taking into account their national and cultural specifics, structural and semantic diversity and stylistic features. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the analysis of idiomatic expressions of various structures, taking into account three different components at the same time, makes it possible to determine the national and cultural specifics of the perception of other cultures by native speakers of German and its reflection in German phraseology to a fuller extent. As a result, it has been revealed that idiomatic expressions with the names of nationalities and languages, which are often phraseological unities or phraseological combinations, primarily have a pronounced negative connotation due to ethnic stereotypes, unlike idiomatic expressions with the names of countries, usually represented by phraseological expressions.