There is Nothing Hidden in the Balkans (the Secret in the Balkan Phraseology)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore the linguistic view of the world in two Balkan and related languages – Bulgarian and Croatian. Тhe secret is a concept in the process of the division of the world, because it is a fundamental and global part of the under-standing of reality, and the linguistic representation of this perception is an essential part of building the Balkan image of the world. The object of the research is the semantic space of the secret in the modern Balkan languages and the system of phraseology and idiomatic expressions that participate in the construction of the concept of secret. Тhe secret is conceived and conceptualized similarly in the Bulgarian and Croatian languages, it is presented as an object or substance. There is a partial overlap of the semantic field secret with silence and non-speaking, in some cases with silence and darkness. The different metaphorical schemes building the view of the world are presented. The conclusion is that we could speak of a common Balkan understanding of a concept, a piece of the puzzle of the Balkan linguistic picture of the world, which is yet to be explored, described and reconstructed.