Phraseological units of the English language with cat and dog zoonym-components as a means of representation of knowledge about human being

Dolgova E. V.

The article deals with phraseological units (hereinafter – PUs) of the English language containing zoonyms CAT and DOG, transmitting information about human being. The structure of knowledge represented by PUs is considered as a cognitive matrix. It is noted that PUs are the result of secondary interpretation, the cognitive models of their semantics formation are considered. It is revealed that in the course of secondary comprehension of information about animals, metaphorical cognitive models and cognitive models of comparison play an important role.

Keywords:phraseological unit, secondary interpretation, cognitive matrix, cognitive model, metaphor, comparison.