Functional aspects of zoonymic phraseology based on German and English corpora

The aim of the study to identify and describe the functional characteristics of zoonymic phraseology in English and German, based on corpus data. The research material consists of 50 examples of zoonymic phraseological units extracted from German and English language corpora. The analysis was carried out using corpus methods (frequency and contextual analysis), comparative analysis, as well as elements of cognitive-discursive and functional approaches. The results of the study are summarized as follows: 1) zoonymic phraseological units in both languages perform evaluative, expressive, metaphorical, and emotional-communicative functions; 2) the German language exhibits greater metaphorical productivity involving zoonyms, whereas English is characterized by pragmatism and stable idiomatic usage; 3) frequency analysis revealed the consistent presence of such units in media, conversational, and literary discourse; 4) culturally conditioned diff erences were noted: for example, the presence of unique expressions involving the image of a fox, goat, or pig in German, and an owl, donkey, or frog in English.