Metaphorical models of phraseological units with an evaluation component in Mari and French

Introduction. The article deals with metaphorical models of phraseological units with an evaluation meaning in Mari and French. The theoretical basis for this work was the works of such scholars as V. V. Vinogradov, A. I. Smirnitsky, I. I. Chernyshev and A. P. Chudinov. The practical value is to determine the features of the formation of phraseological units, using metaphors belonging to a special class. The object of the study is the metaphorical models of the phraseological units in Mari and French, the subject of the study is an evaluative component of the metaphorical models of the phraseological units. The purpose of the study is to analyze the samples of phraseological units selected by continuous sampling method for revealing the prevalent type of metaphors, with which the evaluation is most often expressed. Materials and Methods. The method of continuous sampling; method of linguistic description; comparative method. The material of the study is based on 90 phraseological units, selected by the method of continuous sampling from the Phraseological Dictionary of the Mari Language by F. T. Gracheva and “Dictionary of Mari proverbs and sayings” by A. E. Kitikova and 150 French phraseological units, selected by the method of continuous sampling from phraseological dictionaries of the French language. Results and Discussion. The most numerous means of expressiveness of the Mari phraseology turned out to be comparative turns and metaphors. The metaphorical thinking and wide use of expressive means allow to draw a conclusion about the predominance of fgurative perception of the world in the consciousness of the Mari people, about the axiological potential of the Mari phraseology. The most frequent way of forming phraseological units with a negative evaluation in French is zoomorphic and sociomorphic metaphors, anthropomorphic and natomorphic metaphors most often carry a neutral or ambivalent assessment. Conclusion. The article identifed the basic metaphorical models and the images used for phraseological units with an evaluation component in the Mari language. A zeomorphic and sociomorphic metaphor is used in peerative phraseological units, while neutral or ambivalent evaluations as characteristic of an anthropomorphic and nat- uralomorphic metaphors.