Transferred meanings of constituents "FUCHS" and "RENARD" within German and French idiomatic expressions

The article presents an onomasiological study of FUCHS and RENARD components within German and French comparative, metaphorical and proverbial idioms. The research demonstrates a new method of defining linguistic and lingvo-semiotic status of both separable and inseparable expressive lexical items. Firstly, the empirical material was analyzed to provide a thesaurus of registered secondary and contextually triggered transferred meanings for both FUCHS and RENARD constituents. Then, each of the meanings was studied from the point of their semiotic function (fixators and nominators of meaning). As a result, FUCHS and RENARD show both similarities and differences on the second onomasiological level. The benefits of the study contribute to the development of a bilingual phraseological dictionary.