ABSTRACT
In this study, we assess the verbalization of the concept insolvency reflected in the paroemiological view of the world of the French and English languages. The study of the proverbial view of the world allows us to describe peoples’ attitude to insolvency and reconstruct part of the linguistic view of the world which conceptualizes the phenomenon of adversity in different languages. The objective of this study was to perform a comparative cognitive analysis of the French and English paroemias to assess the verbalization of the concept insolvency, with the aim of revealing its universal and specific features. The analysis of the paroemias selected using the continuous sampling method from the significant French and English dictionaries of proverbs and sayings thus allowed a semantic and contextual analysis of lexical units to verbalize the negative assessment of the concept “insolvency” and its logical opposition “wealth”. Thus, the concept “insolvency” is objectivized through paroemias, which can be grouped into the following four topics: (1) adversity as a moral and material condition of the person; (2) characteristic features of adversity; (3) category of entities of the subjects characterized as poor; and (4) lexical units, reflecting the people’s attitude toward the state of poverty and the miserable’s behavior. The comparative analysis of languages show that paroemias that verbalize the state of insolvency contain a negative connotation, which coincides with the traditional moral values of society. Insolvency and wealth are the key universal concepts in the English and French languages. In this study, we reveal that the English nation is generally rational and favors wealth and assets. In comparison, the French mentality displays a negative attitude toward wealth as the material value. We also reveal that the general understanding of the selected concept differs in a number of features in both the English and French cultures.
