술 그리고 체코 속담과 관용적 표현

An Analysis of Czech Proverbs and Idomatic Expressions Related to Liquor

This paper aims to analyze the characterization of Czech proverbs and idiomatic expressions related liquor. Most Czech idioms related to liquor contain a semantically negative evaluation in their meaning. Idioms and proverbs in this category are expressed with a specific verb or adjective that apparently expresses the state of drunkenness as a result of the liquor or as a favor by it. Idioms as anomalies in this category are characterized as closed class; on the other hand, a number of these lexical items in the predicate position or in the comparatum are characterized by interchangeability of have paradigmatically structured data. In most cases, idiomatic expressions in this category have special features in which syntactic relations are constructed with lexical elements denoting liquor or alcohol. In terms of the pragmatic use of these idiomatic expressions in this category, past or present tense prevail. In contrast to other categories of idioms, in this category verbs or deverbative adjectives are dominative in the predicate position. In the position of the comparatum mostly appear the lexical items related to liquor or animals with semantically negative evaluations. In idiomatic similes in this category, even when the parts that follow the predicational relator are omitted, in many cases the semantic feature is sufficient by itself. The idioms and proverbs analyzed in this paper provide clues about traditional ways of thinking of the Czech people and of their values as they pertain to the topic analyzed here. This paper also attempts to explore the application of linguistic theories in the semantic interpretation of idioms and proverbs in terms of the context, pragmatics and the cultural background of the Czech people.