Language and Culture in Phaseological Units Related to Profession Names: Traditions and Values

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the investigation of the phraseological expressions in the Spanish language that contain names of profession or trade. Idiomatic expressions are combinations of words that present greater difficulty in the process of learning a second language and in intercultural communication in general. Spanish phraseological units include several names of professions (barber, apothecary, coal, butcher, carpenter, carter, hunter, cook, etc.) and religious occupations (abbot, canon, chaplain, priest, friar, monk, bishop, parish priest, sacristan). We have focused our research on 40 paremias related to the occupations of priest and friar. Based on the analysis of semantic aspects and the cognitive interpretation of phraseological units, we have defined their denotative characteristics, stylistic, expressive and historicalcultural connotations. The study reveals the obvious anticlericalism of Spanish sayings and proverbs and exposes possible causes of the negative connotations developed in phraseology.