Somatic imagery of the Vespasian Psalter (examplified by idioms with the component heorte)

Abstract

The article offers linguoculturological analysis of supraverbal idioms containing somatic imagery in the 8th century Old English written record – the Vespasian Psalter – the earliest translation specimen of the biblical text into English. Methods of linguoculturological reconstruction, component analysis and analysis of dictionary definitions are employed to analyze phraseological expressions with the component heorte (heart), one of the most frequent and phraseologically productive lexical somatisms in the text of psalms. The study provides a description of the textual source and supraverbal idiomatic material, i.e. Old English phraseological phraseological calques made from the Latin original. The research establishes a characteristic feature of phraseological calque which is conditioned by the literal interlinear translation: the identity of the phraseological calque and its Latin etymon in terms of their component structure, word order, grammatical categories and forms, the semantics of the core component, the figurative basis of the idiom. The main factor creating the imagery of phraseological calques is the correlation of the key component heorte (heart) with the anthroposomatic code of culture and the interaction of corporal semiotics with other cultural codes. The linguoculturological approach allows to distinguish four main macro-metaphorical conceptual models engendering specific phraseological images: HEART IS AN ANIMATED BEING; HEART IS A REFLECTION OF PERSONAL TRAITS OF CHARACTER; HEART IS A MATERIAL OBJECT; HEART IS A CONTAINER. Each macrometaphorical model determines the structural and semantic features of the idioms built. The provided analysis of the figurative idioms under study is effected in context. The article may be of interest to specialists in phraseology, linguoculturology and history of English. Further areas of research may include a comprehensive analysis of Old English biblical idioms containing other somatic components.