Устойчивые сравнения с компонентом-зоонимом для характеристики человека

This article deals with a little researched area which touches on set phraseological units in Bulgarian language and how they differ from their free counterparts. The study focuses on phraseological units expressing peoples' characteristics, which are based on associations with the animal world. These units rely primarily on common aspects of animal and human behaviour, which has bred set phraseological combinations in language.The authors have analyzed the principle semes in the discussed examples because only through exploring their specific nature will it become possible to examine the relationships between the vivid semantics of zoonome phraseological units and the character of their components. Research shows that set zoonome phraseological units based on the names of pets are much more frequently used in language than those based on the names of wild fowl.The paper distinguishes between three semantically different types of phraseological units - 'man as a living creature', 'man as an intelligent creature' and 'man as a social creature'. The main implications of the study are that zoonome components of phraseological units contribute to a more diverse description of man, bringing to the foreground a variety of characteristics about him. They also serve to express abstract notions, as well as to evaluate personality