Scientific journal

Advances in current natural sciences

ISSN 1681-7494

"Перечень" ВАК

ИФ РИНЦ = 0,775

The issues existing at the present stage of international relations require researching in cross-cultural understanding, one of which is the study of mental imagery and behavioral strategies [1]. Concept is a unit of collective knowledge with linguistic expression and marked ethnocultural characteristics. One can trace the coincidences of the English word «enemy» with the Russian word «враг»: 1. A person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something. 2. A hostile nation or its armed forces or citizens, esp. in time of war. 3. A thing that harms or weakens something else. At the same time, in the Russian language there are two more meanings (4. A principled opponent. 5. Devil.), which analogues are absent in the English definition of the word «enemy». Although references to the devil as an old enemy of humanity can be found in an English idiom «the enemy of mankind» (the old Enemy, our ghostly or our great enemy) – the devil, Satan. Russian word «враг» has the following synonyms: неприятель, противник, недруг, антагонист, соперник, конкурент, недоброжелатель, оппозиция, противная сторона, оппонент. Synonymous for the English word «enemy» are: opponent, adversary, antagonist, competitor, rival, foe, opposition, contestant. We see that in the English language the synonyms for «enemy» are not so numerous as in Russian, but they have a lot of similar meanings. Let’s consider how the concept «enemy/enemy» is realized in the paremiology of these languages, because a language, as an integral part of culture, bears the imprint characteristics of mentality and Weltanschauung of the nation [2]. The stable combinations with the words «враг/ enemy» suggest that they express a concept linked with a number of stereotyped behavioral and linguistic situations. We classified the proverbs according to similarities / differences in the languages and have got the following picture: 11 proverbs coincide in their meanings (The best is often the enemy of the good. – Лучшее – враг хорошего), 10 proverbs in both languages do not have matches (Never tell your enemy that your foot aches. Ручаясь за друга, предаешься врагу). Used in an intercultural interaction these proverbs can collide with each other, forming a contiguous zone, false matches, and meaningful gaps. For successful communication the partners should devote much attention to the national peculiarities of the concepts in corresponding lingvoculture.