THE STRUCTURE OF PROVERBS AND PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Abstract

The article describes the structure of proverbs and phraseological units of the English language. It is noted that phraseology is a set of semantically integral, figurative phrases, which are characterized by reproducibility. The main features of proverbs are defined as follows: a proverb is a sentence that has stability and relative immutability of form and exists in the language as a readymade unit as part of phraseology in a broad sense. It expresses a complete thought that reflects a well-known truth, fact or edification and has a general meaning. Phraseology includes a variety of stable combinations that are sentences. They are combined in phraseology proper because of their stability and reproducibility. Such combinations include proverbs and other figurative sayings. The question of including proverbs in phraseology is solved in different ways. Phraseology in the broad sense of the word covers proverbs – crystallized folk sayings that are characterized by an edifying orientation, acting in a certain syntactic form, in the form of a sentence. The phraseological stability of proverbs in communication is conveyed by their intonational integrity.