Mental Processes as Expressed in Polish and Bulgarian Head-Related Idioms

Abstract

The analysis presents Polish and Bulgarian idioms which use the word “head” and describe selected mental processes (thinking, learning, understanding, memorizing, forgetting). The comparison of the bilingual material allows discussing similarities and differences between studied units on three levels: imagery, formal characteristics, and semantic content. Most of the analysed idioms refer to the metaphor of a head as container, which can be divided in four groups of idioms referring to: 1) brain malfunction; 2) missing a head or having one’s head replaced with a substitute of low value; 3) the processes of filling or emptying a head; 4) movements inside a head. Some of the formations that are similar in their imagery and formal characteristics vary on the semantic level. In some groups, there is also a visible disproportion, expressed in the lack of Bulgarian material of relationships acknowledged in the Polish material and vice versa, however those constitute a margin of excerpted units.

Original title in Polish: “Procesy mentalne w świetle polskich i bułgarskich frazeologizmów z komponentem 'głowa'.”