maket_N_verjin.qxp


The Semantic Field of Phraseological Units
Expressing Kindness and Malice in

Armenian, Russian and English 

Nothing is perfectly static in language. Every word,every grammatical element, every sound and
accent is a slowly changing configuration moulded by the
invisible and impersonal drift that is the life of language.
This Heraclitean conception of a perpetual drift in language
refers particularly to semantics since of all linguistic
elements meaning is probably the least resistant to change.
Here we should mention that in the course of time not only
the meanings of the words but also those of the abstracted
word-groups arising in the colloquial speech undergo
semantic changes. How and why does this happen?

Based on their centuries-old visual observations and
experience people have always tried to explain the phenomena taking place in a man’s
organism. Thus, for instance, they have noticed that when one is angry he gets black or red in
the face or unhealthy people look pale or when experiencing strong fear one’s face becomes
white and so on. These observations have resulted in the formation of some phraseological
units: red in the face; be green around the gills; as white as a sheet; blue baby, etc.

But sometimes there is no opportunity for such observations. In this case, people
make mental abstractions and achieve a moral and psychological perception of the
phenomena and form phraseological units such as black heart; evil eye; live from hand
to mouth; one’s heart goes into one’s boots, etc. 

These semantic changes take place by means of certain stylistic devices, such as
metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole, simile, etc. It should be noted that as a result of these
changes in meaning, the phraseological units created are transferred into another
semantic field.

In linguistics, a semantic field is considered to be an entity of words belonging to
different parts of speech but expressing one conception, and it is this very conception,
that embraces all these words in a given field. Like words, phraseological units can
belong to different semantic fields. In this case linguistic units are placed in those fields
according to the whole meaning expressed by their components independent of their
grammatical, structural, stylistic and other peculiarities.

A great number of phraseological units comprising names of body parts can be
found in Armenian, Russian and English. By means of these picturesque linguistic units
people express the inner world of a person, and different phenomena, their nature and
behaviour as well as their feelings and emotions, desires and hopes. 

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Linguistics Armenian Folia Anglistika

Hasmik Ghazaryan



Body names can have different symbolic and semantic values in Armenian, Russian
and English, which often coincide. This is evidence of similarities found in the linguistic
thinking of the peoples speaking these languages; on the other hand the differences
between the meanings and symbols reflect the peculiarities of the linguistic thinking of
those nations.

The goal of this article is to study, analyse and compare the semantic fields of the
Armenian, Russian and English phraseological units with the components “heart” and
“eye” expressing kindness and malice. Kindness and malice, the two main categories of
ethics, characterize individuals, give a moral evaluation of groups of people and great
historical events and make up the contents of the moral and the immoral. Kindness is
what the society considers to be moral, positive, proper, worth imitating. Malice regards
negative deeds and phenomena as opposed to social development and are considered by
the society to be unacceptable, immoral and condemnable.

Kindness involves such conceptions as generosity, tender-heartedness, sympathy,
softness, while malice - on the contrary – cruelty, atrocity. The positive or negative
feelings arising in a person’s soul are the origin of those kind and evil phenomena which
characterize people and their actions as kindness and malice. Perhaps these very feelings
become the origin of linguistic abstraction by stirring and exciting the soul of a man, thus
becoming the source of these phraseological units.

Two subfields can be noted here:
The subfield of phraseological units expressing “kindness”.
The subfield of phraseological units expressing “malice”.
Here are illustrations of some phraseological units expressing kindness:

êÇñïÁ µ³ñÇ - Good-hearted, merciful. ܳ ·Çï», áñ ÇÙ ëÇñïÁ µ³ñÇ ¿, É»½áõë
¿ ÙdzÛÝ ã³ñ£ (Shirvanzade 1950: 284):

àëÏÇ ëÇñï (áõݻݳÉ)-To be kind and compassionate. Øáõñ³¹Á áëÏ» ëÇñï áõÝÇ£
(Shirvanzade 1950: 456)

Ø»Í ëÇñï, Ù»Í ëñïÇ ï»ñ - Generous, magnanimous. âÝ³Û³Í ó³ñ³Ï³Ý
ÙÇÝÇëïñ Èáµ³ÝáíÇ Ñ³Ûï³ñ³ñáõÃÛ³ÝÁ` éáõë Ù»Í ÅáÕáíáõñ¹Á Ù»Í ëÇñï áõÝÇ£
(Torgomyan 1959: 51)

êÇñïÁ ɳÛÝ / É»Ý - Hospitable, sociable. Îñ³Í íßï»ñÇ ã³÷ ɳÛÝ áõ Ù»Í ¿
ëÇñïÁ ÇÙ Ñ³Û ÅáÕáíñ¹Ç£ (Sevak l: 1968,162)

êÇñïÁ ß³ñÅ(í)»É - Get excited, have mercy on, make somebody feel mercy. ê³
ûÏáõ½ »ñ»ëáõÝ ï³ñáí ¿É ç³Ñ»É³Ý³, ¹³ñÓÛ³É ãÇ Ï³ñáÕ ÇÙ ëÇñïÁ ß³ñÅ»É, áõñ
Ùݳó` ÑÇÙÇ£ (Toumanyan: 1994, 338)

øÝùáõß ëÇñï - A soft person. ܳ áõÝÇ ùÝùáõß ëÇñï, µ³Ûó ³Ùáõñ ϳÙù, ÇÝãå»ë
Çñ ѳݷáõóÛ³É Ù³ÛñÝ ¿ñ£ (Shirvanzade 1950: 330)

êÇñïÁ ù³Õóñ³óÝ»É - Soften somebody’s heart, gain somebody’s gentle
disposition. î³ÝÁ ·ÇÝÇ-³ñ³Õ ã»Ý ÃáÕ»É` ͳ˻É`ëñ³-Ýñ³ ÷áñÝ »Ý ³Í»É, ÙáíñáíÇ
ëÇñïÁ ã»Ýù ϳñ³ó»É ù³Õóñ³óݻɣ (Proshyan 1968: 272)

êÇñïÁ ÷³÷áõÏ / ϳÏáõÕ (dial.) - Sensitive, delicate. ´³Ý³ëï»ÕÍÇ ÙÁ ëÇñïÁ
÷³÷áõÏ ¿, ³Ù»Ý³Ã»Ã¨ Ëáëù» ÙÁ ÏíÇñ³íáñíÇ£ (Paronyan: 1979, 238)

êÇñïÁ µ³ñ³Ï»É - Become delicate, sensitive. ¶Çï»±ë, áñ¹Ç, ÇÙ ëÇñïÝ ¿É
µ³ñ³Ï»É ¿, ß³ï µ³ñ³Ï»É, ¿É ³é³çí³ àëϳÝÁ ã»Ù£ (Shirvanzade 1950: 480)

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êÇñïÁ ÷³÷Ï»É - Become sensitive, delicate. ØÇû ùá ëÇñïÁ ¹»é ãÇ ÷³÷ϻɣ
(Toumanyan: 1994, 420)

´³ñÇ ³ãù 1. Benevolence. 2. A good treatment, a kind wish. øá µ³ñÇ ³ãùáí
ï»ëÝáõÙ »ë ¿ÉÇ, ø³ñÇ, ÑáÕÇ Ñ»ï ÏéÇí »Ýù ï³ÉÇ£ (Toumanyan III: 1989, 70)

²ãùÁ ù³Õóñ ÉÇÝ»É/ å³Ñ»É - Be benevolent, look with a kindly eye, patronize.
àëÏÇÝ å³Ñ»É »Ù Ø»ÉÇùÇ Ñ³Ù³ñ, áñ ù³Õóñ ÉÇÝÇ ³ãùÁ Ù»½ íÁñ³£ (Toumanyan I:
1991, 21)

²ëïÍá(áõ) ³ãùÁ Ù»ÏÇ íñ³ (ù³Õóñ) å³Ñ»É/ ÉÇÝ»É - Look at somebody with a
kindly eye, help him. ÆëÏ »ë ϳñÍáõÙ ¿Ç, û ¹áõù ѳ½³ñ³íáñ áëÏ»·Ùµ»Ã
ï³×³ñÝ»ñ áõÝ»ù, Ýñ³Ýó Ù»ç ³Ý¹³¹³ñ ³ÕáÃáõÙ »Ý Ó»ñ Ñá·¨áñ ѳÛñ»ñÁ áõ
³ëïÍáõ ³ãùÁ ù³Õóñ »Ý å³ÑáõÙ Ó»½ íñ³£ (Toumanyan: 1994, 259)

²ãùÁ ù³Õóñ³Ý³É - To become gentle, benevolent, look with a kindly eye. ²ë»Ýù
÷»ë»¹ Çñ ˳ɳÃÝ ³Ù»Ý ï»Õ ϳéÝÇ, ѳɵ³Ã ÙÇ ù³ÝÇ ³ëï³Í³ë»ñÝ»ñÇ ³ãùÝ
¿É Ù»ñ íñ³ Ïù³Õóñ³Ý³£ (Proshyan 1968: 94)

²ãùÁ ù³Õóñ– Kind and gentle. ƱÝã ¿ ³ñ»É Þ³ÑÁ Ó»½ í³ï, ²ãùÝ ¿É ù³Õóñ
ÙÇßï Ó»½ íñ³£ (Toumanyan I:, 1991, 181)

ȳí/ ³Õ»Ï ³ãùáí ݳۻÉ- Look with a kindly eye. ºí ëݳѳí³ï سëÇëÛ³ÝÁ
ã¿ñ ϳñáÕ ãÝϳï»É ³Û¹, ¨ ¹ñ³ ѳٳñ ëÏë»ó ݳ Ñ»ï½Ñ»ï» É³í ³ãùáí ݳۻÉ
Ù³ÝáõÏ ·ÛáõÕ³óáõ íñ³£ (Raffi III: 1984, 239)

ø³Õóñ ³ãùáí ݳۻÉ/ ÙïÇÏ ³Ý»É/ ÙïÇÏ ï³É - To be benevolent, careful. ØdzÛÝ
Ù»ñ »ñÏÇñ ù³ñáõù³Ý¹ ã³Ý»ë àõ ù³Õóñ ³ãùáí Ù»½ ÙïÇÏ ³Ý»ë£ (Toumanyan IV:
1991, 11):

²ëïí³Í ã³ñ ³ãùÇó å³ÑÇ - God save from misfortunes. ²ëïí³Í ù»½ ÛáÃÇ
ï»Õ ÙÇ »Õµ³Ûñ ¿ ïí»É, ³Õ³ãÇñ Ýñ³Ý, áñ å³ÑÇ, å³Ñå³ÝÇ ÙÇÝÇÏ »Õµáñ¹ ã³ñ
³ãùÇó, ã³ñ ÝdzÃÇó£ (Shirvanzade 1950: 500)

²ãùÁ (¿Ý) µ³ñÇÝ ï»ëÝÇ - You should have seen how much brave, kind he was. ¸áõ
á°ã Ù»éÝÇë, ³Õ³ ç³Ý, ³ãù¹ µ³ñÇÝ ï»ëÝÇ, ÇÝã áñ ¿ë ˳ÉËÝ ³ ï»ëÝáõÙ£ (Proshyan
1968: 315)

Çîëîòîå ñåðäöå - Kind, loving, honest. Ó òåáÿ òàêîå çîëîòîå ñåðäöå, ÷òî
õîòÿ îíè è íå ïðîñòÿò ìåíÿ, íî âèäÿ, ÷òî è òû ïðîñòèë, ìîæåò áûòü, õîòü
íåìíîãî ñìÿã÷àòñÿ íàäî ìíîé. (Dostoyevski 1971: 166)

Îò äîáðîãî ñåðäöà - With kind motives, with no evil thoughts. Âîò åù¸
íàø¸ëñÿ!- ñêàçàëà îíà âäðóã, îáðàùàÿñü îïÿòü ê Äàðüå Àëåêñååâíå- à âåäü
âïðÿìü îò äîáðîãî ñåðäöà, ÿ åãî çíàþ. (Dostoyevski 1981: 191)

Ñåðäöå/äóøà ïåðåâ¸ðòûâàåòñÿ / ïåðåâåðíóëîñü - Sympathize with somebody.
Âñ¸ ñåðäöå åãî ïåðåâåðíóëîñü … íî âîò è îí äîø¸ë äî ðîêîâîãî ìåñòà.
(Dostoyevski 1983: 505)

A heart of gold - Generous. Indeed she really was if reality were visible as a dear
little thing with a heart of gold. (Maugham 1980: 132)

Have a good/ kind heart - Be kind and generous. Young Michael had a good heart.
(Galsworthy 1956: 238)

One’s heart goes out / warms to/ towards sb. - To comfort heartily, to have warm
feelings towards somebody. My heart has gone out to you to see how you’ve been upset.
(Cronin 1963, 371) Mrs Carey thought Philip very young for this, and her heart went
out to the motherless child. (Maugham 1975: 30)

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One’s heart melts - To soften, become mild. I don’t know, he laughed, unless just
by loving you hard enough to melt the heart of a stone, much less the heart of living,
breathing woman you are. (London 1953: 200)

Look with a kindly eye - Be benevolent. They would not view all that with a kindly
eye. (Dreiser 1968: 194)

This subfield also includes: ö³÷áõÏ ëÇñï, ëÇñïÁ µ³ñ³Ï, ɳÛÝ ëÇñï áõݻݳÉ,
ëÇñïÁ Ù³ñ»ÙñÇÏ ·³É(dial.), ëÇñïÁ ·áõà ÁÝÏÝ»É, ëÇñïÁ ɳÛÝ å³Ñ»É, ëÇñïÁ
÷³÷ϳóÝ»É / ϳÏÕ³óÝ»É, ³Õù³ïÇ ³ãùÁ ëñµ»É, µ³ñÇ ³ãùáí ݳۻÉ, ³ãùÇ ÉáõÛëÁ
»ñóÉ, ³ãùÁ Ù»ÏÇ íñ³ ù³Õóñ³óÝ»É/ ù³Õóñ ÉÇÝ»É, ³ëïí³Í ³ãùÇó å³Ï³ë
ã³ÝÇ, ³ãùÇ ÉáõÛëáí å³é³í»ë, ³ãùÁ ï³Ý»É, ³ëïí³Í ù³Õóñ ³ãùáí ÙïÇÏ ³ÝÇ/
ݳÛÇ, ѳßï ³ãùáí ݳۻÉ, áîëüøîå ñåðäöå, äîáðîå ñåðäöå, ñåðäöå ðàñòàÿëî,
ñìÿã÷èòü ñåðäöå, a big heart, a kind soft/ sympathetic / warm heart, Have one’s heart
in the right place/ one’s heart lies in the right place, Kind hearts are more than
coronets (prov.), have a soft corner in one’s heart for sb., etc.

We can see that the phraseological units of this subfield with the component
“heart”, besides their main meaning have some additional shades of meaning, thus, for
instance, the Armenian units have shades of tender-heartedness, sympathy, conscience,
generosity and nobleness, hospitality, friendliness, clemency. The shade of honesty can
be observed in Russian while in English – the shades of kind intensions as well as
sensitiveness, concession and warmth. 

The phraseological units including the word “eye” also possess the shade of good-
will both in Armenian and English. The shades of attention and care towards sb.,
patronage, support and tolerance can be noted in Armenian.

We can see some equivalent phrases which, we think, are not calques, but
phraseological units arisen independently in different languages: ëÇñïÁ µ³ñÇ – äîáðîå
ñåðäöå – a kind heart; áëÏÇ ëÇñï – çîëîòîå ñåðäöå – a heart of gold ; one’s heart
melts – ñåðäöå ðàññòàÿëî; µ³ñÇ ³ãùáí Ý³Û»É – look with a kindly eye.

In the case of the last pair a question arises whether the Armenian phraseological
unit is a borrowing from English or maybe the mentioned units have arisen
independently in Armenian and English, or maybe the Armenian phraseological unit has
come into Eastern Armenian through Western Armenian (²Õ»Ï ³ãùáí ݳۻÉ). Is the
English unit a basic phrase or is it a borrowing? We will consider this in a later study. 

b) Now we refer to the second subfield. 

êÇñïÁ ù³ñ³Ý³É / ù³ñ Ïïñ»É - Become merciless, ruthless. ²Ñ³ ³Ûëù³Ý
·»Õ»óÇÏ, ³Ûëù³Ý µ³ñÇ áõ ³Ûëù³Ý ëÇñ»ÉÇ ¿ñ ²ñ¨Ñ³ïÁ, µ³Ûó DZÝã ϳݻë, áñ
Ëáñà Ùáñ ëÇñïÁ ù³ñ³ó»É ¿ñ£ (Aghayan 1979: 390)

êÇñïÁ ù³ñ³óÝ»É - Make somebody merciless, cruel. ´ÝáõÃÛáõÝÝ ÇÝùÝ ¿
ù³ñ³óÝáõÙ Ù³ñ¹áõ ëÇñïÝ ³Û¹åÇëÇ ¹»åù»ñáõÙ£ (Mouratsan 1957: 156)

êÇñïÁ ã³ñ - Envious, a man of black deeds. » áñ »ë ã³ñ ëÇñï áõݻݳÛÇ,
»ã³ÝÇ ¹»Ù ù»Ý, ÙÇ Ý³Ë³ÝÓ ëñïáõÙë å³Ñ³Í ÁÉÝ»Ç, ÑÇÙÇ ã¿Ç ÓdzíáñíÇÉ áõ ÓÇáõë
ïñ³ù³óÝ»Éáí ù³Ù³ÏÇó¹ ѳëÝÇÉ£ (Proshyan 1968: 327)

¸ÅáËù í³é»É Ù»ÏÇ ëñïáõÙ (book) - Commit evil, torture somebody. ²ëáõÙ »ë,

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áñ ꨳ¹³Ý Ý»ñ»É ¿ Ýñ³Ý, ÇÝãáõ áõñ»ÙÝ, ³Û¹ Í»ñáõÏÁ ¹ÅáËù í³é»ó ÇÙ ëñïáõÙ£
(Mouratsan 1957: 149)

êÇñïÁ ųÝï - Cruel, merciless. ØǨÝáõÛÝ ¿, û ÑÇÙ³ áñï»Õ »ë Ù³ßáõÙ øá
ÏáßÇÙÝ»ñÁ ÝñµÇÝ ¨ ùá ëÇñïÁ ųÝï£ (Sevak I, 1968: 224)

êÇñï ãáõÝ»Ý³É - To be merciless, ruthless. ⿱ áñ Ù³ñ¹ÇÏ ¿°É ëÇñï ãáõÝÇÝ,
²ÝëÇñï Ù³ñ¹Á ó³í ãáõÝÇ£ (Isahakyan I, 1973: 82)

â³ñ ³ãù - An envious eye. ¸áõù å³ñáÝÝ»ñ, ã³ñ ³ãùáí ½³ñÏ»óÇù ÇÙ
µ³Ëï³íáñáõÃÛ³ÝÁ,- å³ï³ë˳ݻó ¸ñ³ãÏáíÁ µ³ñÏáõÃÛ³Ùµ£ (Raffi III: 1984,
186)

â³ñ ³ãùáí ݳۻÉ/ ÙïÇÏ ï³É - To wish somebody bad, show ill-will. سÛñë
³ëáõÙ ¿, û å³é³í ¶á½»Ý ã³ñ ³ãùáí ïí»ó, ·Çï»ë ݳ ã³ñ ³ãù áõÝÇ, ܳñ·Çë£
(Raffi I: 1983, 318)

²ãùáí ï³É - According to prejudice: to hurt with an evil eye. à±í ³ÝÇÍ»ó, ³ãùáí
ïí»ó ÇÙ ³Ýáõß µ³É³£ (Torgomyan 1959: 242)

ʻà ³ãùáí ݳۻÉ/ ÙïÇÏ ï³É - 1. Give a sullen look. 2. Show ill-will. ì³ñ¹³ÝÁ
˻à ³ãùáí ݳۻó Ýñ³ »ñ»ëÇÝ ¨ áãÇÝã ãå³ï³ë˳ݻó£ (Raffi IV: 1984, 396)

Ñåðäöå îáðîñëî ìîõîì- Somebody has become merciless, ruthless. Èëü ñêàæåò
ñûí, ×òî ñåðäöå ó ìåíÿ îáðîñëî ìîõîì. (Pushkin: 1982, 101)

Äóðíîé / ëèõîé / õóäîé ãëàç – According to prejudice: A look of a malevolent
person that causes misfortune.

׸ðíûé ãëàç– A bad, evil, malevolent look.
Evil eye - 1. A bad, evil eye. 2. A malevolent look. 
Look with an evil eye - Look at somebody or something with malice. Before she

comes here, say nothing about her, if you please, to the doctor, because he will look
with an evil eye on any nurse of my providing. (Collins 1934: 360)

A hard heart - A cruel person. Indeed it would have been a hard heart that failed
to be moved by the sight of Frank, that lion- hearted woman, crying her eyes out.
(Maugham 1980: 365)

A heart of stone, Stony hearted - A merciless, ruthless person.Then Huckleberry
and Tom Stood dumb and staring, and heard the stony-hearted liar reel off his seven
statements. (Twain 1948: 75)

A wicked heart- A wicked person. I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could see them
– a pretty face may cover a wicked heart. (Cronin 1963: 92)

This subfield also includes: ë¨ ëÇñï ëÇñïÁ ϳñÍñ³óÝ»É, ëÇñïÁ ù³ñ (ã)
(ÉÇÝ»É), ëÇñïÁ ûÓ ÏÍ»É, ëÇñïÁ ã³ñÇÝ ï³É, ëÇñïÁ ÏáñóÝ»É, ë¨ ëñïÇ ïÕ³, ³ãùÁ
ãï³Ý»É, ³ãù ï³É, ³ãùÁ ͳÝñ, Ó íåãî íåò ñåðäöà, Harden one’s heart, Black heart,
A honey tongue, a heart of gall (prov), ²ãùÇ ·³É, ²ãùÁ ã³ñ, etc.

It can be seen that the phraseological units with the component “heart” also have
some semantic shades together with their main meaning, such as mercilessness, cruelty
and envy, committing evil and torturing sb., indifference and false appearance. Thus for
instance, the shade of ill-will is apparent in Armenian, Russian and English. The shade
of being harmed from an evil eye, as well as experiencing unhappiness or misfortune are
expressed in Armenian and Russian, while the shade of envy, ill-treatment, not assisting,

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patronizing sb. and intolerance towards sb. exist only in Armenian. It can also be seen
that in the languages understudy some of the phraseological units have been formed on
the basis of one and the same prejudice.

However, all the units are regarded as equivalents independent of their constitution
and semantic shades. Here are some illustrations: êÇñïÁ ù³ñ³óÝ»É – Harden one’s
heart; êÇñï ãáõÝ»Ý³É – Ó íåãî íåò ñåðäöà; êÇñïÁ ã³ñ – A wicked eye; â³ñ ³ãù
– Äóðíîé ãëàç / ×åðíûé ãëàç – Evil eye ;â³ñ ³ãùáí Ý³Û»É – Look with an evil eye;
ë¨ ëÇñï - Black heart

These equivalents differ only in their structural types.
This subfield also includes units which are peculiar to this or that language: ¹ÅáËù

í³é»É Ù»ÏÇ ëñïáõÙ, ëÇñïÁ ûÓ ÏÍ»É, ë¨ ëñïÇ ïÕ³, ëÇñïÁ ÏáñóÝ»É, ñåðäöå
îáðoñëî ìîõîì, a honey tongue, a heart of gall, etc.

The last phraseological unit may be considered identical to the Armenian saying
“ë¨ ëÇñï, ëåÇï³Ï ³ï³Ù”, which, like the English phraseological unit, means “The
soul isn’t the same as the appearance”. 

The phraseological units included in this semantic field belong to different
structural types. Thus for instance, the Armenian phraseological units tend to be
substantive, attributive or verbal constructions. In Russian, the tendency seems to be for
substantive, verbal and adverbial as well as sentence-level units while int English these
units tend toward the substantive, adjectival, verbal and sentence-level. Several nominal
and verbal grammatical categories function in these units. We won’t analyze these
categories in detail here. We would mention only that some of these categories have a
meaning-distinguishing role however, and the units would be deprived of their meanings
if those categories were used otherwise. The syntactical relations between the
components of the units are expressed by the typological peculiarities of the languages
under consideration. If we compare the phraseological units involving the components
“heart” and “eye”, we can see that although they coincide in their main meaning, they
differ in expressing additional semantic shades. If the phraseological units of the subfield
“kindness” with the component “eye” have shades of good-will, patronage, tolerance,
care, adaptability, in the corresponding subfield of the phraseological units with “heart”
we can find shades of mercy and sympathy, conscience and generosity, honesty,
hospitality, sensitivity and warmth.

The same can be seen in the subfield expressing “malice”. Here the phraseological
units with the component “eye” express envy, ill-will, prohibition, intolerance, as well
as harm, whereas in the phrases with “heart” we find the shades of mercilessness, cruelty
and envy, committing black deeds and indifference, etc. 

In the subfields “kindness” and “malice” we can note some phraseological
variants in the languages under discussion: êÇñïÁ ß³ñÅí»É (grammatical); êÇñïÁ
ù³ñ³Ý³É/ ù³ñ Ïïñ»É (lexical); ´³ñÇ ³ãùáí ݳۻÉ/ ÙïÇÏ ³Ý»É (lexical); ȳí/
³Õ»Ï ³ãùáí Ý³Û»É (lexical); A kind/ soft/ sympathetic/ warm heart (lexical);
Ñåðäöå/äóøà ïåðåâåðòûâàåòñÿ/ ïåðåâåðíóëîñü (lexical and grammatical);
Äóðíîé/ ëèõîé/ õóäîé ãëàç (lexical).

In the broader sense the phraseological units of each subfield can be considered as

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synonymic phrases, but some narrower synonyms can be seen as well: øÝùáõß ëÇñï –
ö³÷áõÏ ëÇñï; êÇñïÁ µ³ñ³Ï»É – êÇñïÁ ÷³÷Ï»É – êÇñïÁ ÷³÷ϳóÝ»É; ´³ñÇ
³ãù – ø³Õóñ ³ãù - ²ãùÁ ù³Õóñ; ²ãùÁ ï³Ý»É – гßï ³ãùáí ݳۻÉ; Ñåðäöå
ðàññòàÿëî – Ñìÿã÷èòü ñåðäöå; etc. 

On the whole the two subfields are in antonymic relations. There are a few blessings
and curses among the mentioned units, especially in Armenian.

From the semantic point of view the main components in the phraseological units
are “heart” and “eye”. In the Armenian unit – ë¨ ëñïÇ ïÕ³ - the colour component is
as important as the component “heart”. In case of removing either of these components
the whole unit will be deprived of its meaning. The units are mainly used in colloquial
speech, a few in dialects or literary style. Fiction is quite rich in them.

So, we can conclude that there are many similarities and differences between
semantic, structural, and grammatical characteristics of the phraseological units
studied. These similarities indicate the common features of the linguistic thinking of the
peoples speaking those languages, while the differences show the peculiarities of their
linguistic thinking.

References:

1. (1995) Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Cassell - London: Harper Collins
Publishers.

2. Kunin, A.V. (1984) Anglo-russky phrazeologicheski slovar. Moskva: Russkiy
yazyk.

3. (1978) Phrazeologicheskiy slovar russkogo yazika. / pod red. Molotkova A.I.
Moskva: Russkiy yazik.

4. Sukiasyan, A.; Galstyan S., (1975) Hayots lezvi dardsvatsabanakan bararan:
Yerevan: Yerevani hamals hrat.

5. Ulman, St. (1977) Semantics: An Introduction to the Science of Meaning. Oxford:
Basil Blackwell.

6. Verdieva, Z. N. (1986) Semanticheskiye polya v sovremennom angliyskom yazike.
Moskva: Visshaya Shkola.

7. (1969-1980) Zhamanakakits hayots lezvi batsatrakan bararan, hat. 1-4, Yerevan:
GA hrat.

Sources of data:

1. Aghayan, Gh., (1979) Yerker. Yerevan: Sovetakan Grogh.
2. Isahakian, A. (1973) Yerkeri zhoghovatsu. Yerevan: Hayastan hrat., hat. 1.
3. Mouratsan (1957) Gevorg Marzpetuni. Yerevan: Haypethrat.
4. Paronian, H. (1979) Yerker. Yerevan: Sovetakan Grogh.
5. Proshian, P. (1968) Hatsi khndir. Yerevan: Hayastan hrat.
6. Raffi (1984) Yerkeri zhoghovatsu. Yerevan: Sovetakan Grogh, hat. 1,3,4.

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7. Sevak, P. (1968) Yerkeri zhoghovatsu. Yerevan: Hayastan hrat., hat. 1.
8. Shirvanzade, A. (1950) Yerkeri liakatar zhoghovatsu. Yerevan: Pet. hrat., hat. 6.
9. Toumanian, H. (1990-1996) Yerkeri liakatar zhoghovatsu. Yerevan: GA hrat.
10. Torgomian, Ts. (1959) Anmar krakner. Yerevan: Haypethrat.

11. Dostoyevskiy, F.M. (1981) Idiot. Moskva: Pravda.
12. Dostoyevskiy, F.M. (1971) Unizhenniye i oskorblyonniye. Moskva:

Khudozhestvennaya Literatura.
13. Dostoyevskiy, F.M. (1983) Prestupleniye i nakazaniye. Moskva:

Khudozhestvennaya Literatura.
14. Pushkin, A.S. (1982) Dramaticheskiye proizvedeniya, proza. Moskva:

Khudozhestvennaya Literatura.

15. Collins W. (1934) The Woman in White. USA.
16. Cronin, A.J. (1963) Hatter’s Castle. Moscow: FL. Publ. House.
17. Dreiser, Th. (1968) Financier. Moscow: Higher School Publishing House.
18. Galsworthy, J. (1956) The Silver Spoon. Moscow: Progress.
19. London, J. (1953) Martin Eden. Moscow: FL Publishing House.
20. Maugham, W. S. (1980) Complete Short Stories. GB. Vol. 1, 4.
21. Maugham, W. S. (1975) Of Human Bondage. London: Pan Books Ltd.
22. Twain, M. (1948) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Moscow: FL Publ. House.

´³ñáõÃÛáõÝ ¨ ã³ñáõÃÛáõÝ ³ñï³Ñ³ÛïáÕ ¹³ñÓí³ÍùÝ»ñÇ ÇÙ³ëï³ÛÇÝ
¹³ßïÁ ѳۻñ»ÝáõÙ, éáõë»ñ»ÝáõÙ ¨ ³Ý·É»ñ»ÝáõÙ

êáõÛÝ Ñá¹í³ÍáõÙ í»ñÉáõÍíáõÙ ¨ ѳٻٳïíáõÙ »Ý µ³ñáõÃÛáõÝ ¨ ã³ñáõÃ-
ÛáõÝ ³ñï³Ñ³ÛïáÕ ¹³ñÓí³ÍùÝ»ñÇ ÇÙ³ëï³ÛÇÝ ¹³ßï»ñÁ ѳۻñ»ÝáõÙ, éáõë»-
ñ»ÝáõÙ ¨ ³Ý·É»ñ»ÝááÙ: øÝÝáõÃÛ³Ý »Ý ³éÝíáõ٠ݳ¨ Ù³ñÙÝÇ Ù³ë»ñ å³ñáõ-
ݳÏáÕ ¹³ñÓí³ÍùÝ»ñ:

Üßí³Í É»½í³Ï³Ý ÙdzíáñÝ»ñÇ ùÝÝáõÃÛáõÝÝ û·ÝáõÙ ¿ µ³ó³Ñ³Ûï»Éáõ ³Û¹
É»½íáí ËáëáÕÝ»ñÇ É»½í³Ùï³ÍáÕáõÃÛ³Ý ÝÙ³ÝáõÃÛáõÝÝ»ñÝ áõ ï³ñµ»ñáõÃ-
ÛáõÝÝ»ñÁ:

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