Animal Idiomatic Expressions in English and Kurdish: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Animal idioms are widespread across languages and cultures. Humans use animal idiomatic expressions to convey their messages and to make the language more interesting and richer. This study investigates the meanings of animal expressions in English and Kurdish languages. The idioms have been taken out from some idiomatic dictionaries in both languages. A large number of idioms have been taken out see appendix (A & B), but a group of them have been chosen for the purpose of analysis. The idioms have been categorized based on three prototypes; birds, fish: animals that live in water and do not have wings, and non-birds: all the other animals besides the two other types that have been mentioned. Moreover, the meanings of the animal idiomatic expressions have been analyzed according to their transparency and opacity along with their positive and negative connotations in daily situations and how people use them in conversations.