PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS WITH SACRED NUMBERS IN RUSSIAN AND SERBIAN
PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS WITH SACRED NUMBERS IN RUSSIAN AND SERBIAN

Summary/Abstract: Our aim is to study phraseological units that have numbers in their construction. The material was collected from phraseological dictionaries of Russian and Serbian languages. In both languages, phraseological units with sacred numbers appear frequently in speech and writing, for example: Rus. книга за семью печатями – Srb. књига за седам печата [a closed book, literally “a book with seven seals”]; Rus. за семью запорами – Srb. иза седамбрава/катанаца [under lock and key, literally “well guarded”]; Rus. семь смертных грехов –Srb. седам смртних греха [capital sins, literally “seven deadly sins”]; Rus. за тридевятьземель – Srb. преко седам/девет брда/планина [at (to) the other end of the world, literally“very far away”]; Rus. чувствовать себя на седьмом небе – Srb. бити наседмом/деветом/десетом небу [(be) in seventh heaven, literally “(to be, feel) boundlessly happy”]; Rus. в трех шагах от кого, от чего – Srb. два три корака [within a stoneʼs throw of, literally “ very close (to s.o. or sth.), very near”]. Phraseological units with numeric components are regarded as a descriptive meta-language. This analysis can provide an insight into relationships between culture and language.

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