Phraseological unit une pomme de discorde in cognitive-discursive consideration (on the material of the modern French Press)

   This article is focused on the functioning of the phraseological unit une pomme de discorde in French from the standpoint of the cognitive-discursive paradigm.

   The purpose of the work is to present the foundations of the semiosis of the considered phraseological unit as a cognitive scenario, to establish its main components and their transformations in the target areas.

   The main material was publications in modern French periodicals Le Monde, Le Figaro, Liberation, L’Obs, 20 minutes, Le Point, posted on the respective websites, for the period from 2018 to the first half of 2022. In the process of research, methods of observation, description, interpretation, modeling, lexicographic, linguistic, contextual, cognitive analysis were used. The study of the phraseological unit was carried out in several stages: first, its status was determined, then it was studied from the semantic-cognitive and functional-discursive aspects. It was found that une pomme de discorde belongs to the group of antique phraseological units and is a phraseological universal. Its phraseological meaning ‘a subject of dispute and disagreement’ was fixed in the French language in 1680 on the basis of a cognitive scenario dating back to the ancient Greek mythology. Four microsituations were identified in the scenario structure, but none of them is profiled completely in the target area. The transformations of the basic scenario of a dispute (conflict) affected all its main components: the sphere of manifestation, the type of conflict, its dynamics, structure (participants, their goals, the object of the conflict). Target areas – areas of conflicts manifestation, in which the baseline scenario is profiled, were grouped by territorial reference (France or other states) and by thematic areas (internal or international issues). The political, economic and social spheres are mainly represented, less often the cultural ones. By its type, the conflict has transformed from interpersonal to intergroup and interstate, from trilateral to bilateral. The object of conflict in the target areas are mainly material values, less often social and spiritual ones. In general, the objects of conflicts are things and phenomena, and only in exceptional cases − persons. The subjects of conflicts can strive both for the possession of an object or for its rejection. Thus, the phraseological unit of the French language une pomme de discorde actualizes the concepts of DISPUTE, CONFLICT and WAR. The wide use of the phraseological unit and a wide variety of areas of purpose prove the relevance of ancient images, the high viability of the phraseological unit under consideration and its high phraseological potential.

1. Alefirenko, N. F. Frazeologicheskoe znachenie v svete freimovoi semantiki [Phraseological meaning in the light of frame semantics] / N. F. Alefirenko // Uchenye zapiski ZabGGPU, 2011, No. 2 (37), pp.11-17.

2. Antsupov, A. Ia. Konfliktologiia v skhemakh i kommentariiakh: Uchebnoe posobie [Conflictology in Diagrams and Comments: Textbook] / A. Ia. Antsupov, S. V. Baklanovskii. 2-e izd., pererab. SPb.: Piter, 2009, 304 p.

3. Boldyrev, N. N. Kognitivnaia semantika. Vvedenie v kognitivnuiu lingvistiku [Cognitive semantics. Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics] / N. N. Boldyrev. 4-e izd., ispr. i dop. Tambov: Izd. dom TGU im. G. R. Derzhavina, 2014, 236 p.

4. Boldyrev, N. N. Kognitivnye skhemy iazykovoi interpretatsii [Cognitive schemes of language interpretation] / N. N. Boldyrev // Voprosy kognitivnoi lingvistiki, 2016, No. 4, pp. 10-20.

5. Zelenkov, M. Iu. Konfliktologiia: Uchebnik [Conflictology: Textbook] / M. Iu. Zelenkov. M.: Izdatelsko-torgovaia korporatsiia «Dashkov i Ko», 2013, 324 p.

6. Zolotykh, L. G. Kognitivno-diskursivnye osnovy frazeologicheskoi semantiki (na materiale russkogo iazyka). Avtoref. diss. … dokt. filol. nauk [Cognitive-discursive foundations of phraseological semantics (based on the Russian language). Extended abstract of PhD dissertation] / L. G. Zolotykh. Belgorod, 2008, 46 p.

7. Kubriakova, E. S. Kratkii slovar’ kognitivnykh terminov [Concise dictionary of cognitive terms] / E. S. Kubriakova, V. Z. Dem’iankov, Iu. G. Pankrats et al. Moscow, Filol. f-t MGU im. M. V. Lomonosova, 1996, 245 p.

8. Kubriakova, E. S. Ob ustanovkakh kognitivnoi nauki i aktual’nykh problemakh kognitivnoi lingvistiki [On the principles of cognitive science and topical problems of cognitive linguistics] / E. S. Kubriakova // Voprosy kognitivnoi lingvistiki, 2004, No. 1. pp. 6-17.

9. Kubriakova, E. S. Iazyk i znanie [Language and knowledge] / E. S. Kubriakova. Moscow, Iazyki slavianskoi kul’tury, 2004, 560 p.

10. Mifologicheskii slovar’ [Mythological dictionary] / M. N. Botvinnik, M. A. Kogan, M. B. Rabinovich i dr. Izd. 3-e, dop. Moscow, Izdatel’stvo «Prosveshchenie», 1965, 300 p.

11. Nazarian, A. G. Frazeologiia sovremennogo frantsuzskogo iazyka. [Phraseology of Modern French] / A. G. Nazarian. (Dlia in-tov i fak. inostr. iaz.). Ucheb. posobie. Moscow, «Vyssh. shkola», 1976, 318 p.

12. Popova, Z. D. Semantiko-kognitivnyi analiz iazyka: Monografiia [Semantic-Cognitive Analysis of Language: Monograph] / Z. D. Popova, I. A. Sternin. 2-e izd., pererab. i dop. Voronezh, Izd-vo «Istoki», 2007, 250 p.

13. Labro, C. La grenade, un produit, deux possibilités / C. Labro // Le Monde, https://www.lemonde.fr/le-monde-passe-a-table/article/2022/01/22/la-grenade-un-produit-deux-possibilites_6110555_6082232.html (Accessed 05. 02. 2022).

14. Lakoff, G. Methaphors We Live By / G. Lakoff, M. Johnson. Chicago and London, University of Chicago Press, 1980, 256 p.

15. Langacker, R. W. Foundations of Cognitive Grammar. Vol 1. Theoretical Prerequisites / R. W. Langacker. Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1987, 540 p.

16. Le Petit Robert. Dictionnaire alphabétique et analogique de la langue française. / Réd. A. Rey et J. Rey-Debove. Paris, Dictionnaires LE ROBERT, 1992, 2174 p.

17. Le Trésor de la langue française informatisé, https://www.le-tresor-de-la-langue.fr/ (Accessed 17. 10. 2021).

18. L’Internaute, https://www.linternaute.fr/expression/langue-francaise/84/la-pomme-de-discorde/ (Accessed 17. 10. 2021).

19. Le Figaro, www.lefigaro.fr/ (Accessed 07. 07. 2022).

20. Le Monde, www.lemonde.fr/ (Accessed 11. 07. 2022).

21. Le Point, www.lepoint.fr/ (Accessed 10. 07. 2022).

22. Libération, www.liberation.fr/ (Accessed 12. 07. 2022).

23. L’Obs, www.nouvelobs.com/ (Accessed 09. 07. 2022).

24. 20 minutes, www.20minutes.fr/ (Accessed 08. 07. 2022).