Feshchenko Y. Idiomatic Space “Homo Socialis” in Modern English: Cognitive, Communicative and Functional Perspectives

The thesis presents cognitive, communicative and functional analyses of Modern English idioms that denote a person as a social being: their outer and inner features, peculiarities of behaviour, psychic and intellectual activity, relations with other people. The research suggests a conceptual model of “homo socialis” idiomatic space, representing a hierarchy of concepts that differ in the level of abstraction starting with an apical megaconcept A SOCIAL PERSON and proceeding with subordinate mesoconcepts, makroconcepts and kataconcepts.In Modern English fiction idioms designating people can be used as communicative moves which contribute to the realisation of tactics and strategies of verbal intercourse. Idioms under consideration help to realise the emotive strategy through emotionally-oriented tactics. The confrontational strategy embraces the tactics of complaint, negation, negative evaluation, fulmination, indignation, emotional pressure, offence and threat. The tactics of evaluation, request, complain, sympathy, advice, persuasion, argumentation, warning about after-effects, justification and fulmination realise the cooperative strategy.