A man’s image in comparative constructions with a zoonimic component

Eliza Tarary

Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego w Bydgoszczy

Abstract

The article is an attempt at creating a man’s image on the basis of verboriented comparisons with a zoonimic component. Comparative constructions selected from Mirosław Bańka’s Słownik porównań [Dictionary of Comparisons] show a man in comparison to various animals. Similarities refer not only to personal qualities but, most of all, to man’s conduct. A negative evaluation of animals is simultaneously rendered into man’s negative profile.