Phraseological productivity: ways of creating new phraseologisms based on existing ones in modern French and Spanish Languages

This article is devoted to the study of the dynamics of the development of the phraseological fund of modern French and Spanish languages, with an emphasis on the ways of forming new phraseological units based on existing ones.

In our work, we rely on the definition of phraseological units by A. V. Kunin, according to which phraseological units are "stable combinations of lexemes with fully or partially reinterpreted meaning, that is, with complicated semantics, and not formed according to the generative structural and semantic model of variable combinations" ^{[1, p. 89]}.

Due to the fact that new phraseological units are not formed according to certain structural and semantic models, the study of phraseological productivity seems to be a rather complex linguistic problem. Indeed, the semantics of phraseological units cannot be predetermined according to a certain model, each newly formed phrase of a phraseological nature, characterized by a generalized figurative reinterpretation, can potentially have several positive or negative connotations. In this sense, we can say that "they are unmodeled formations" ^{[2, p. 46]}.

Phraseological units may be similar in structure and component composition, but differ in semantics, since there is no set content in their structure. In this regard, A. G. Nazaryan rightly notes: "The unpredictability of meaning in this case is explained by the fact that reinterpretation as a form of semantic transformation associated with a direct semantic shift does not allow us to predict the semantic result of phraseologization, because it is, as a rule, arbitrary" ^{[3, p. 47]}.

Phraseological productivity is the ability of words and phrases to form phraseological units, enriching the vocabulary of a language and reflecting dynamic changes in culture and society.

At the same time, as L. K. Parsieva and L. B. Gatsalova emphasize, "the difference between phraseological neologization and lexical neologization lies in the secondary nomination" ^{[4, p. 171]}. Indeed, unlike lexical neologisms and new word combinations that arise in terminological systems, phraseological neologisms are in most cases called not a new, but a long-known concept.

However, sometimes there is even a tertiary nomination. Its essence lies in the fact that phraseological units, which are already units of secondary nomination, form phraseological units-derivatives, the meanings of which are often not determined by the meanings of their phraseological prototypes.

The peculiarities of the formation of new stable phrases of a phraseological and non-phraseological nature have repeatedly attracted the attention of linguists based on the material of different languages: English ^{[5; 6; 7]}, French ^{[2; 8; 9; 10]}, Spanish ^[11], Russian ^{[12; 13; 14]} and others.

However, the problem of the formation of new phraseological units of the tertiary nomination on the basis of existing units has not yet received sufficient coverage in modern linguistics.

Two related but culturally and structurally different languages, French and Spanish, were chosen as the material for a comparative analysis of the ways of forming new phraseological units based on existing units. The choice of these languages makes it possible to identify both universal and unique mechanisms of phraseological derivation within the Romance languages. In addition, modern French and Spanish represent two large and influential Romance language systems, each of which has a rich phraseological tradition and a high degree of phraseological productivity, which creates a broad empirical basis for analysis.

It is important to note that "despite the originality of phraseological units, their formation in the language is based on certain patterns" ^{[15, p. 41]}.

Our analysis of the factual material obtained by continuous sampling from the texts of works of fiction, online media, periodicals, dictionaries, song lyrics, blogs and websites allowed us to identify the most productive ways of forming new phraseological units based on existing units in modern French and Spanish.

The first method of forming new phraseological units is education with the replacement of one or more components of a phraseological unit by others related in meaning.

Thus, the phraseological neologism guerre chaude (translated from French as hot war), which means 'armed conflict in the active stage of confrontation', was formed by analogy with the unilateral phraseologism guerre froide (translated from French as cold war) – 'a state of hostility between two states, which, however, does not reach an armed conflict. collisions', by replacing the component expressed by the adjective froide /fr. cold/ with another related component chaude /fr. hot/, which is its antonym. For example:

- Ils anticipent les contours de la «guerre chaude» qui s’annonce en analysant les défis auxquels les forces armées seront confrontées et la façon dont elles pourront contribuer à le relever. (Cairn.info: Sciences Humaines et Sociales, https://shs.cairn.info/la-guerre-chaude--9782724638103?lang=fr)

- Corne d’Afrique: la nouvelle guerre chaude? (Les Yeux du Monde: Actualité internationale et géopolitique, 02/05/2018)

Somewhat later, by analogy with these phraseological units, another unilateral phraseological unit guerre ti ede was formed (translated from French as the warm war) – a transitional state between the "cold" and "hot" wars, that is, an "impending conflict". For example:

- Après la «guerre froide», bienvenue dans l’ère de la «guerre tiède». (Le Points, 23/09/2023)

- La «guerre tiède» entre autocraties et «Occident collectif». (Le Monde, 10/11/2023)

At the same time, all three components (froide, chaude, tiède) are interconnected in meaning, denoting temperature perception.

In Spanish, since the middle of the 19th century, when the first trains appeared in Europe, there was a phraseological unit estar como para parar un tren. from Spanish. to be such that the train stops/ in the meaning of 'to possess something in large quantity, to be endowed with something in excess' (for example, Me has puesto mucha comida en el plato! Hay comida como para parar un tren!), from which the new phraseology estar como un tren was formed. from Spanish. to be like a train/, which came to mean 'to be very attractive externally (about a person)'. This new phraseology appeared in Spanish in the mid-2000s by analogy with the already existing Spanish phraseology, which also contains the name of the vehicle, estar como un a moto. from Spanish. to be like a motorcycle/, which means 'to be cranky, to be on edge' by analogy with a speeding motorcycle. The question arises as to how this imaginative reinterpretation occurred, since it is obvious that in most cases dirty, unpleasant-smelling long-distance trains and extreme external attractiveness are poorly correlated with each other. In our opinion, the appearance of this figurative comparison is explained by the fact that it was in 2001 that the Spanish high–speed railway network AVE (short for Alta Velocidad Española) is an abbreviation that simultaneously plays on the word Ave (Spanish ave – bird) depicted on the company's logo and contains the implicit metaphor "high–speed trains are fast and beautiful as birds in flight," ordered the AVE 103 Series trains from the German company Siemens. The high-speed trains of the new series replaced the AVE 102 Series (or Talgo 350) trains, which did not look very presentable due to their unusual aerodynamic design - the front part of the locomotive resembles a duck's beak, for which these trains were even nicknamed Pato by the Spaniards. In contrast, the new generation trains have a very spectacular and attractive appearance, which served as the basis for the metaphorical transfer of meaning. The new phraseology estar como un tren/dosl. from Spanish. to be like a train/ with the meaning 'to be very attractive externally (about a person)' was first recorded by Spanish-language dictionaries in 2004 ^{[16, p. 648]}.

The second way is to form new phraseological units by replacing one of the components of a phraseological unit with another that is unrelated to it in meaning.

The newly formed phraseologism bain de foule /translated from French as a bath from the crowd / 'direct contact of a statesman with the people during his official trips around the country' then served as the starting point for the formation of the phraseological derivative bain de langue /translated from French as a linguistic bath/ in the meaning of 'immersion in the linguistic environment', We are talking about exchange trips to the country of the language being studied in order to improve proficiency in a foreign language through communication with native speakers, as well as the method of teaching a foreign language without relying on the native language, when even new vocabulary is given without translation using pictures, illustrations, or definitions. For example:

- Le prochain bain de langue se déroulera dans les locaux de l'EAV, 1, rue basse, samedi 11 décembre. (École des Arts Vivants, https://www.artsvivants.info/blog/prochain-bain-de-langue-eav)

- Dans ce deuxième article de cette série nommée: «Pour un bain de langue optimal en classe», nous allons aborder des thématiques qui concernent le professeur: la programmation et l’emploi du temps de classe. (Occitan classe bilingüe, https://occitanclassebilingue.wordpress.com/2020/07/06/pour-un-bain-de-langue-optimal-en-classe-2-amenager-le-temps-et-les-apprentissages/)

- Un bain de langue permettra non seulement d’améliorer son accent, mais aussi son vocabulaire et surtout son écoute. (Blog no made, http://blognomade.com›europe/nomade-grande-bretagne/)

The bain de foule phraseology, as well as the stable expression bain de langue that arose with it by analogy, is based on an image caused by a metaphorical reinterpretation of the first component of bain /fr. bath/. This image evokes the idea of a bathtub, which is immersed for bathing or treatment. The potential seme "immersion" is actualized and brought to the fore in these phraseological units, there is a shift in denotative correlation based on an associative feature (immersion) from the object of the primary nomination (bath) to the object of the secondary nomination (crowd and linguistic environment, respectively). There is a replacement of the archiseme and a shift in the denotative correlation of similar concepts, as a result of which the seme "immersion, contact" is updated each time.

Currently, we are witnessing how the phraseological derivative of bain de langue is undergoing various types of transformations, including:

a) expansion of its composition, for example:

- Pendant une semaine, les enfants sont plongés dans unbaintotaldelangueanglaise à travers des activités culturelles, sportives et artistiques. (Ville de Paris, 03/01/2025)

- Un grand bain de langue salée. La chronique théâtre de Jean-Pierre Léonardini. Nous voici de retour à la source du théâtre, dans son bel et simple appareil. (l’Humanité, 25/06/2018)

b) replacing the de langue component with a similar adjective linguistique (le bain linguistique) or with the name of a specific language (le bain du français, le bain d e l'anglais, etc.), for example:

- Le bain linguistique était donc offert au rythme d'une demi-journée en français langue seconde, pendant toute l'année scolaire. (Revue canadienne des langues vivantes, 1997. Vol. 60, nº 3, p. 373)

- Il est vrai que la maîtrise d’une langue étrangère nécessite du temps et de la patience. Cependant, l’efficacité d’un bain linguistique n’est plus à prouver. (Fan Education Agency, https://faneducation.com/sejours-linguistiques-a-letranger/)

- Se mettre dans le bain du français... L’Institut international d’études françaises (IIEF) s’adresse à des étudiants internationaux. (Savoir(s), 02/05/2017, https://savoirs-archives.unistra.fr/formation/objectif-langues/se-mettre-dans-le-bain-du-francais/index.html)

It should be noted that the above-mentioned transformations of the bain de langue phraseology affect only its form, but not its content, since they do not fundamentally change its basic meaning 'immersion in the linguistic environment'.

As a Spanish-language example of the formation of new phraseological units by replacing one of the components of PHE with another, unrelated in meaning, we can cite the paraemia Al mal tiempo, buena casa / dosl. from Spanish. In a bad time (have it) the good house/, formed in 2020 from the classic Spanish comedy Al mal tiempo, buena cara /dosl. from Spanish. At a bad time (make) a good face/ - 'Make a good face at a bad game', when the whole world in general and the Spaniards in particular were sitting in their houses and apartments on lockdown due to the Covid-19 epidemic. The new phraseology was formed by replacing the last component of cara (Spanish person) in the Spanish phrase Al mal tiempo, buena cara with the consonant word casa (Spanish house), and thus the meaning of the phrase changed to 'My house is my fortress, in bad times – my house is best'. For example:

- #EstamosContigo. Al mal tiempo, buena cara y ¡buena casa! (AD México y Latinoamérica, 03/01/2020)

Another example is the podcast of the same name on the Deezer platform Al Mal Tiempo Buena Casa (Al Mal Tiempo Buena Casa, https://www.deezer.com/ru/show/2597102 )

Also, the life–loving Latin Americans who were in quarantine at that time came up with another new phraseology by analogy with Al mal tiempo buena casa - Al mal tiempo buena salsa / dosl. from Spanish. In bad times (we will dance) salsa / meaning 'In bad times, do not be discouraged, but rather dance salsa', replacing the cara component with salsa / Spanish (Latin American dance) salsa/. This new parody, for example, is reflected in the words of the song of the same name by the popular Spanish–language band Orchestra Fuego – Al Mal Tiempo, Buena Salsa - from their 2021 album Baila Mi Salsa (Orchestra Fuego, https://orchestrafuego .bandcamp.com/track/al-mal-tiempo-buena-salsa).

The third method includes the formation of new phraseological units by adding components to stable phrases of a non-phraseological nature with their further phraseologization.

Thus, on the basis of the stable phrase machine à voter /translated from French as machine, voting apparatus/, meaning 'an electronic device for voting and counting votes in elections', the phraseology machine à habiter /translated from French as housing machine/ appeared – 'a complex of high-rise multi-storey buildings that does not provide conditions for a normal human life' – by structurally replacing the voter component in the stable phrase machine à voter with another habiter component. Initially, the stable phrase machine à habiter was coined by the famous French architect of the first half of the 20th century, a pioneer of architectural modernism and functionalism, Le Corbusier /fr. Le Corbusier/, who proclaimed: “Une maison est une machine à habiter La maison doit é tre l'é crin de la vie, la machine du bonheur" ^[17] as a reflection of his concept of ideal housing, and had a pronounced positive connotation. However, in the process of using this new phraseology, its figurative metaphorical meaning was transformed: if at the beginning of the 20th century a house, which was an entire residential complex, seemed to architects and ordinary people to be an ideal place for a comfortable life, then later the meaning of the phraseology machine à habiter began to be associated on the basis of a common conceptual feature with a "human, a place without minimal comfort, which is impossible to live in for a long time." And here it is easy to trace the already negative estimated value. For example:

- Maisons de rêves ou machines à habiter (Persée, 1994, https://www.persee.fr/doc/keryl_1275-6229_1994_act_3_1_886)

The unilateral phraseological unit vivre e n circuit fermé /translated from French to live in a closed circle/ with the meaning 'to live at the expense of one's own (or local) means, to be content with little' appeared on the basis of a stable phrase of a non-phraseological nature circuit fermé /translated from French a closed circle, a closed contour (of a system)/ by adding the vivre component to it /fr. live/. This phraseological unit has received a sharply negative connotative meaning in French.

- Du moment qu'on avait l'habitude de vivre et de se mourir en circuit fermé donc de se contenter de peu, on n'était guère plus touché par des restrictions que ce qu'on avait été nantis, jadis par l'abondance. (J. Carrière, L'épervier de Maheux, 1972)

- C'est le fameux matheux qui nous suggérait de vivre en circuit fermé. (Business News TN, 07/03/2023)

The Spanish stable phrase dar el brazo /Spanish to give a hand, give a hand/ after adding to it the component a torcer / Spanish to twist, twist, twist, twist / became the basis for the formation of a new phraseology dar el brazo a torcer /add. in Spanish, to give a hand to be turned, twisted / in the meaning of "to give up; to succumb to pressure; not to resist difficulties" based on a figurative reinterpretation of the sports reality from arm wrestling. Indeed, in this sport, competitors put their elbows on the table, interlock their palms and try to overpower each other, and the loser is considered to be the one of the two competitors to whom the opponent was able to put pressure on his arm and twist it to lay it on the surface of the table. Also in Spanish, there is a variant of this phraseological unit with the negative particle no /Spanish not/ and with an antonymous meaning – no dar el brazo a torcer. in Spanish, do not let someone turn, twist their arm/ in the meaning of 'do not give up; do not succumb to pressure; resist difficulties; bend your line, stand your ground'. For example:

- A José le encanta conducir, pero le convencí de viajar a Granada en tren y finalmente dio su brazo a torcer. ¡Ya tenemos los billetes! (Como pez en el habla, https://comopezenelhabla.com/podcast/180-dar-el-brazo-a-torcer/)

- Se fue sin dar el brazo a torcer, protestando inocencia, y todavía tratando de convencer al yerno de que había sido víctima de una confabulación política. (Gabriel García Márquez, El amor en los tiempos del cólera)

- No dan el brazo a torcer; siguen adelante con el plan previsto. (Revista Digital Para Estudiantes de Español Avanzado, https://www.espanolavanzado.com/significados/3382-dar-el-brazo-a-torcer-significado)

- ¿Y vosotros de qué bando sois, de los que dáis vuestro brazo a torcer o de los que no? Espero vuestros comentarios! (Vblogger: Expresiones españolas para Erasmus en apuros, 10/12/2007, https://expresionesyrefranes.com/2007/12/10/)

The fourth method is to form new phraseological units by borrowing phraseological units from other languages.

Phraseological borrowings are the result of the mutual influence and enrichment of different languages. They are an important, though not the main, source of replenishment of the phraseological fund of modern French and Spanish.

The formation of new phraseological phrases by borrowing from other languages is associated with calcification, that is, "a literal word-by-word translation of a foreign-language phrase that reproduces its internal form and meaning" ^{[3, p. 274]}. The calculation of new phraseological phrases can be complete or partial.

However, the specificity of the formation of new phraseological units by calculating is that their transfer to the system of French and Spanish languages "is accompanied by a generalized semantic rethinking of the entire phrase" ^{[9, p. 10]}.

An analysis of the factual material has shown that the largest number of phraseological units are borrowed by modern French and Spanish from English. This is due to the fact that "a pronounced trend in recent decades has been the borrowing of English vocabulary by other languages in the context of socio-economic, political and cultural integration taking place in the process of globalization in the modern world" ^{[18, p. 130]}. At the same time, "most publications devoted to the topic of globalization in language consider this problem from the perspective of the expansion of the dominant language into world linguistic cultures" ^{[19, p. 51]}. As a result, the question arises "what are the features of linguistic and cultural interactions in the context of globalization: linguistic expansion or the natural development of language" ^{[20, p. 440]}.

It is interesting to note that English phraseological units are almost always borrowed by both considered Romance languages.

For example, as a result of a literal translation from English of the phraseology t he cherry on the cake, the tracing paper la cerise sur le gâteau was formed in French, and la guinda del pastel in Spanish, which are used in the meaning of 'bonus, additional advantage; finale of some kindeither situations, jobs; the last, finishing touches; a pleasant (or unpleasant) addition to something. For example:

- Ce week-end, vous recevrez deux fois plus de points de sublimation sur Neverwinter. Et, cerise sur le gâteau, nous vous offrons également une réduction de 15% sur tous les objets de Sublimation du ZEN Market! (Arc Games, 09/02/2017)

- Il y a un de tes cousins qui te propose de partir en week-end. Il te dit: «Ah, ça va être cool ! On a réservé un chalet à la montagne, on a prévu plein d’activités. On va faire du vélo, il va faire super beau. On est un groupe de cinq très bons amis. Ça va être génial. Et la cerise sur le gâteau, c’est qu’il y a une piscine près du chalet». (Français Authentique, 24/05/2020, https://www.francaisauthentique.com/la-cerise-sur-le-gateau/)

- Incluyo en ese acervo atractivo el legado artístico de Gaudí, que es, casi literalmente, la guinda del pastel urbanístico barcelonés. (Barcelona Metropolis, http://www.barcelonametropolis.cat/es/page.asp?id=21&ui=68)

- La novedosa función de lectura web es la guinda del pastel, un signo de innovación y de asistencia técnica Knowhow. (LinguaTec, 2019, http://www.linguatec.es/lectura-web/)

At the same time, Spanish has its own phraseology in Spanish. la miel sobre hojuelas / dosl. from Spanish. honey on pancakes/ with a similar meaning – “para expresar que una cosa añade a otra nuevo realce o attractivo" ^{[21, https://dle.rae.es/miel?m=form]}.

We will also give as an example the English-language author's phraseology the Global Village, / translated from English global village/. The figurative reinterpretation of this stable phrase reflects the hypothesis of the Canadian sociologist and cultural critic Herbert Marshall McLuhan/ about the world as a "Global Village", which he put forward back in 1968 ^[22], predicting, long before the advent of the Internet and mobile communications, the development of communication in modern society towards globalization. This English-language phraseology with the meaning 'planet Earth as an interconnected and globalized world' served as the basis for the formation of the French phraseology le v illage mondial and in Spanish la aldea global. For example:

- Comment nous sommes devenus les idiots du village mondial (Causeur, 30/06/ 2022)

- La desinformación en la aldea global como forma de conocimiento (El Credo de la Aldea Global, 2016, https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/71054802.pdf)

- En la aldea global, incluso, las cuestiones simbólicas pueden tener más valor que las reales. (Definicion.de, https://definicion.de/aldea-global/)

The French stable phraseological phrase la croissance zéro and the Spanish phraseological unit el crecimiento cero were scalped from the English phraseologism the zero g rowth, meaning "consciously restraining the pace of increasing technical and economic progress in the name of preserving the existing order of things and avoiding serious crises and social conflicts." For example:

- La croissance zéro est fille des politiques de relance, de déficits, de dettes souveraines. (Contrepoints, 07/09/ 2011)

- Croissance zéro? Pas pour tout le monde! (Jacques Attali, 17/02/2014, https://www.attali.com/economie-positive/croissance-zero-pas-pour-tout-le-monde/)

- Por otro lado, las posibilidades reales de una economía de crecimiento cero y sus implicaciones prácticas parecen, hoy por hoy, una quimera. (Utrans, 19/05/2016, https://www.utrans.global/es/desarrollo-economico-local-crecimiento-cero/)

- En lugar de buscar el crecimiento económico continuo, la teoría del crecimiento cero busca una economía estable y sostenible. (Teoría Online, https://teoriaonline.com/teoria-crecimiento-cero/)

In comparison with full phraseological tracing papers, we have encountered a relatively small number of phraseological semi-dialects.

As an example, the French phraseology faire un come-back (/comeback) and the Spanish phraseology hacer un comeback, formed using a half-scale from the English make a come back in the meaning of 'recover from failure, take revenge', in which the Anglicism come back appears in its original form. For example:

- 7 façons de faire son come-back en chanson (Les Echos, 29/04/2016)

- Pour un artiste ou un groupe, faire un comeback est généralement très risqué. (Hedayat Music, 07/02/2020)

- Claro está, debemos evitar llegar a tener que hacer un comeback a toda costa, y vivir una vida activa y saludable por siempre. (WordPress.com, 08/06/2018)

New phraseological units borrowed from English with the help of cripples and half-cripples undoubtedly contribute to the development and enrichment of the system of modern French and Spanish languages. The appearance of a large number of phraseological cripples is explained by the fact that they express necessary concepts that previously could only be expressed in French and Spanish with lengthy explanations or Anglicisms.

Along with phrases, very often the English prototypes of phraseological units in French are complex words, which indicates that calculus is closely related to the specifics of the language, for example, count-down / count-down from English. count down, countdown/ > compte à rebours in the sense of 'last preparations before an important, decisive an event'; brainwash /English brainwashing/ > laver l e cerveau in the sense of 'making someone believe something by repeatedly telling them it's true and not letting other information reach them'; brain-drain /English brain drain/ > la fuite des cerveaux in the meaning of 'the process of mass emigration, in which highly qualified specialists leave a country or region for political, economic, religious or other reasons.' For example:

- 19 organisations de défense des droits humain: Le «compte à rebours» des décideuses européennes pour sauver le droit d’asile (EuroMed Rights, 06/12/2023)

- "Comment un homme peut se faire laver le cerveau en si peu de temps ?" Un ancien camarade d'université de Najim Laachraoui, qui s'est fait exploser à l'aéroport de Bruxelles mardi, a exprimé son incompréhension, décrivant un jeune homme qui n'était ni "un tueur" ni "débile". (France 3 Régions, 25/03/2016)

- Alors que les superpuissances américaine et chinoise, les États-nations anglo-saxons et est-asiatiques ainsi que les multinationales se livrent une guerre mondiale des cerveaux, notre pays en déclin éducatif n’arrive pas à enrayer la fuite de ses cerveaux. (La Revue Politique et Parlementaire, 07/07/2023)

- La fuite des cerveaux français: un tissu de mensonges ou un phénomène très sérieux? (Figaro Emploi, 10/02/2024)

- L'Europe peine à enrayer la fuite des cerveaux (Le Monde, 18/12/2024)

It is important to note the trend we have identified when phraseological neologisms that have appeared in the Russian language are borrowed by modern French and Spanish not directly, but indirectly through English.

For example, the phraseology office plankton, which came into use in Russia in the early 2000s, with a pronounced negative connotation, which was used in the domestic media to denote a "special type of office workers who, instead of developing as specialists, studying, realizing their potential, achieving new goals and achieving work records, simply they kill time by creating only the appearance of professional activity', was calculated in English in the early 2010s as o ffice plankton and officially registered with a similar meaning by the British dictionary “Collins Dictionary” in 2013 ^{[23, https://www.collinsdictionary.com/submission/11243/Office+plankton]}.

Soon after, this phraseological unit began to be used in the same meaning in French – fr. p lancton de bureau, for example:

- Alors, quel type d'employés ne sera jamais promu: 1) Le "plancton de bureau". Le travailleur de bureau passif est un lest régulier de nombreuses organisations. Ces personnes errent d'une entreprise à l'autre, sans s'arrêter nulle part plus d'un an. Mais certaines sous-espèces de "plancton" peuvent rester au même endroit pendant des décennies. (CleverControl, 03/12/2016, https://clevercontrol.com/fr/7-types-employees-never-get-promoted/)

Description of images on French stock websites:

- Plancton de bureau. La crevette drôle en verres travaille sur un ordinateur portable (Dreamstime, https://fr.dreamstime.com/image-stock-plancton-bureau-image31600561)

- Modèle Sans Couture De Plancton De Bureau. Fonctionnaires Stupides (https://fr.123rf.xn--comphoto_97218282_modle-sans-couture-de-plancton-de-bureau-fonctionnaires-stupides-dans-l-illustration-vectorielle-de-ibk.html/)

The meme in the picture from the iStock website:

- Évolution Du Bureau: LePlanctonDeBureau Se Transforme En Patron Crevettes En Bourdonnement (iStock, https://www.istockphoto.com/fr/vectoriel/%C3%A9volution-du-bureau-le-plancton-de-bureau-se-transforme-en-patron-crevettes-en-gm619087014-107918117)

In modern Spanish, we also came across this phraseological unit indirectly calculated from the Russian language through English – Spanish plancton de oficina, for example:

- Búsqueda de empleo y cómo entrar en las filas del plancton de oficina (r/vyrai, 2024, https://www.reddit.com/r/vyrai/comments/1c7qd8o/es/)

- Multicooker es el mejor amigo del plancton de oficina (https://style.techinfus.com/es/1469)

Also, in our opinion, the tracing papers of French phraseological units in modern Spanish and, conversely, the tracing papers of Spanish phraseological units that have entered the French language are of particular interest in this study.

So, as an example of calculating French phraseological units in Spanish, one can cite Spanish. alegr a de vivir /from French. joie de vivre – literally joy of life/ – 'the art of enjoying life; living in the moment, noticing every happy detail'. Initially, this prototype phraseological unit became widely known in French at the end of the 19th century thanks to the novel of the same name by Emile Zola from the Rougon-Macquarie series. For example:

- La alegría de vivir: El gozo de disfrutar la vida al máximo (Colegio de Psicólogos, 20/04/2025, https://colegiodepsicologossj.com.ar/la-alegria-de-vivir-psicologia/)

- La alegría de vivir se encuentra en la capacidad de apreciar y valorar cada momento, de enfrentar la adversidad con esperanza y de conectar genuinamente con nosotros mismos y con los demás. (Federación Kamira: Federación de Asociaciones de Mujeres Gitanas, 05/12/2024, https://federacionkamira.es/la-alegria-de-vivir/10-claves-para-encontrar-la-felicidad/)

- La alegría de vivir. Todos los caminos conducen a lidiar con la forma de ver el mundo de los otros y aceptarlo en buena lid es la base de la socialización sana y la vida en equilibrio en el contexto de una sociedad (El Universal, 05/05/2020, https://www.eluniversal.com/el-universal/69370/la-alegria-de-vivir)

Another example of the formation of new phraseological units in Spanish by calculating French phraseological units is the Spanish ni ni o terrible /from the French enfant terrible – literally a terrible child/ in the sense of 'a person who behaves like an obnoxious child; a person who goes beyond the generally accepted behavior, making inappropriate remarks, putting others in an awkward position with his tactless spontaneity." In France, this expression became widespread after the publication by the cartoonist Paul Gavarni of the series of lithographs "Terrible Children" (fr. "Les Enfants Terribles", 1838-1842), however, during this period it was used in the direct meaning and was a stable phrase of a non-phraseological nature. The 1929 novel Les Enfants Terribles by the French surrealist Jean Cocteau contributed to the phraseologization of this stable phrase. For example:

- «Nadie podía creerlo, hijita, anulamos al mejor jugador del mundo y todo gracias al Niño Terrible», añadió mi papá al devolverme esta foto. Cuando mencionó al Niño Terrible pensé que se refería a Jaime Bayly, pero luego supe que hablaba de Roberto Challe, el entrenador de Perú en las eliminatorias para México 86. (El Comercio, 21/05/2024)

- Las mejores travesuras de Roberto Chale ¡el niño terrible del fútbol peruano! (Libero, 2023, https://youtu.be/-T1qfxsfNb0?si=e8OMtgXUp9dGu2Kf)

- La trágica historia de Canserbero, el “niño terrible” del rap que fue asesinado por su exmánager (Opinión, 30/12/2023)

Another Spanish phraseology – Spanish el monstruo sagrado – is borrowed from the French language by calculating the phraseology fr. m onstre sacré /translated from French. sacred monster, sacred monster/. This is what they call in France "a famous person who has achieved outstanding success in a certain field and whom few dare to criticize." Usually we are talking about people with a long career and a unique personality. This phraseological unit owes its origin to the French poet and playwright Jean Cocteau, who introduced it through his comedy play Les Monstres Sacrés, first staged in 1940. For example:

- R.W. Fassbinder, el monstruo sagrado (Historia Hoy, 10/06/2023)

- Depardieu, el monstruo sagrado del cine que divide Francia políticamente (El Debate, 31/12/2023)

We will also give examples of the formation of new phraseological units in French by borrowing through the calculation of Spanish phraseological units.

For example, the French phraseology le sang bleu is a tracing paper from the Spanish la sangre azul. from Spanish. blue blood/ meaning 'people/ a person of noble, noble, aristocratic origin; elite'. Originally, this was the name given to the aristocratic families of the Spanish province of Castile, who prided themselves on the fact that their ancestors had never intermarried with Moors and other peoples with a dark skin tone. It is also believed that the expression la sangre azul implies that people with a light skin tone have bluish veins shining through their skin, which gives the impression that their veins are not red, like everyone else's, blue blood. This is not observed in people with dark skin, such as commoners, who, unlike the Spanish nobility, were forced to work a lot in the open sun and, as a result, were very tanned. This gave rise to the metonymic transfer of meaning from the particular to the whole, as a result of which this phraseological unit was formed in Spanish. For example:

- Ainsi lui Jacques l’Aumône se trouvait être de sang non seulement bleu mais royal. À sa majorité, il hérite du château d’Amboise et ne tarde pas à se marier avec la fille du roi d’Italie. (R. Queneau, Loin de Rueil, 1944)

– Bien sûr, acquiesça Pia. Quand on a du sang bleu, on apprend ces détails primordiaux par cœur, en même temps que le gotha. (N. Neuhaus, Flétrissure, 2011)

Another example of the crippling Spanish phraseological units in French is l a cinquième colonne, formed through the calculus of the Spanish phraseological unit la quinta columna. The fifth column / with a figurative meaning of 'internal enemy or enemy; "waiting", hidden traitors. The origin of this phraseological unit in the Spanish language dates back to the time of the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. Advancing with his army on republican Madrid, General of the Francoist army Emilio Mola broadcast an appeal on the radio to the population of the Spanish capital. He said in it that in addition to the four army columns at his disposal, he had a fifth column in Madrid itself, which would strike from the rear at a crucial moment. This fifth column consisted of highly motivated citizens who sympathized with General Franco and lived in Madrid. These fifth column citizens, as history shows, caused such confusion in the ranks of the Republicans defending Madrid that they did more harm than the four Francoist army columns. As a result, the Francoists won a swift victory, which predetermined the outcome of this war ^{[25, p. 317]}. For example:

- La cinquième colonne israélienne (Réseau International, 15/09/ 2018)

- Or cette prétendue cinquièmecolonne de la démocratie occidentale est fortement hétéroclite (PhB Web, 2024, https://phbweb.eu/les-cinquiemes-colonnes/)

As can be seen from the above examples, all the phraseological units borrowed from each other by these two languages have a pronounced cultural-conditioned character.

As noted above, the specificity of phraseological units is that they can both figuratively name and emotionally characterize an object or phenomenon, which is why they are figuratively expressive and, for the most part, emotionally evaluative, that is, some of them can express the speaker's negative attitude towards the object of speech or the phenomenon of reality, others express a positive attitude.

The phraseological system of modern French and Spanish is in constant development, and the processes of formation of new phraseological units reflect not only the internal laws of the language, but also external cultural and social changes. Studying these processes allows for a deeper understanding of both the dynamics of language and the mechanisms of linguistic thinking.

Thus, the study of the main mechanisms of derivation of new phraseological units based on existing units has shown that phraseological productivity in modern French and Spanish is a complex and multifaceted process. Based on the materials of French-speaking and Spanish-language print and electronic media, works of art, song lyrics, as well as various Internet resources, the most productive ways of forming new phraseological units based on existing ones have been identified, among which are dominated by: replacing one or more components of a phraseological unit with others related in meaning; replacing one component of a phraseological unit with another, unrelated in meaning to the previous one; the addition of components to various kinds of stable phrases; the formation of new phraseological units by borrowing from other languages through calculus. The main focus is on identifying and classifying the mechanisms by which the transformation and modification of the original phraseological units takes place, reflecting both the preservation of traditional factors contributing to the active replenishment of the phraseological fund of modern French and Spanish, and adaptation to modern trends. Among the considered methods of phraseological productivity are semantic shift, when an existing expression acquires a new meaning, often metaphorical or metonymic; phraseological calculus, implying the borrowing of structure and meaning from another language; the use of elements of intertextuality (allusions, quoting), as well as various types of transformations, including the expansion or reduction of the composition, replacing key components with actual realities. and rethinking the inner form. New phraseological units often acquire meanings that are not always predictable based on the prototype. This is due to the metaphorical reinterpretation and transfer of meanings, as well as the influence of cultural and social realities. All new phraseological units have great expressive power. For the most part, phraseological units are evaluative, although there are phraseological units with an unexpressed assessment that serve only for figurative nomination, and the analyzed phraseological units are characterized by socio-emotional evaluativeness. A comparative analysis of French and Spanish has revealed both universal and unique mechanisms of phraseological derivation, which highlights the richness and diversity of the phraseological system of the Romance languages. The results of the study are important for lexicography, teaching foreign languages, as well as for understanding the processes of linguistic creativity and cultural dynamics.

The article is published in the version approved by the reviewers (after receiving a positive review recommending the manuscript for publication) with corrections made by the author (after receiving the editor’s comments, if any).
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