'Devil' in the Semiotic Sphere of Phraseology (Notes on a Comparative Study of the Czech and Belarusian Languages)

The article is dealing with analysis of phrasemes with component 'devil'. It is comparing the image of devil and his perception in two Slavic traditions Czech and Belarusian. Czech verbal idioms with conjunction jako are identifying a person with the devil and also offer two types of evaluation – negative prevails, but there are even positive. Beside the evaluating function, in Belarusian language the idioms with word 'devil' fulfill function of addressing somebody and interjection. In comparison of thematic phrasemes in two Slavic languages we can find very low number of equivalents. Folklore and etnographic sources are creating national “phraseological view of the world” and they are also the proof of different perceptions of the image of the devil: in contemporary Belarusian culture prevails negative evaluation of this mythical creature, in Czech environment the view of the devil is lenient, in Czech fairytales we can find even positive perception of the devil.