Abstract
This article discusses the figurative phraseological units, namely, the idioms of English, German and Kazakh languages in comparative aspect. It appeals to the phraseology of imagery due to the fact that the imagery—a defining component of semantic derivation and semantics of phraseological units in particular. The main goal is to make a contribution to the theory of phraseology, based on the tradition of comparative phraseology. Also, a brief review of domestic and foreign publications in the field of comparative phraseology is done and the article describes the results of practical analysis of idioms in three languages. The main features of the analysed units are multi-component structure, stability, idiomaticity that distinguishes them from other expressions. They can be interpreted in two different conceptual levels: literal sense and figurative sense. In the analysis are used the method of field simulation. The study aims to identify and develop a model describing visual images as elements of the cognitive system. Keywords: Imagery, visuality, imagery means, imagery structure.