The specificity of representing traditional folk ritual elements in the phraseology of southwestern Bryansk Oblast
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The article analyzes phraseological units of ritual themes recorded in the language of the inhabitants of Bryanshchina, a border territory adjacent to Belarus and Ukraine. A striking feature of this polycultural region is the presence of a national-cultural component both in the content of the folklore tradition (plots and motifs characteristic of specific rituals) and in its expression (dialectal features present in ritual texts). Accordingly, the research was conducted on the basis of a linguocultural analysis of the semantics of phraseology, taking into account their dialectal features. The aim of the research is to identify the ethnolinguistic features of phraseologisms of ritual themes that represent the most vivid components of the folk traditions of the southwestern regions of Bryanshchina. The relevance of the article stems from the sustained attention in linguistic science to the analysis of the deep mechanisms of interaction between the language system and extralinguistic cultural reality. An important role is also played by the social need to study the language of folklore in terms of how folklore idioms reflect the national essence and embody the cultural code of the people. In particular, the article examines the peculiarities of the manifestation of culture and national-cultural specificity in the language of the inhabitants of the described region, as reflected in the phraseological units of calendar and family rituals. The material for the research consists of folklore and ethnographic data on calendar and family rituals obtained through field research. The study employed descriptive and comparative methods, as well as contextual and component analysis, along with techniques of ethnolinguistic commentary to demonstrate the inseparable relationship between language and culture. The symbolic meaning of ritual words is described separately, taking into account a comprehensive description of the ritual action, its participants, and the features of its attributes. The work identifies and characterizes the most vivid idioms associated with festive, Annunciation, Trinity, and wedding ceremonies. The peculiarities of the functioning of phraseological units were examined by comparing linguistic explanations with their immediate cultural context. The conclusion is drawn that the cultural and historical factor plays a dominant role in the emergence of phraseological units of ritual semantics and in their reflection in the consciousness of the inhabitants of the border region of Bryansk Oblast.
Institution: Bryansk State University
Language: English
Topic: Language and Culture
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Russian Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W7166180306