Ekaterina V. Ogoltseva

Associate Professor, Doctor of Science (Philology), Professor of the Russian Language Department

Moscow State Pedagogical University

(Moscow, Russia)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22405/2712-8407-2023-4-170-189

Abstract. The purpose of the article is to analyze special variants of fixed similes - constructions equivalent to invariant ones, but characterized by other ways of expressing comparative relations. The author, following V. M. Ogoltsev, calls such variants "structural-comparative". This phenomenon differs both from the traditional variation inherent in phraseological units in general (lexical, grammatical, word-formative modification of their components), and from grammatical modifications of fixed similes associated with a change in the form of a word (phrase) that forms a comparative part. Two types of structure-comparative variants are the object of analysis: ablative similes and constructions with forms of the comparative degree of adjective (adverb). The author comes to the conclusion that both comparative structures differ from corresponding invariant structures in a number of indicators: the prevalence of the qualitative or quantitative aspect of comparative semantics; the degree of dependence of their speech functioning on the initial model of fixed simile and on the adjuncts with which it is used; the degree of structural flexibility, manifested in the possibilities of the author's transformation; degree of idiomaticity. Structural-comparative variants are manifested mainly in those similes that are formed according to the most common mB model where m is the comparative relationship index, B is the comparison image (units kak volk (like a wolf), kak tucha (like a cloud), kak molniya (like lightning)). They are impossible for those comparative phraseological units that contain verbs, nominalized adjectives and participles in the structure of the comparative part. A systematic study of all manifestations of variation in the fixed similes system has not only theoretical, but also practical significance; the latter is connected with the need to clarify the concept of "norm" in relation to the field of comparative phraseology, with the solution of the actual task of enriching lexicographic practice by regularly reflecting structural and comparative options that are actually present in live speech, confirming the thesis about the unity and struggle of stability and dynamicity as necessary condition for the stability of a phraseological unit.
Keywords: fixed simile, comparative phraseological unit, structural-comparative variant, creative comparison, ablative similes, adjunct, image of comparison, base of comparison.

Full text of the article (PDF)

For citation: Ogoltseva, EV 2023, ‘Structural-comparative Variants of Fixed Similes in the Russian Language’, Tula Scientific Bulletin. History. Linguistics, issue 4 (16), pp. 170–189, http://doi.org/10.22405/2712-8407-2023-4-170-189 (in Russ.)

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