Paronymic relations in the Russian proverbs with anthroponyms (structural aspect)

Abstract

The subject of this research is the paronymic relations in paremiological units (proverbs and sayings) with anthroponyms as the structural-semantic component. The goal of this article consists in the analysis of structural specificity of paronyms in the Russian paremiological units, including anthroponyms and their functions performed in the text. The research material contains the Russian proverbs and sayings, selected through the method of continuous sampling from the Large dictionary of Russian Proverbs edited by V. M. Mokienko and the book “Russian Proverbs and Sayings” edited by V. P. Anikin. The analysis employs 145 paremiological units – proverbs and sayings. The relevance of this work is defined by the fact that the problem of paronymy in the Russian folklore texts, namely in paroemias, which provide quite an extensive description of paronymic relations, has not received a sufficient scientific coverage. The author applies the method of linguistic description for compartmentalization of paronymic units in proverbs and sayings, as well as structural-semantic method for clarification of the structural, semantic and functional peculiarities of paronyms as a part of paroemias. The novelty of this research lies in the attempt of a three-level (phonetic, morphological and syntactic) structural classification of paronyms in the Russian paronyms with anthroponyms. In the Russian proverbs and sayings, the author indicates the process of paronymic convergence of anthroponyms with other components of paroemias. This process in paroemias is represented by paronymic attraction, paronomasia, and paronymic sound game. Paronymic convergence of the proper names in the Russian proverbs carries out pragmatic functions - mnemonic, satirical, and expressive. The acquired results broaden the scientific representations of paronymy in the folklore texts, and can be used in teaching general linguistics, stylistics and lexicology in the university.