Representation of Cossacks and Cossack culture in the paremiological fund of the Russian language

Abstract

The article considers the image of the Cossack and Cossack culture in general, based on Russian proverbs and sayings. The relevance of the study is conditioned by the significance of socio-cultural studies devoted to closely related peoples and conducted through the prism of the Russian language paremiological fund. The article identifies and describes the main characteristic traits of the Cossacks’ everyday life, reflected in Russian proverbs, which indicates the significance of these characteristics. The research sample includes over 150 paremi, presenting proverbs with the ethnolinguistic marker ‘Cossack’, lexical units directly related to Cossack formations (‘ataman’) and four proverbs of Cossack origin. The article reveals the following perceptions of the Cossacks, inherent in the carriers of Russian culture: for the Cossack society the role of the ataman is paramount, Cossacks strive to promote themselves and become worthy continuators of their traditions; the territories, occupied by the Cossacks, include the banks of the Don River and neighbouring regions; Cossacks are characterized by vitality and firmness of spirit, but they are prone to fatalism; Cossack temperament is characterized by severity, intransigence and even stubbornness; Cossacks are unsurpassed in military affairs, as they are considered to be brave and hardy warriors, the fact noted even by Russian commanders; the serious attitude of Cossacks to military affairs determines the high importance of ‘horse’ in the Cossack picture of the world - the animal is not just a means of transport for a Cossack, but a reliable comrade in arms. The results presented in the article allow us to model the image of a Cossack representative in the way the bearer of Russian linguoculture saw it.