Characteristics of Somatic Phraseology in E. Vodolazkin’s Novel “Lavr”: Semantics, Functional Potential, Frequency of Use

The study selects and analyzes quantitative and qualitative indicators of somatic components retrieved from E.G. Vodolazkin’s novel «Lavr». The illustrative material reveals the universal and national value orientations of the regular and author’s somatic phraseological units. The most frequently used components-somatisms (eyes, head, soul, heart, hand, body) reflect the social and cultural experience of a Russian person and transform them into their own values, attitudes, positions, representing the sacred-mental essence of the nominations of the human body with vivid imagery, stylistic diversity. The analysis of the card file of the used somatic phraseological units demonstrates culturally marked Church Slavonisms that create expressive and emotional images of the Middle Ages and carry evaluative, aesthetic perception in the objective, existential aspects. One of the advantages of the novel is the somaticisms that perform various universal functions in the literary text, both for characterizing the appearance of the characters, the physical and physiological state, and for the conciseness of the narrative speech, for the emotive and emotional state of the main characters. The individual author’s somatic phraseological units detailing the ideological content of the literary text are presented. The analysis allows us present the author’s artistic picture of the world as a part of the linguistic picture of the world of a Russian person. The end-to-end anthropocentricity is a indicative characteristic of the somatic phraseology of the novel «Lavr». The article provides a semantic characteristic and determines the functional potential of more than two hundred and fifty somatic phraseological units used in the novel.