The Eastern Roots of Some Russian Phraseological Structures

Etymological research of phraseology is an important linguistic task newly proved by the etymological dictionary Pycc (P 2005). The significance of phraseology for the view-point of national mentality is accented in the works of V. N. Telia (1996) and of V. V. Vorobiov (1997), which examin the specific characteristics of Russian cultural traditions, reflected in the language and mentality. Our study presents the etymological comparision of some Russian phraseological structures with similar structures in the languages of the "Russian cultural zone". This topic was studied by N. S. Trubetzkoy. Later N. A. Baskakov (1979) pointed to the importance of the examination of cultural and linguistic contacts among Russian, Finno-Ugric and Turkish population in the Volga Region. The comparative method of etymological research is also recommended by V. M. Mokienko (1999), an expert on the etymology of Russian phraseology.