Cliched Units with a Numerical Component as a Reflection of National and Cultural Worldview

Abstract

The article examines Russian cliched units that contain a numerical component in their structure. The main attention is given to the way numerals in phraseological units, proverbs and stable speech formulas move from a direct quantitative meaning to symbolic, evaluative and expressive content. Based on units with the components one, two, three, seven, forty and hundred, the study identifies their structural and semantic features, their functional role in speech and their connection with national and cultural worldview. The theoretical basis of the research is formed by Russian phraseology and linguocultural studies, especially the ideas of V.V. Vinogradov and V.N. Telia concerning the semantic integrity and cultural markedness of fixed expressions. The methodology is based on descriptive, semantic and linguocultural analysis of examples taken from phraseological dictionaries and paremiological sources. The article also clarifies the difference between phraseological units as nominative elements and proverbs as communicative forms. It concludes that numerical components in such units strengthen imagery and preserve collective ideas about order, measure, completeness, multiplicity and life experience.