Analysis of Phraseological Units with the Meanings of ‘Be Subject to Punishment’ and ‘Execute / Punish’ Containing the Verb Харһх (a Case Study of the Jangar Epic)

The article analyzes phraseological units with the meanings of ‘be subject to punishment’ and ‘punish / execute’ contained in the Kalmyk heroic epic of Jangar, the core component of the former being the verb харһх.
The study included the use of the contextual method, analysis of word definitions (dictionary entries), and valency analysis. The database to have included 28 texts of multitemporal recordings of the Kalmyk heroic epic of Jangar serves as the research source materials.
Quite a number of synonymic phraseological units with the meanings of ‘be subject to punishment’ and ‘punish / execute’ and the word харһх as a key element have been identified. The structure of the phraseologisms is strictly determined, and basically includes two components, such as a nominal part and the verb form харһх. All the seven phraseological units are combinations constituted by a nominal stem with a syndetical affix and a core element — the verb харһх in the active or causative voices. The nominal part may be accompanied by some explanatory word.
The mentioned phraseologisms are also characterized by certain features, namely: similar forms of the categorial meaning; denotation of same concepts regardless of differing structures; nominal lexemes within the constructions may be both synonymically close or remote to each other (e.g., comp. засг — цааҗ, цухл — хәәч, etc.); phraseological invariants may afford expressive and semantic fluctuations within the main meaning. Analysis of use of the phraseologisms in terms of respective chronological and spatial frameworks also reveals that it is the early Baγa Tsokhor Cycle of the Epic that shows the widest variability range.

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