Idioms of comparison in Perm dialects

The article analyses Perm dialectal idioms of comparison such as как котомка (as a knapsack), как орех раскусить (as nuts cracking). Fixed phrases are considered from the following three perspectives: formal, lexico-grammatical and syntagmatic; the latter is used as a basis to define their syntactic function, which is based on classification by structure and relationship between comparative structures and parts of speech. It is shown that idioms of comparison most frequently perform the syntactic function of a predicative or can be a duplex. The attributive-characterizing function of comparative structures is due to their metaphoric nature.