Gender symmetry and asymmetry in a folklore text (based on proverbs)

The article is devoted to the multidimensional analysis of symmetry and asymmetry of gender as a mental construct containing conceptual information on what it means to be a man and a woman in society and culture. Scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time the presence of gender symmetry and asymmetry is established in terms of both the quality characteristics of gender verbalization, namely in gender pairs and gender gap units, and quantitative characteristics of gender verbalization that are revealed with the quantitative-statistical analysis. The reconstructed system of gender marked nominations reproduces a two-level encoding of gender information. The priority feature of the system is gender symmetry which is achieved by compensating gender gaps and verbalizing nominations of metagenomes principle where there is no differentiation between male and female. The results of the research may be applied in the development of courses on language, folklore, oral tradition, gender linguistics, and can also be used in lexicographical practice.