Stylistic and functional features of somatisms in the epic of Manas

This article describes and analyzes examples of the use of somatisms in the Epic of Manas. Somatisms are viewed as a kind of cultural code that metaphorizes every day, historical features of the picture of the world of the Kyrgyz people. The material for the study was the text of the Epic of Manas, which is not only a well-known folklore work, but also an embodiment of cultural and historical phenomena in the life of the people. The somatisms contained in the text of the epic become a reflection of the everyday, worldview and cultural orientations of the native speakers. The purpose of the study is to identify the most common somatic units, as well as to determine their role and significance in the cultural code of the Kyrgyz language. Special attention is paid to the ability of somatisms to metaphorize to display complex historical, cultural and everyday features of the picture of the world of the Kyrgyz people. The novelty of the work lies in the systematic analysis of somatic units based on the Epic of Manas, in the distribution of somatisms into groups. As a result of the study, it became clear that the image of “corporeality” is often used in the linguistic picture of the world of an ethnic group. Somatisms are often used as a tool for conceptualizing objects, complex phenomena, cultural characteristics of the Kyrgyz people, etc. Somatisms are widely represented in oral folk art, they are an important element of the lexical richness of the language. This study is devoted to the use of somatisms in the Epic of Manas, revealing their role in the creation of artistic images and folk ideas about various objects and complex phenomena, traditions and culture.