The purpose of the article is to describe and identify the functional and semantic features of verbs with the meaning of speech activity in the language of folklore.

   The material for the analysis was the verbs representing the speech process (in fact, the speech of heroes / heroes), collected by continuous sampling from the text corpus of the Khakass heroic legend “Albynchy”. According to our information, this folklore monument contains 18 simple and 10 analytical forms of verbs with the meaning of speech activity in more than 500 contextual uses. The work uses descriptive (descriptive-analytical) and functional-semantic research methods.
   The relevance of our study is due to the insufficient knowledge of the language of the Khakass folklore, in particular, the verbal sphere in the perspective of the anthropocentric paradigm, as well as the lack of special works on this topic based on other Turkic folklore texts.

   The novelty of the study is that for the first time the verbs expressing the speech of heroes / heroes are described on the material of the heroic legend “Albynchy”, as an indispensable and important fragment of the folklore-linguistic picture of the world.

   The study revealed that in the text corpus of the Khakass heroic legend “Albynchy” only stylistically neutral verbs with the meaning of speech activity were used, which provide all the necessary ideas about the speech of heroes. This fact indicates that the language of folklore corresponds to high literary standards at all levels: lexical, grammatical and syntactic. Also, the frequent use of structures with direct speech and the syntagmatic environment of speaking verbs in the corpus of the heroic tale under study testify to the lack of desire of the narrators who broadcast them to save speech means. In addition to verbs with the meaning of speaking, direct speech can also be introduced by verbs of other lexical categories: emotions, actions, behaviors, perceptions, etc. The folklore-language system of the Khakass has many unexplored, unsolved, and therefore interesting, linguoculturological aspects of conceptual fields. In our opinion, this topic has a good linguistic potential and prospects for future research.

   The article is a part of the study of comparison as a speech means of imagery in the Yakut epic olonkho. The paper deals with the reference component in the structure of comparison – the object of comparison.
   The aim of the study is to identify the main composition of comparison objects with their subsequent classifi cation on the example of the text of the olonkho “Uol Duolan” recorded in 1938 by A. A. Savvin from M. Z. Martynov, a olonkho-teller of the local Suntar epic tradition.

   The research was conducted with the use of the methods of corpus folkloristics: in the initial stage of the research we created an electronic catalog of comparisons of the olonkho “Uol Duolan”, containing 341 units of comparative constructions; the data analysis was performed; the automatic search was applied for the semantic and contextual analysis of comparison objects, for identifying the variants and other examples of using comparisons. The classification of comparison objects into five thematic groups, based on the systematization applied by F. M. Selivanov in the study of comparisons of Russian bylina has been carried out. The author concludes that the main components of the “cognizable” in the olonkho “Uol Duolan”
are the appearance of the characters (31%) and their actions, including body movements and emotions (29 %). The image of the main character, as well as the images of his adversary, the bogatyr-abaasy and the beautiful girl-aiyy, are revealed in the most detail. Comparative objects belonging to the group of nature description (13 %) participate in the representation of the world model of the Olonkho, contribute to the expression of its binary nature, as well as convey the power, abundance and beauty of nature. Character properties (12 %) are subjected to comparison mainly to clarify qualitative characteristics of objects (size, shape, color, etc.), as well as to hyperbolize their size. The share of objects of comparison – peculiar sounds and voices of different origin, distinguished by accuracy and expressiveness, is 6 %. In addition to the highlighted groups, other objects of comparison, which do not form separate groups, are abstract concepts, time, measures, etc., were also revealed.

   The musical and epic heritage of the legendary Korkut attracts the attention of researchers, beginning from the middle of the XIX century. Scientists-Turkologists of Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan wrote a huge number of scientifi c surveys, which highlighted the problems associated with the main epic monument of Oguz antiquity – “The book of my grandfather Korkut.” In Kazakhstan at the turn of the 1970s, Professor Auelbek Konratbaev first voiced this topic. He published several articles, and then the author translated into Kazakh “The book of my grandfather Korkut” according to the publication of V. V. Bartold. Over the past decades, especially after the adoption of independence, folklorists, musicologists, and performing musicians have become involved in this problem. In this article, another attempt is being made to hermeneutically analyze scientific research published in recent years on the pages of both the foreign and republican press. It is well known that V. Velyaminov-Zernov published the classic version of the Kazakh legend about Korkut in the second half of the 19^th century. Since then, numerous judgments have been made about the content of this legend, which, one might say, merged with the mythological ideas of the people. Researchers to this day address both the personality of the legendary Korkut and “The book of my grandfather Korkut” and lay out their vision of the problem. All scientific problems raised in the works of later authors formed the basis of this article, which is put on trial by specialists and a wide range of readers – admirers of the legendary Korkut.

   The article deals with the issue of typological similarity of the folklore traditions of the Evenks and the Hamnigans. Based on the available material of the Eastern Evenk epic and the epic texts of the Onon Hamnigans, the plot and motive composition in the epic traditions of the Evenks and the ethnic group Hamnigans is analyzed. The typological similarity between the epic traditions of the Evenks and the Hamnigans has not yet been investigated. The problem of the ethnogenesis of an ethnic group called the Hamnigans is currently raising a scholar discussion. The authors take as a basis, accepted in the academic community, the most accurate presentation of the ethnic history of the ethnolocal group of Evenk cattle breeders Hamnigan, and which, under the influence of the Mongol-Buryat culture, lost its Evenk ethnic identity. They also pay attention to the name of the ethnonym Hamnigan in the Buryat and Mongolian languages means “Evenk, Tungus”, Hamnigans live in China and Mongolia and retain the dialect of the Evenk language as their mother tongue.

   The aim of this work is to carry out a comparative analysis of the epic traditions of the Evenks and Hamnigans.

   The analysis demonstrates a clear similarity of motives in the stories about the lonely hero and the horse hunter, which testifies to the common genesis of the folklore traditions of the Evenks and Hamnigans. The commonality of the plots is manifested in folklore genres, the similarity of characters, for example, the spirit of the forest, the hunter-rescuer of people, the lone hero-demiurge, etc. In addition, some structural parts of the epic are identical: the beginning, the symbolic system of songs is also similar. The main plot about a lonely hero and a horse hunter shows the symbol of the most important cultural tradition of equestrian Evenks – ancient common Evenk hunting and acquired cattle breeding ones. The structure and motivational composition of the plots about the lonely hero-first ancestor in the epic traditions of the Evenks and the Hamnigans has a clear similarity, indicating a single genesis of the plot at the early historical stages of the development of the ethnos. The results obtained, in turn, confirm the hypothesis about the complex ethnogenesis of the Hamnigans as a Tungus group, whose ethnographic complex was historically formed under the strong influence of the cultural traditions of the Mongolian peoples. The article is published in accordance with the research plan of the Institute of Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch.

   Verbal art includes three types: folk art (folklore), author’s oral literature, and written literature. The main difference between oral literature and folklore is that it contains authorship and creative individuality. Author’s oral poetry in literary theory began to be studied relatively recently, starting from the 1920s. In the literature of the Turkic peoples, along with the baksy, ashugs, kedai, olonkhosuts, akyns, sesens and other improvisers in the 14^th – 16^th centuries, worthy place was occupied by the work of yirau, which is especially noted in the works of Idelbaev [3]. However, there are some aspects from the point of view of the genesis, theory, history and artistic features of creativity that require a separate, concretized study. That is why today there is an urgent need to reveal an objective picture of the development of Yirau artistic creativity in all its manifestations.

   This determines the relevance of this article.

   Its purpose and task are to identify the patterns of development of Yirau creativity in close relationship with folklore and written literature, analyze their improvisations that have survived to date, study the main poetic features, comprehend the role of Yirau in the socio-political life of the Turkic peoples and in the history of the development of their verbal art.

   To do this, we have chosen a historical-comparative and systematic approach to the history of oral poetry, as well as methodological and literary principles of analysis. Yirau were common representatives mainly of the Bashkir, Kazakh, Karakalpak and Nogai peoples. The most famous of them are Khabrau, Asan Kaigy, Kaztugan and Shalgiiz, who lived in the 14^th – 16^th centuries. Their improvisations reflect such important issues as morality and ethics, fidelity to the customs of ancestors, continuity of generations, concern for the well-being of the country, images of brave defenders of the motherland, an honest, wise and just ruler and faith in his creative activity. Speaking to a large audience, they certainly brought their poetic speeches to the audience in the form of songs, themselves accompanying them with musical instruments, most often dombra, sometimes kyl-kubyz or anticipating performances with a tune on kurai and kubyz. It can be concluded that the Yirau of the 14th – 16th centuries – Khabrau, Asan Kaigy, Kaztugan and Shalgiiz – in their improvisations raised the common topical problems of the life of a number of Turkic peoples, were at the level of universal achievements of the author’s oral literature, both in content and in the forms of their reproduction. Аs well as distinct local features, each author has unique personality traits. The article will be useful for literary scholars, teachers and universities of philological students and for all those interested in the spiritual values of the Turkic peoples of the past.

   At present, work on the development, deepening and expansion of a special section of linguistics – linguo-folkloristics – is useful for the further development of philology as a whole. The expediency of the development of folklore lexicography, as a separate part of linguo-folkloristics, is not in doubt among specialists. The article summarizes the result of the author’s reflections of the main lexicographic problem in the field of folklore lexicography – the theory of extracting units of lexicographic description from an array of folklore texts and further arranging them in the form of a dictionary vocable in the folklore language dictionary. Since the principles and structure of the dictionary of the folklore language, due to the originality of the oral-poetic language, have fundamental differences from all currently existing dictionaries, this problem poses many difficult tasks for folklore lexicographers. From this point of view, the main attention in this work is paid to epic formulas and formulaic constructions, which function in various variations in the texts of the Yakut heroic epic olonkho. Epic formulas and formula constructions are considered here as units of lexicographic description in the folklore language dictionary. Howeevr, due to the mutual organization, close interweaving of the concept of the “olonkho language”, the work also touches upon issues related to the structural features of formulaic structures, phraseological units, as well as epic periods. Since dictionary work requires an extremely careful and responsible attitude from folklore lexicographers, the author made an attempt to develop a certain model that can become an instruction in the correct selection of units of lexicographic description from the array of epic texts of the Yakut epos, as well as in their further processing in the form of dictionary vocables. That is why a preliminary lexicographic inventory of the olonkho language “Nurgun Botur the Swift” (1947) by K. G. Orosin was carried out.

   The purpose of the inventory is to streamline the folklore material, and further – to create a structural classification of units of lexicographic description in the dictionary of the olonkho language.

   In carrying out this work, the basic basis was the roughly formulated definition of the nominative designation of the representatives of evil forces – the abaasy heroes in the text of the above olonkho. The analysis revealed the following results: 1) in the lexicographic section, the functional units of the olonkho language, which have the same semantic content, in the olonkho text “Nurgun Botur the Swift» by Orosin are represented by various units of lexicographic description: both formulas, and formula constructions, and constructions formulas nature; 2) in addition, another lexicographic unit was revealed – the non-formal nominative designation abaasy; 3) the material also showed the presence in the text of the analyzed olonkho of formulas with other key words that form the core of the formula model; 4) also, as a result of the analysis, it was decided to include singe expressions that do not have a clearly formed structural basis in a separate group of units of lexicographic description. Further research is related to a more detailed consideration of the nature of the origin, further development and functioning of formulas constructions in the Yakut epic tradition.

   Kyrgyz epic studies include the term “minor epic” as well. In fact, the scales of the minor epics are not so small, but smaller in comparison with the trilogy of Manas, Semetei, and Seitek, which are bigger in volume and content from other epics. These epics determine the historical development, the potential for the development of Kyrgyz oral folk art that reflect their thoughts and aspirations, philosophy, worldview, faith and dreams, life and culture, wars, and peaceful life. The study of these epics, which absorbed the nomadic motifs and plots, are described in the legends and epics around the world and distinguished by the interesting poetic style, from the point of view modern methodology is one of the topical issues of the modern time. The article studies the comparative plot-thematic indexes that can facilitate the study of a large number of Kyrgyz epics and analyze several variants of the well-known minor epics. It also focuses on the importance of the comparative plot-thematic index of the Kyrgyz minor epics that have been prepared for publication, examines the features of the structure, and describes the thematic sections of these indicators. Using the experience of the plot-thematic index of the Manas epic, in cooperation with the folklorists from local universities and the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic there have been developed the comparative subjective-thematic indicators of the epics: Kojojash, Er Toshtuk, Janysh, Baiysh, Kurmanbek, Er Tabyldy, Janyl Myrza that are now in their final stages. The indexes were compiled by folklorists working at different universities of the country and folklore scholars from the Aitmatov Institute of Language and Literature under the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic. More than twenty scholars from different regions of the Kyrgyz Republic took part in compiling the indexes of the minor epics. There were both experienced specialists and young scholars who have just started their research on the Manas epic and minor epics of the Kyrgyz people. These indexes are important for conveying the meaning and ideas of the epics, the national values to a wide range of readers, especially young people. The index also facilitates the work of the scholars in finding the necessary information hidden in the folk epics and conducting research that can reveal some new scientific perspectives. The comparison of the content of the plot-thematic indexes of the minor epics of the Kyrgyz people showed that the main plot and thematic sections of the minor epics are close to each other, but at the same time they have differences. The development of the main events have a different character in thematic terms, some topics being reflected in depth in one epic, and are not reflected at all in other epics. Thus, these indexes show that the structure of minor epics has not been fully studied yet. Once these indexes are fully published, efforts will be made to place them on the websites of the universities and make them available to the public. Works on compiling comparative indexes of themes, motifs, plots, etc. of the epics related to the Turkic nations, and then the peoples of the world are planned to be completed in the future. The research article includes descriptive analysis, synthesis, quantitative and comparative analysis.

   Since epic storytelling is a communicative act, it reveals acts of semiosis and nominative acts suggesting the presence of cognitive infrastructure in each participant of communication.

   Therefore, the purpose of the article is to study the representation of the concept of THE HERO IN ANGER in the early recordings of the Yakut olonkho in a diachronic aspect.

   By the term “concept” we mean gestalt – an operational unit in thought processes actualized by epic formulas consisting of rhythmic-syntactic parallelisms. When analyzing the representation of the concept of THE HERO IN ANGER, the methods of conceptual and cognitive matrix analysis were applied within the framework of a prototypical approach. As a result of the study, it was found that a prototype consisting of verbal system of reference coordinates is found within the category of the concept under study. These coordinates are objectified by the core lexical units containing conceptual information and stable phrases that reveal the portrait description and emotional state of the olonkho hero. An intermediate position is occupied by variants of concepts represented in later texts using single formulas, in which there is a transformation of the concept of THE HERO IN ANGER by simplifying the gestalt to a single characteristic. Apparently, the process of simplifying the concept was dictated by the development of epic storytelling, when the need for a detailed description became optional due to the development of perception of the epic audience. On the periphery of the prototype, the author’s variations of the concept are presented, which indicate the presence of an improvisational aspect in storytelling, where the storyteller authorizes his «deviation» from epic traditions with additional author’s remarks designed to indicate for the epic audience his deviation from generally accepted norms.

   The article explores the onomastics of the heroes of the olonkho of the northern regional tradition of the Yakuts.

   The purpose of this article is to study the structure of the proper names of the heroes of the olonkho of the northern tradition of the Yakuts.

   To achieve this goal, it is necessary to identify the names of the heroes of the tradition in question; make a structure of the names of the heroes and systematize them into groups. The material for the study was 18 texts and 7 plots of the olonkho of 9 local traditions: Verkhoyansk, Mom, Aby, Middle Kolyma, Oimyakon, Allaikhov, Anabar, Oleknek and texts of the olonkho of the Essene Yakuts (Dyehyiey sakhalara). The names of the heroes are classified into five groups: the names of the heroes with the indicator buhatyyr (hero); with the indicator bergen (accurate); with the indicator bөҕө (strong); with the addition of sohotokh (lonely); heroes with their own names. In the tradition under study, 9 heroes (29 %) had the indicator of heroism bukhatyr in their names. The etymology of the word buhatyyr was associated with the military hierarchy. This was a position that was usually occupied by a warrior who performed special assignments for the commander, but in general it was a bodyguard and a messenger. The indicator bergen refers to the indicators of character traits in the names of aiyy bogatyrs and is a term not only for heroism, but also for the fact that the Yakut bogatyr is a hunter. One of the common heroes of the olonkho of the northeastern tradition is the lonely Er Sogotokh. The heroes of these olonkho texts bear the name Er Sokotokh, because they were born as lonely orphans. They don’t know their fathers and mothers. The bөҕө indicator has the definition of «possessing great physical strength, characteristic of the strongmen of the old times». It can be assumed that the indicator bөҕө denotes the physical data of the hero. As a result of the study, it was revealed that 14 heroes of the olonkho of the studied tradition have names according to the type: epithet + name. 45 % of the proper names of the heroes of the olonkho of the northern tradition do not have indicators of heroism. The name of the hero of the olonkho, recorded by I. A. Khudyakov «Khan Dyargystay». This olonkho is named after the hero Aiyy in the third generation. The main characters are 3 people – Urүҥ Uolan, Konchүө Bөҕө, Khaan Dyargystay, who are presented without an indicator of heroism. The heroes of the olonkho «Kүn Mөҥүruүөn ogonnyor ikki Kүn Teigel emehsin ikki» are endowed with names without indicators of heroism.