Evaluative representations of human appearance in the Siberian Tatar milieu of the 18th – early 19th centuries

The aim of the study is to interpret the means of expressing evaluation of human appearance and physical characteristics in the language (dialect) of Siberian Tatars of the 18th-19th centuries. The article analyzes lexical and phraseological means (136 units) that not only characterize a person's appearance (head and its parts, body, legs), but also convey evaluative perceptions in the dialect of the Tobolsk Tatars. In the dictionaries and reference books chosen as sources, units that evaluate the overall impression of perception from a person's appearance are more represented; fewer evaluate the face of a person from one position or another, and even fewer evaluate facial features. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that lexical and phraseological units from little-studied materials – unique dictionaries and reference books of Russian-Tatar and Tatar-Russian languages of the 18th – early 19th centuries – have been interpreted for the first time. Studying educational works will expand and update linguistic data for a holistic understanding of the development of the Siberian Tatar language – about the formation of speech and language norms, dialectal vocabulary, about the first experiences of lexicography of the Siberian Tatar language and translation activities from Russian to Tatar, carried out in Siberia. As a result of the study, lexical-semantic groups denoting the physical characteristics and appearance of a person were identified, the composition of units in each group was determined, and their productivity was revealed. It has been established that the lexical and phraseological composition of the Siberian Tatar language reflects the formation and development of consciousness, the understanding of man himself not only in the environment of contemporaries, but also in the national community.