“V Dobrom Zhit’e Litse Beleetsya i Rumyaneetsya…” (the Word Face in Russian Non-Ritual Lyrics)

The article examines the linguistic portrait of the noun litso in Russian non-ritual song lyrics. The choice of the word, which belongs to the lexical core of the Russian language, is due to its semantic and phraseological significance, as well as its high word-formation potential. The material for the study consists of twelve lexicographic complexes complied by Kursk linguafolklorists on the basis of lyric songs recorded in different regions of Russia in the 19th century and included in the collection “Great Russian Folk Songs”. On the basis of the dictionary materials a comprehensive analysis of the syntagmatic relations of the word litso is carried out. Characteristic attributive collocations and verbal combinations of the noun are identified, as well as territorially marked constructions that often include dialectal and specifically folklore words. It is noted that the analyzed word is a part of various associative series involving references to other somatisms. Through such constructions, a concise portrait is created: the beauty of a girl or a young man, their emotional state or experience is conveyed. The article examines not only the word face itself, but also nouns and adjectives derived from it that occur in folk song texts. The study concludes by highlighting the research potential of lexicographic complexes for describing the linguistic portrait of a word that is significant for the folkloric worldview, and by outlining prospects for further work.