Idioms in the chechen language (on the example of the semantic field “work”)

Idioms are language units, reflecting the correlation of the image component and actual meaning, knowledge and use of them in speech is one of the indicators of a high language proficiency level. The study of idioms functioning in speech reveals the peculiarities of their semantics, gives an idea about the language situation in republics. Key words: Language, semantic, Idioms, social values, social memory Methods of research. Psycholinguistic inquiry, sociological, statistical and semantic analysis. Results of research. The use of idioms in a bilingual society is conditioned by linguistic as well as social factors. The language situation in the Chechen Republic is characterized by penetration of the Russian language into the communication sphere, mixture of the Russian and Chechen speech. According to the data of the psycholinguistic inquiry, the use of idioms is closely interwoven with the language situation, construction of the social and cultural values. Idioms with opaque semantic structure are not recognized and rarely met in contexts. The meaning of such idioms was defined with the help of their component structure and inner form. The most active in use are transparent idioms, particularly in the contexts, reflecting an instrumental type of attitude to work as a means of earning that is connected with the influence of forming social values on the vision of work. Conclusion. The language situation determines the idioms functioning in a bilingual society, the research of this stratum of lexicon in minor languages, coexisting with the official language of the state demands a complex approach, taking into consideration language and social factors.