LINEARITY AND COMPOSITIONALITY IN THE SEMANTICS OF BINOMIAL STABLE CONSTRUCTIONS

The article examines binomial stable syntactic constructions (BSSCs) as a distinct class of phraseologized expressions in Russian. The analysis focuses on the interaction between two key parameters of their semantic organisation: linearity and compositionality. Linearity is understood not merely as a formal property of syntactic word order, but also as a cognitive mechanism that shapes the perception and interpretation of meaning. Compositionality is defined as the extent to which the overall meaning of a construction can be predicted from the meanings of its constituent elements. The study demonstrates that BSSCs form a continuum ranging from fully compositional constructions, whose meanings are readily inferable from their components, to idiomatic units, in which the connection between the components and the global meaning is weak or entirely opaque. At the same time, even as compositionality dec­reases, a fixed linear order is often preserved. This stability of linear structure functions as a salient marker of idiomaticity and constructional fixity. In cases where phraseologization leads to a disruption of compositionality, the linear form remains invariant, thereby becoming a key cue for idiomatic recognition. A regular correlation is identified: the lower the degree of compositionality, the higher the degree of linear stability. This pattern is supported by both cog­nitive and pragmatic observations. On this basis, the article proposes a typology of bi­no­mial stable syntactic constructions according to their degree of compositionality and the role of linearity in their cognitive and semantic organisation. The study outlines prospects for fu­rther research into the pragmatic, cognitive, and typological properties of these construc­tions, as well as their place within the system of the Russian language.