“Works Belonging to the Grammar of the Cheremis Language” (1775): Linguocultural Aspect

The second half of the 18th century is characterized by the creation of the basis for a new socio-cultural model for the development of interethnic relations in the Russian state, the declaration of the ideas of the originality of national cultures and religious tolerance, and a more active involvement of the foreign population in the all-Russian educational process. A historic event occurred in the education of the peoples of the Ural-Volga region: the Mari, Chuvash and Udmurts. This is due to the appearance of the first scientifically substantiated grammars of the Mari, Udmurt and Chuvash languages, which played an important role in the development of writing and book publishing in the native languages of these peoples. The purpose of this study is to analyze the lexical composition of the Mari grammar “Works Belonging to the Grammar of the Cheremis Language”, 1) revealing valuable information about the main patterns of vocabulary formation not only in certain thematic groups, but also the entire vocabulary of the Mari language; 2) reflecting the material and spiritual culture of the Mari people, their way of life and economic activity, the ways of understanding the surrounding reality and a significant part of their linguistic picture of the world. This determines the relevance of this scientific article. In the course of the work, the descriptive-analytical method and its techniques were used: observation, interpretation, classification, generalization, systematization of phenomena and facts, as well as the method of continuous sampling of factual material. It was revealed that the first grammar of the Mari language played a special role in the development of the Mari written language. Its materials served as a teaching aid in teaching Mari children elementary literacy in missionary schools, as well as future clergymen the Mari language. It marks the beginning of the history of the Mari written language and, as a consequence, the emergence of book publishing in the national language.