Heung-Su Im. 2000. Russian Idioms as Reflection of the Characteristics of National Mentality. Studies in Modern Grammar 21, 87-114. The primary purpose of this article is to examine the relationships between language and spiritual culture, language and national mentality, with special reference to the process of embodiment of national culture in the idioms and the semantic im portance of cultural connotations realized in them which reflect the characteristics of national mentality. Analyzing various types of idioms, we will show that the cultural and the anthropological factors work on the formation of the idioms, and that the idioms functions as paradigm of national mentality and cultural code. We will also reveal that not only the national identity but also the certain collective self-consciousness resulting from the definite cultural or temporal sphere in society can be reflected in the formation of the idioms.

• 임흥수 | Heung Su Im