AXIOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF UKRAINIAN PHRASEOLOGY IN THE FORMATION OF NATIONAL IDENTITY

Abstract

The article investigates the axiological potential of Ukrainian phraseology as one of the principal means of representing the national system of values and shaping national identity. The relevance of the study is determined by the growing need to understand the role of language in preserving cultural memory, strengthening linguistic resilience, and consolidating Ukrainian society under contemporary socio-political challenges. The paper proposes an original authorial classification of Ukrainian phraseological units according to their axiological content. The identified groups verbalize the fundamental values of Ukrainian culture, including labour, community, language, moral virtues, emotional resilience, traditional economic culture, family, freedom, and national dignity. The analysis demonstrates that the internal form of Ukrainian phraseological units preserves traditional models of agricultural and household life, ethical norms, cultural symbols, and collective historical experience. A considerable number of phraseological images originate from agriculture, cattle breeding, handicrafts, family relations, and communal social organization, reflecting the deep interconnection between language and the ethnocultural memory of the Ukrainian people. The findings confirm that Ukrainian phraseology performs not only nominative and expressive functions but also an important normative and axiological function by transmitting socially approved behavioural patterns and preserving the value system of the nation. Ukrainian phraseological units function as a mechanism for maintaining cultural continuity, reinforcing linguistic resilience, and shaping national identity. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of applying its findings in teaching Ukrainian language, linguoculturology, ethnolinguistics, Ukrainian studies, as well as in educational and cultural projects aimed at strengthening national identity.