This paper analyzes the figura etymologica, a syntactic combination
of words derived from the same root, which is a characteristic
verbal device in Russian Folklore. This device is understood
as repetition on the syntactic level, and, more generally, as verbal
"bricolage", a concept introduced by Levi—Strauss.
On the linguistic level "bricolage" is realized by the poetic
function of language as defined by Jakobson, which projects the
principle of equivalence from the axis of selection into the axis of
combination.
Multiformity of figura etymologicai n Russian Folklore is explained
by the correlation of the above general rule of poetic
function and the active capacity of the Russian Language to produce
a multitude of derivative words.