The Use of Allusion and Precedent in Children's Folk Songs

This article investigates the artistic, semantic and lingvocultural characteristics of allusion in children’s folklore songs on a comparative-analytical basis. The research object comprises children’s folk songs from the oral traditions of the English, Russian and Uzbek peoples. The article examines the function of allusion in folkloric texts, its role in preserving historical and cultural memory, transmitting national values from generation to generation, and shaping children’s worldview. Furthermore, the artistic expression of the people's customs, mythological beliefs, and religious and historical conceptions through allusion is analysed. The study comparatively examines allusive units in English folklore that refer to historical events and characters, mythopoetic images in Russian children’s songs, and allusions to ceremonies and folk beliefs in Uzbek folklore. The relationship between allusion and literary devices such as metaphor, symbol, precedent and simile is also analysed. The article demonstrates that in children's folklore songs, allusion not only serves an aesthetic function but also has an educational significance, acting as a means of instilling national culture, moral values, and social experience in children. The research findings have significant theoretical and practical importance for scientific research in the fields of folkloristics, linguoculturology, and textual linguistics.