Syncretism as a system-forming factor in the polysemic structure of the Tatar language

The subject of the research is syncretism – the ability of a linguistic unit to combine several meanings or functions – in its manifestations at different levels of the Tatar language. At the morphological level, this is the accumulation of affixes, where one indicator simultaneously serves for word formation and for grammatical form alteration. At the lexical level, syncretism reveals itself in the polysemy of interjections, as well as in how the same word changes its grammatical status in different contexts. At the modal level, it involves the transposition of moods: forms associated with one mood start to serve the meanings of another. This perspective allows us to see in syncretism not random coincidences, but a systematic principle of the Tatar language's structure. The methodological basis of the study is the functional-semantic approach, which involves analyzing linguistic units in the context of their actual functioning. Methods of linguistic description, systematization, and classification of material were applied, as well as the method of contextual analysis, which revealed the dependence of the actualization of syncretic meanings on the syntactic and lexical environment. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that syncretism is considered for the first time in the Tatar language as a system-forming mechanism rather than a collection of linguistic anomalies. A three-level typology is proposed: accumulation of affixes (one indicator combines word formation and form alteration), lexical polysemy (interjections, variability of grammatical status of words), and modal transposition (interpenetration of moods, where forms of one mood serve the meanings of another). Conclusions: syncretism permeates the considered levels of the Tatar language – morphology, lexicon, and modal system. It operates as a mechanism of linguistic economy: a minimal set of formal means provides maximum semantic capacity and flexibility of expression. Syncretism is not a coincidence but an evolutionarily developed tool that allows the language to remain expressive with a limited set of forms. The results have practical significance for grammatical descriptions, lexicographic practice, and the teaching of the Tatar language.