Factors influencing the variation of comparative phraseotoponyms in German

<jats:p>The purpose of the study is to identify the factors influencing the variation of comparative phraseological units containing a toponymic component and its derivatives. The article examines comparative phraseotoponyms characterized by various structural patterns. The toponym participates in creating different types of benchmarks in fixed similes and functions in the following ways: acting as an exemplar representing the highest degree of certain qualities; denoting the setting of a stereotypical situation; or indicating the origin of an object or person with distinctive properties. The scientific novelty of the study lies in discovering, for the first time, the capacity of comparative phraseotoponyms – as a distinct type of phraseological unit – for variation, conditioned by the prevalence and recognizability of the benchmark. As a result, the structural-semantic patterns of comparative phraseological units, which represent syntactic invariants with constant semantics and partial variation in component composition, are described for the first time. The identified structural-semantic patterns served as the basis for phraseological variants, synonyms, and modifications, which were differentiated through a historical-etymological analysis conducted during the study.</jats:p>