Abstract
The article is devoted to the problem of existence and analysis of the current state of legends and toponymic legends of Central Kazakhstan. The material was the texts recorded by the authors on expeditions to the Karaganda region in 2012 and 2017. The current state of the folklore of Central Kazakhstan is marked by the functioning of certain genres: legends, wedding poetry, proverbs, toponymic legends. The main layer of the functioning of folklore samples falls on legends and toponymic legends. It is concluded that the Kazakh legends are characterized by a specific informative function. The main plot-forming component is the character, around which all the material is united, the plots themselves, as a rule, are single-motive, do not contain fantastic elements and are designed as a narration about the recent past. The paper notes that toponymic legends explain the names of localities and are associated, as a rule, with the names of famous people. The specificity of the names is the use of speaking names or similarity with natural phenomena. The authors argue that the active functioning of folklore samples indicates a favorable folklore situation and the prospects for further research on the sociocultural aspect of Kazakh non-fairytale prose.