Mari Scientific Research Institute of Language, Literature and History named after V. M. Vasilyev, Yoshkar-Ola, Russian Federation, [email protected] ABSTRACT Introduction: нn the Mari language, adjectival phrases, including denominative adjectives, function quite actively in expressing the features of a subject, concretized from various sides. However, phrases with such adjectives, their lexicalgrammatical, syntactic and semantic features have not yet been subjected to special analysis. Objective: to analyze typical models of Mari phrases with adjectives formed using productive and unproductive suffixes from nouns. Research materials: the study was carried out on the basis of the factual material in the Meadow-Eastern Mari literary language, presented in the part of the electronic corpus of the Mari language (the volume is about 20 million word uses). Results and novelty of the research: based on the results of systematization of the identified phrases with denominative adjectives and their structural analysis, models (schemes) of the studied syntactic constructions (five in total) were established. The main morphological properties of the components are determined – the expression of a reference word by adjectives with the suffixes -an (-yan), -se (-so, -sӧ), -dyme (-dymo, -dymӧ), -lyk, -ash (-yash) and dependent adjectives, nouns, numerals, pronouns and participles of different categories. They indicate that denominative adjectives as a whole retain the combinable properties of nouns that served as a word-formation basis for them. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time it presents structural models of Mari attributive phrases with reference denominative adjectives: ADJ + ADJclass.adn., N + ADJclass.adn., NUM + ADJclass.adn., PRON + ADJclass.adn., PTCP + ADJclass. adn. The syntactic relation (determinative) and grammatical connection (adjunction) in which the components of phrases are located. The results of the work can be used in comparative study of similar syntactic units in other Finno-Ugric, as well as in contacting unrelated languages, in study of the features of syntax of Mari phrases in universities and schools. Key words: Mari language, adjective phrase, structural model, denominative adjective, nominal parts of speech, association, determinative relation For citation: Sibatrova S. S. Mari phrases with reference denominative adjectives // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2024; 14 (1/56): 87–95.