Open AccessON THE CLASSIFICATION OF NAMES OF MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS IN THE KOMI-PERMYAK LANGUAGE
Author(s) -
Юлия Анатольевна Шкураток,
Anastasiia V. Krotova-Garina
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
vestnik permskogo universiteta. rossijskaâ i zarubežnaâ filologiâ
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2658-6711
pISSN - 2073-6681
DOI - 10.17072/2073-6681-2021-2-70-80
Subject(s) - folklore , mythology , creatures , etymology , history , lexis , literature , art , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , natural (archaeology)
The article deals with the names of mythological creatures in the Komi-Permyak language. We identified and analyzed almost 300 names of mythological beings gathered from various sources such as field notes, archival materials, articles, and publications. The vocabulary analyzed in the article is not homogenous. We divided it into groups in accordance with the source language; words formed in the Komi-Permyak language were further classified into subgroups according to the motivation. Substantial part of the lexis comes from the Russian language. These borrowed words are used to denominate creatures that have analogues in Russian folklore (домовöй, баннöй бес, водянöй, дошлöй, лешöй, нечистöй, колдун/ковдун, колдуння/ковдуння, суседко/суседку). In some cases, semantic changes are observed, new meanings are acquired. The second group of the lexis is comprised of the names of Komi-Permyak origin with the following meanings: “place of habitat” (ва олiсь ‘dweller of the water’, джоджулiсь ‘dweller of the underground’, баня чуд ‘banya spirit’, кузнеча чуд ‘spirit of a smithy’, öшымöс чуд ‘spirit living in a well’, вöрись ‘spirit of the forest’, вöрись дядь / вöрдядь ‘forest uncle’); “appearance” (кузь дядя ‘tall uncle’, ыджыт дядя ‘big tall uncle’, ыджыт морт ‘big tall man’, чочком морт ‘white man’, кöспель ‘having dry ears’), “time of appearing before others” (луншöрика/вуншöрика ‘midday spirit of fields and meadows’, лун/вун ‘day’, шöр ‘mid’); “action” (ворожитчись ‘diviner’, лечитчись ‘healer’, ‘witch doctor’, шопкись ‘whispering’, тöдiсь ‘knowing’, тшыкöтчись/тшыкöтiсь ‘spoiling’). The third group of words includes non-derivatives or/and names with 'obscure' etymology (абач ‘domestic goblin’, боболь ‘spirit for frightening the children’, калян ‘demon’, куль ‘devil, evil spirit’). The presence of this group is largely due to the de-etymologization process in the modern language. These being the key points, we observe heterogeneity of the names of Komi-Permyak mythological beings, reflecting the history of interactions between Russian and Komi-Permyak people.