The Komi-Permyak mythological lexis and phraseology as an object of lexicographic description
The article presents a description of different groups of Komi-Permyak mythological vocabulary and phraseology: nominations of mythological characters and events, mythologised natural phenomena, names of ritual attributes and actions. The corpus of mythologically coloured names and statements, preserved in the language as an element of the archaic tradition, enables to consider the characteristics of Komi-Permyaks' ethnic mentality for their mythological concepts are still a significant element of the ethnic cultural code. The corpus includes original as well as borrowed (first of all, from the Russian language) mythonyms, which underwent language processing in the Komi-Permyak folk speech. This article thoroughly considers different groups of mythologically coloured vocabulary and phraseology: folk chrononyms; demonyms; ritual terms that indicate stages, situations, participants of birth, wedding, funeral and commemorative, calendar, household, magic rites; names of ritual food and objects; names of symbolic ritual actions. The names of holidays, in particular, quite often serve as evidence of of the ancient Finno-Ugrian cults of birds, animals, plants (Pikan Day, a holiday at the end of summer connected with a special attitude to the cow-parsnip plant pikan - "singing grass"; Pester holiday, a commemorative day before the Trinity Sunday, when some funeral food in over-the-shoulder birch-bark wicker baskets is brought to graves to commemorate the deceased parents; the Trinity Sunday; the Swing Day, a Saturday before the Easter). The loss of some folk holidays (such as the Wife's Change Holiday) and attempts to revive old holidays such as the Sarchik, the Wagtail Day (at the end of May), the Day of the Grass Change, the Horse Holiday, the Cow Holiday are illustrated in detail by the conversational contexts. Rite terminology vividly demonstrates the close relation of a rite and a myth, the development of a rite from a myth. For example, a Komi-Permyak phrase Kyoch kutny (literally "to catch a hare") is used in the meaning 'to be last to finish mowing a hay field', which coincides with the Russian ritual game "to catch a leveret" (Arkhangelsk) and is played at the end of field work. Like in some European folk traditions, one of the spirits personifying earth fertility hides behind the "hare" in this phrase. In describing Biblical expressions that entered the Komi-Permyak language during the adoption of the Christian tradition, following a number of studies, combinations of these Biblical expressions with cultural forms going back to polytheistic paganism, typical of the Komi-Permyaks, is mentioned. Orthodox religious beliefs of the Komi-Permyaks, like their own, are endowed with propitiatory, preventive and productive meanings; they actualise the topic of the worship of the deceased forefathers who symbolise the unity of the clan and are endued with the qualities of a god. The lexico-phraseological material presented in the dictionary is generally non-equivalent; it marks realia specific for the Komi-Permyak ethnic culture. At the same time, particular mythologically coloured nominations of the Komi-Permyak spiritual culture are accordant to the images and plots of other peoples' cultural traditions. The suggested ehnolinguistic description of the least documented Finno-Ugrian languages provides insight into how spiritual culture is reflected in the language, and into the cultural-linguistic links of the Komi-Permyaks with the other nationalities of the Kama River region.
Keywords
мифологическая и обрядовая лексика и фразеология, культурные заимствования, словарь, коми-пермяцкий язык, mythological and ritual lexis and phraseology, cultural borrowings, dictionary, Komi-Permyak languageAuthors
Name | Organization | |
Podyukov Ivan A. | Perm State Humanitarian Pedagogical University | podjukov@yandex.ru |
References

The Komi-Permyak mythological lexis and phraseology as an object of lexicographic description | Voprosy leksikografii – Russian Journal of Lexicography. 2018. № 14. DOI: 10.17223/22274200/14/6