Mythological and religious vocabulary in Mari folk games
English
journal number:
Journal’s Subject Headings:
Philology
About author:
Vasilyev Mari Research Institute of Language, Literature and History, Yoshkar-Ola, Russian Federation, Ivannikov Institute for System Programming of the Russian Academy of Sciences,Moscow, Russian Federation, [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Introduction: the article is devoted to the study of the game vocabulary and the system of characters in Mari folk games. In the figurative vocabulary of folk games, certain thematic groups are distinguished: animals, plants, kinship terms and other names of people and social groups, food, household utensils, fire, etc. For the first time, this article provides a systematic analysis of mythological and religious vocabulary in the Mari game terminology: its genesis and function in the game.
Objective: to identify in the Mari game terminology the names of mythological characters, supernatural beings, names of magical specialists, religious concepts, etc.; to systematize them by functions in the game, thematic groups and etymology.
Research materials: the generalizing corpus of texts “Mari Folk Games” prepared for publication as part of the series “Collection of Mari Folklore” (Mari Research Institute of Language, Literature and History, 2016–2021).
Results and novelty of the research: the functions of the mythological vocabulary in games are determined: the names of players, objects, loci, and other elements of the structure of the game. Such vocabulary is widely represented in the texts of game folklore: rhymings, sayings, game songs. The revealed lexemes are classified according to etymology (words of Finno-Ugric origin, Turkic and Russian borrowings). Such an analysis is informative in terms of the genesis of images and motifs of the Mari gaming culture, allows us to determine the extent of influences on Mari mythology and folklore from the neighboring peoples of the Ural-Volga region. The syncretism of the Mari spiritual culture, combining pagan, Muslim and Christian mythological representations, is clearly manifested on the material of the vocabulary of the game. As in the whole system of the Mari language and ethnography, in games a greater number of Russian borrowings and Christian concepts are found in the Western ethnographic groups of the Mari people (North-Western and Mountain Mari peoples), while the Eastern Mari have more Turkic borrowings of vocabulary related to the culture of Islam. The study draws parallels to the games of neighboring peoples (the Russians, the Udmurts, etc.).
Key words: folk games, children folklore, Mari game vocabulary, folklore characters, demonology, vocabulary of religion, mythology, Mari language, traditional culture of the Ural-Volga region
For citation: Klyucheva M. A. Mythological and religious vocabulary in Mari folk games // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric studies. 2022; 12 (3): 436–444.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: the article is devoted to the study of the game vocabulary and the system of characters in Mari folk games. In the figurative vocabulary of folk games, certain thematic groups are distinguished: animals, plants, kinship terms and other names of people and social groups, food, household utensils, fire, etc. For the first time, this article provides a systematic analysis of mythological and religious vocabulary in the Mari game terminology: its genesis and function in the game.
Objective: to identify in the Mari game terminology the names of mythological characters, supernatural beings, names of magical specialists, religious concepts, etc.; to systematize them by functions in the game, thematic groups and etymology.
Research materials: the generalizing corpus of texts “Mari Folk Games” prepared for publication as part of the series “Collection of Mari Folklore” (Mari Research Institute of Language, Literature and History, 2016–2021).
Results and novelty of the research: the functions of the mythological vocabulary in games are determined: the names of players, objects, loci, and other elements of the structure of the game. Such vocabulary is widely represented in the texts of game folklore: rhymings, sayings, game songs. The revealed lexemes are classified according to etymology (words of Finno-Ugric origin, Turkic and Russian borrowings). Such an analysis is informative in terms of the genesis of images and motifs of the Mari gaming culture, allows us to determine the extent of influences on Mari mythology and folklore from the neighboring peoples of the Ural-Volga region. The syncretism of the Mari spiritual culture, combining pagan, Muslim and Christian mythological representations, is clearly manifested on the material of the vocabulary of the game. As in the whole system of the Mari language and ethnography, in games a greater number of Russian borrowings and Christian concepts are found in the Western ethnographic groups of the Mari people (North-Western and Mountain Mari peoples), while the Eastern Mari have more Turkic borrowings of vocabulary related to the culture of Islam. The study draws parallels to the games of neighboring peoples (the Russians, the Udmurts, etc.).
Key words: folk games, children folklore, Mari game vocabulary, folklore characters, demonology, vocabulary of religion, mythology, Mari language, traditional culture of the Ural-Volga region
For citation: Klyucheva M. A. Mythological and religious vocabulary in Mari folk games // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric studies. 2022; 12 (3): 436–444.
