Article

Name: Yukaghir language vocabulary associated with the word Qojl “God”: semantics and formation

Authors:

Institute of the Humanities and the Indigenous Peoples of the North of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Russian Federation

In the section Linguistics

Abstract: The relevance of the theme under consideration is determined by the need to study the tradi-tional worldview of the people, the formation and development of their spiritual knowledge. The paper analyzes the semantic content and the formation of the vocabulary of the Yukaghir language, originating from the word Qojl (qojl), identifies the original semantics of this word, examines the evolution of the religious beliefs of the Yukaghir. The word Qojl (qojl) is associated originally with shamanistic beliefs and was representing the image of the shaman-patron of the family in the traditional culture of the Yukaghir. Later, it came to be referred to the name of the Christian God and to designate icons and saints. In the modern Yukaghir language, the word concerned is used only in the meanings of “God,” “divinity,” “icon,” “saint.” The prevalence of Qojl (qojl)-derived words in the languages of two local Yukaghir groups, the similarity of the structure and meanings of many of the lexemes indicate the archaicity of the word and the presence of a semantic relationship between the original and late sememes. An assumption has been made that the etymology of the ancient root of the word is associated with the concepts of “supernatural,” “sacred,” “divine,” “supreme,” “powerful.” The fact that the word originally comprised the concept of the supernatural and divine determined the expansion of the semantics of the word. Under the influence of Christianity, new words derived from Qojl (qojl), with the semantic content “referring to God,” appear in the Yukaghir language.

Keywords: Yukaghir language, vocabulary, word formation, semantics, worldview, God, shaman

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