Article

Name: Vocabulary reflecting the titles of Evenk and Even dances

Authors: T. E. Andreeva, V. G. Belolyubskaya, K. N. Struchkov

Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Peoples of the Northeast, Yakutsk, Russian Federation; Ammosov North-Eastern Federal Universit,y Yakutsk, Russian Federation

In the section Linguistics

Abstract: The paper is a comprehensive description of the vocabulary of the dancing culture of Tungus ethnic groups – Evens and Evenks. The development of Even and Evenk folk dancing art was preconditioned by the peculiarities of their economic activity and way of life and the geo- graphical conditions of the northern region. The dances and games reflect the local features related to the history of Even and Evenk settlements in the territories they currently inhabit. Round and imitative dances, an integral part of all ritual celebrations, are the most typical and distinctive for their dancing culture. Intimate relationship to nature is important for dancing vocabulary formation. The traditional culture of Tungus peoples was considerably influenced by their confession: as pagans, they shaped their mythical and real notions of a totem. The dancing tempo of Evenk round dances was influenced by Yakut round dance osuokhai. The analysis of ethnographic, folklore, linguistic, and the authors’ field materials allowed presenting the titles of Evens’ and Evenks’ imitative round dances for the first time holistically. Common and distinctive features of Even and Evenk vocabulary of the round and imitative dances’ titles are revealed. The notions of dance and song in Even and Evenk languages are often indivisible, expressed by cognate words: Even nѳrgenek “dancing with singing”, Evenk iken, ike-vun “dancing with singing”. Most of the vocabulary common to the Even and Evenk languages is indigenous to them, with Evenk-Even linguistic correlations on the lexical and semantic levels, suggesting the commonality of the historical processes affecting the development of these languages.

Keywords: Tungus languages, Evenk language, Even language, vocabulary, thematic group, vocabulary of imitative dances, vocabulary of round dance cultures

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