Article

Name: Representation of the concept of URE ‘mountain’ in the linguistic culture of Evenks

Authors: Natalia Yu. Ushnitskaya

Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Russian Federation

In the section Linguistics

Abstract:

The main purpose of the study was to analyze the lexical units involved in the representation of the URE ‘mountain’ concept in the language picture of the world of the Evenks. The identification of word meanings involved the examination of bilingual dictionaries of the Evenk language and field records of authentic texts narrated by informants who knew the Evenk and Russian languages well. According to the source study, the lexemes ure, yа̄ӈ, and kadār are the most commonly used representations of the concept URE in the Evenks’ world picture. The analysis revealed the meaning of lexemes ure, yа̄ӈ, and kadār and allowed their semes to be identified. The ure lexeme was found to have the semes: ‘overgrown with trees,’ ‘low hill,’ ‘inhabited by moose, bears, and other wild animals,’ and ‘master spirit of the mountain.’ The following semes were found for the lexeme yāӈ: ‘stony,’ ‘covered with grass or reindeer moss,’ ‘inhabited by wild deer,’ ‘suitable for residence in summer,’ suitable for roaming,’ ‘suitable for deer grazing in summer,’ and ‘a good place for hiding deers from wolves.’ The lexeme kadār is characterized by the semes: ‘rocky,’ ‘high,’ ‘made of stones,’ ‘cool place,’ and ‘inhabited by bighorn sheep, tarbagans, and musk deer.’ A conclusion is made that the URE ‘mountain’ concept formation was influenced by Evenks’ hunting and nomadic lifestyle combined with their animistic views on nature. The URE ‘mountain’ concept is a part of the BUGA ‘world’ concept structure.

Keywords: Evenk language, linguistic worldview, concept, mountain, lexeme

Bibliography:

Abdrazakova G. Sh. Reprezentatsiya kontsepta “Gora” v kyrgyzskoy yazykovoy kartine mira [Representation of the concept “Mountain” in the Kyrgyz language picture of the world]. Baltic Humanitarian Journal. 2018, vol. 7, no. 2 (23), pp. 18–20.

Anisimov A. F. Predstavleniya evenkov o shingkenakh i problema proiskhozhdeniya pervobytnoy religii [Evenki ideas about shingkens and the problem of the origin of primitive religion]. Sbornik Muzeya antropologii i etnografii. 1949, vol. 12, pp. 160–194.

Kalinina E. L. Kontsept “Gora” v toponimicheskoy kartine mira amurskikh evenkov [The concept “Mountain” in the toponymic picture of the world of the Amur Evenks]. In: Yazyk i kul’tura Russkogo Severa: k voprosu o regional’noy yazykovoy kartine mira [Language and culture of the Russian North: on the issue of the regional linguistic picture of the world]. Arkhangel’sk, 2013, pp. 318–325.

Konstantinova O. A., Lebedeva E. P. Evenkiyskiy yazyk. Ucheb. posobie dlya ped. uchilishch [Evenk language. Tutorial for pedagogical schools]. Moscow, Leningrad, Gosuchpedgiz, 1953, 332 p.

Krivoshapkina E. A. “Kochev’e” kak lingvokul’turnyy kontsept v evenskom i dolganskom yazykakh [“Nomad” as a linguocultural concept in the Even and Dolgan languages]. In: Sravnite’'no-sopostavitel'noe izuchenie tyurkskikh i mongol'skikh yazykov. Materialy Mezhdunar. nauch.-prakt. konf. [Comparative study of the Turkic and Mongolian languages. Materials of the Intern. sci.-pract. conf.]. Yakutsk, 2018, pp. 82–85.

Khusainova G. R. Kontsept “Gora” v fol’klornoy kartine mira Bashkir [The concept “Mountain” in the folklore worldview of the Bashkirs]. In: Poslovichnaya kontseptualizatsiya otdel’nykh fragmentov kartiny mira v bashkirskom yazyke: Sb. st. [Proverb’s conceptualization of individual fragments of the picture of the world in the Bashkir language: Coll. of art.]. F. G. Khisamitdinova (Ed. in Ch.), G. N. Yagafarova (Comp.). Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Ufa Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Ufa, 2013, pp. 80–86.

Kuz’mina R. P. Kontsept “Zima” v yazykovoy kartine mira evenov [The concept of “Winter” in the linguistic picture of the Even world]. Philological Sciences. Issues of Theory and Practice. 2018, no. 10-2 (88), pp. 305–308.

Mazin A. I. Traditsionnye verovaniya i obryady evenkov-orochonov (konets 19–nachalo 20 v.) [Traditional beliefs and rituals of the Orochon Evenks (late 19th –early 20th centuries)]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1984, 201 p.

Medvedeva T. S., Medvedeva D. I. Reprezentatsiya kontsepta gora v russkoy lingvokul’ture i ego analogov v bolgarskoy i serbskoy lingvokul’turakh [Representation of the concept mountain in Russian linguoculture and its analogues in Bulgarian and Serbian linguocultures]. Bulletin of Udmurt University. Series: History and philology. 2019, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 933–941.

Myreeva A. N. Evenkiysko-russkiy slovar’ [Evenk-Russian dictionary]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 2004, 798 p.

Tokarev S. A. Rannie formy religii [Early forms of religion]. Moscow, 1990, 622 p.

Tugolukov V. A. Idushchie poperek khrebtov [Walking across the ridges]. Krasnoyarsk, Sibirskie promysly, 2016, 160 p.

Ushnitskaya N. Yu. Bazovye lingvokul’turnye kontsepty v yazykovoy kartine mira evenkov i russkikh [Basic linguocultural concepts in the linguistic picture of the world of the Evenki and Russians]. Ulan-Ude, BSU, 2020, 128 p.

Ushnitskaya N. Yu. Lingvokul’turnyy kontsept “Buga/mir” v yazykovoy kartine mira evenkov [Linguocultural concept “Buga/world” in the linguistic picture of the Evenk world]. Severo-Vostochnyy gumanitarnyy vestnik. 2021, no. 1 (34), pp. 107–114.

Vasilevich G. M. Drevnie geograficheskie predstavlenija jevenkov i risunki kart [Ancient geographical representations of the Evenks and drawings of maps]. Izvestiya Vsesoyuznogo geograficheskogo obshchestva. 1963, no. 4, pp. 306–319.

Vasilevich G. M. Evenkiysko-russkiy slovar’ [Evenk-Russian dictionary]. Moscow. Gos. izd. inostr. i nats. slovarey, 1958, 228 p.

Vasilevich G. M. Slovar’ russko-evenkiyskiy: Posobie dlya uchashchikhsya 5–9 kl. obshcheobraz. uchrezhd.: V 2 ch. [Dictionary of Russian-Evenki: Manual for pupils of the 5th–9th grades of general educational institutions: In 2 pts.]. St. Petersburg, Prosveshchenie, 2005, pt. 1, 238 p.

Zaliznyak A. A., Levontina I. B., Shmelev A. D. Klyuchevye idei russkoy yazykovoy kartiny mira [Key ideas of the Russian language picture of the world]. Moscow, LRC Publishing House, 2005, 544 pp.

Zhamsaranova R. G. Kontseptosfera srednevekovoy mongol’skoy etnonimii [The conceptosphere of Medieval Mongolian ethnonymy]. Chita, Ekspress-izdatel’stvo, 2013, 288 pp.