Semantics of achromatic color indications in epic texts

(comparative analysis based on the texts of the Yakut, Altai, Khakas epics)

Abstract

This article discusses the semantics of achromatic color designations in the epic texts of related Turkic peoples – Yakuts, Khakass and Altaians. It is a color designation expressed by an adjective. A rich number of color designations of the Turkic languages ​​are found in their epic texts, since it is here that the way of life of the ancestors, the way of life of the people, the geographical environment, world perception and culture were preserved. The relevance of this article lies in the fact that color designations represent a semantic field, the study of which contributes to the systemic analysis of vocabulary in general. The study of the semantics of lexical units has been and remains one of the most important and urgent problems of semasiology. The comparative study of the correlative semantic fields of different languages acquires even greater significance. The purpose of the article is to analyze all the lexical meanings of color designations in the language of the Yakut olonkho, and the subsequent identification of universal idioethnic functions in the color designation system of the Yakut, Khakas and Altai epics. When performing the work, the following methods were used: the method of continuous sampling, with the help of which the selection of examples for analysis is carried out; the method of contextual analysis, which allows you to study the functional specifics of words and their meanings in context; descriptive method, in the initial selection and classification of material; comparative historical methods, when establishing the Yakut-Altai, Yakut-Khakas color parallels in the analyzed texts; the comparative method, when establishing the Yakut-Altai, Yakut-Khakas color parallels in the analyzed texts, as well as when identifying the lexical and semantic volumes of color adjectives, the ratio of the universal and idioethnic in the folkloric system of color designations; a method of distributive and contextual analysis, supplemented by elements of component analysis, implying the decomposition of meaning into semantic components. On the one hand, the texts of the Yakut epic The woman-warrior Dzhyrybyna Dzhyrylyatta by P. P. Yadrikhinsky – Bedjeele, on the other hand – the Khakas alyptyg-nymakh Ai-Huuchin by P. V. Kurbizhekov and the Altai heroic epic Altai-Buuchai in the versions of A. G. Culkin. Revealed are the universal and idioethnic features in the color designation system of the Yakut, Khakas and Altai epics.

Acknowledgements: This research has been conducted as part of the scientific-research project NEFU “Heroic Epics of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples of Eurasia: Problems and Perspectives of Comparative Study”.

References

1. Perekhval'skaya E. V. Etnolingvistika: uchebnik dlya akademicheskogo bakalavriata [Ethnolinguistic: textbook for academic bachelor]. Moscow, Yurait, 2018, 351 p. (In Russ.).
2. Zhukovskaya N. L. Kategorii i simvolika traditsionnoi kul'tury mongolov [Category and symbolism of Mongol traditional culture]. Moscow, GRVL, 1988, 200 p. (In Russ.).
3. Sleptsov P. A. Yakutskii literaturnyi yazyk: formirovanie i razvitie obshchenatsional'nykh norm [Yakut literature language: formatiob and development of nationwide norms]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, Sib. otd-e, 1990, 273 p. (In Russ.).
4. Ossovetskii I. A. Leksika sovremennykh russkikh narodnykh govorov [Vocabulary of modern Russian folk dialects]. Moscow, Nauka, 1982, 198 p. (In Russ.).
5. Khrolenko A. T. Leksika russkoi narodnoi poezii [Vocabulary of Russian folk poetry]. Kursk, Izd-vo Kurskogo gos. un-ta, 1976, 64 p. (In Russ.).
6. Pavlyuchenkova T. A. Prilagatel'nye so znacheniem tsveta v yazyke russkikh bylin [Adjectives with color meaning in language of Russian bylinas]. Diss. ... k. filol. n. Moscow, 1984, 195 p. (In Russ.).
7. Nikulina T. E. Tsvetovye prilagatel'nye v yazyke razlichnykh zhanrov russkogo fol'klora [Color adjectives in language of various genres od Russian folklore]. Avtoref. diss. … k. filol. n. Moscow, 1989, 16 p. (In Russ.).
8. Gabysheva L. L. Prostranstvenno-vremennaya leksika i tsvetovaya metafora v tekstakh olonkho [Space-time vocabulary and color metaphor in olonkho texts]. In: Yazyk - mif - kul'tura narodov Sibiri [Language - myth - culture of the peoples of Siberia]. Yakutsk, YaGU, 1994, pp. 3-23. (In Russ.).
9. Basharina A. K. Semantika tsvetooboznachenii v fol'klornykh tekstakh (opyt sopostavitel'nogo analiza na materiale yakutskikh olonkho i russkikh bylin) [Semantics of color formation in folklore texts (experience contrastive analysis a case study of Yakut olonkho and Russian bylinas)]. Diss. … k. filol. n. Moscow, 2000, 207 p. (In Russ.).
10. Akhmanova O. S. Retsenziya na knigu “On Translation” Ed. R. Brower Cambridge [Review on the book “On Translation” Ed. R. Brower Cambridge]. In: Voprosy yazykoznaniya [Philology questions]. 1960, No. 3, p. 35. (In Russ.).
11. Pukhov I. V. Geroicheskii epos altae-sayanskikh narodov i yakutskie olonkho [Heroic epic of Altai-Sayan peoples and Yakut olonkho]. Yakutsk, Izd-vo SO RAN. Yakutskii filial, 2004, 328 p. (In Russ.).
12. Drevnetyurkskii slovar' [Ancient Turkic dictionary]. Red. N. A. Nikitina, N. P. Rychkova. Leningrad, Nauka, 1969, 676 p. (In Russ.).
13. Khrolenko A. T. Konnotativnyi aspekt fol'klornogo slova [Connotative aspect of folklore word]. In: Voprosy semantiki: mezhvuz. sb. [Semantics questions: interuniversity collection]. Otv. red. A. I. Dubyago. Kaliningrad, KGU, 1984, pp. 89-95. (In Russ.).
14. Yadrikhinskii P. P. D'yrybyna D'yrylyatta kyys bukhatyyr = Devushka-bogatyr' Dzhyrybyna Dzhyrylyatta: olonkho [The woman-warrior Dzhyrybyna Dzhyrylyatta: olonkho]. Yakutsk, Saidam, 2011, 448 p. (Yakut and Russ.).
15. Khakasskii geroicheskii epos: Ai Khuuchin [Khakas heroic epic: Ai-Khuuchin]. Vstup. st., primech. i komment. V. E. Mainogashevoi. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1997, 479 p. (Pamyatniki fol'klora narodov Sibiri i Dal'nego Vostoka; T. 16 [Monuments of folklore of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East; vol. 16]). (In Khakas and Russ.).
16. Altaiskie bogatyri [Altay bogatyrs]. Ministerstvo obrazovaniya, nauki i molodezhnoi politiki Respubliki Altai; BNU RA “Nauchno-issledovatel'skii institut altaistiki im S. S. Surazakova”. Gorno-Altaisk, Gorno-Alt. tip., 2013, 437 p. (In Altay and Russ.).
17. Martine A. Osnovy obshchei lingvistiki [Basics of general linguistics]. In: Novoe v lingvistike. Vyp. 3 [New in linguistics. Iss. 3]. Sost., red. i vstup. st. V. A. Zvegintseva. Moscow, Izd-vo inostr. lit-ry, 1963, pp. 366-566. (In Russ.).
18. Morkovkin V. V. Ideograficheskie slovari i obuchenie yazyku [Ideographic dictionary and language learning]. In: Voprosy uchebnoi leksikografii: sb. st. [Questions of training lexicography: articles collection]. Pod red. P. N. Denisova, L. A. Novikova. Moscow, Izd-vo MGU, 1969, pp. 72-92. (In Russ.).