Valeria Kolosova

The article concerns the phytonyms derived from the words еврей / жид / жыд / žid / żid / jud ‘Jew’ as a particular case of xeno-denomination. They are often used for naming thorny, poisonous, harmful plants. The ersatz properties of plants may also be interpreted through a stranger’s image. More interesting is the case when an ethnic group is chosen according to its particular qualities or ideas about it, which become relevant thanks to some plant features. In Slavonic culture, a distinctive sign of a Jew is his smell. So, “Jewish” names are often given to odorous pants, as well as garlic supposed to be a favorite ingredient of Jewish food. Ideas about feeding preferences are reflected in defining chanterelles as “Jewish” food (in Latgalia). For pelargonium, motivation by growing in Jewish houses is relevant. A number of phytonyms refers to the Bible. For example, dry sweet sap of tamarisk (Rus. жидовинник), exuded after stings of cochineal insect, is mistaken for manna from heaven which for food for Jews during their wandering in desert.Such denominative models are systematical and develop in two directions. On the one hand, xeno-denomination is used not only in folk phytonyms, but also in other lexico-semantic groups, for instance, in designation of unusual weather phenomena or undipped children. On the other hand, xeno-denomination may use not only ethnonyms, but also other “marks of alienness”: zoonyms, names of mythological creatures, words баба ‘countrywoman’, девка ‘wench’ etc.

The paper analyses the Russian dialectal plant names formed from the words meaning ‘dog’ – Russian собака. The purpose is to find the plant features which served the basis for their nomination, that is to find out the reasoning behind dog-nomination in Russian dialects, as well as differences and similarities between the patterns. The total sample from The Russian Dialects Dictionary gave about 170 phytonym use records (combinations of a local name and a meaning) for approximately 120 plant and fungal taxa.
The most important features in dog-nomination are shape, toxicity, low status of a plant, bad smell, medicine for a dog, folklore motive, Latin calques. Nomination may be based upon some real features of the animal, which are actualized due to certain plant characteristics; at the same time, it can be based on some generalization, as a result of which the zoonym, in fact, loses a reference to a specific animal and just underlines the negative attitude.

The aim of this article is to show how among the Slavs a given objective feature of a plant becomes one of the most important factors in the selection of plants for use in folk medicine. At the same time I shall reveal the remarkably close ties between the feature, the plant name and the folk beliefs surrounding it. Such features as colour, form, taste of the plants, time a plant appears, blooms or is picked, space where it grows are analysed.
Another aim is to demonstrate the systematic character of traditional ideas. On the one hand, stepping outside the frame of folk botany we can see that very often not only plants but also other objects with the same feature may be used for the same purpose; that is to say, the same principle is applied to medicines of non-floral genesis. On the other hand, a feature is not the only basis for a possible shifting of codes. The role of another mediator – natural language – is no less important for connections between different codes in traditional culture. A plant name becomes linked to words and objects, thereby acquiring secondary associations.
Connections like these confirm the importance of objective, real plant features in the creation of its symbolic image. To interpret them one must consider lexical and folkloric information that allows us to clarify the ties of a given plant with mythological ideas, which cannot be revealed simply by analyzing the ethnographic data. Hence, the features of plants play a decisive role in forming notions about them and therefore in their usage in ritual and everyday life, in particular in folk medicine.

The article concerns language processes resulting in phytonyms made of
other phytonyms. Word-formation may be realized in various ways: meaning transferring; prefixal, suffixal, and prefixal-suffixal methods; forming compounds and wordcombinations. At that, the same plant may have a number of cognates formed according to different models. Two plants may be compared on various bases – external resemblance, the same petals colour, the same habitat. The idea of likeness (but not identity) of plants may be showed via using a number of prefixes, as well as adjectives often having negative cultural connotations.

The article concerns plant names in the dialects of various Slavonic languages. The aim of the analysis is to demonstrate how, in different local traditions, different plant features are being noted and interpreted. These features are: colour, size, shape, surface, number of plant organs, “behaviour”, time of appearing and flowering, place of growth, taste, smell, sound, poison, medical usage, usage in magic or in everyday life.
In dialectal phytonyms several motivation models can be found: a) direct
model: ‘feature’ → ‘plant name’, that feature is directly named in a phytonym (for example, Rus. белица ‘camomile’, Bulg. синецвет ‘cornflower’;
b) metaphorical model: ‘a subject having a certain attribute’ → ‘a name of a plant ’ (for example, Ukr. зозулины черевички ‘aconite’, Serbo-Croat мљечњак ‘dandelion’);
c) mythological model: ‘mythological motive’ → ‘plant name’ (for example, Rus. иван-да-марья ‘blue cow-wheat’, Ukr. петрiв батiг ‘chicory’, Serbo-Croat богородичино цвеће ‘St.-John’s wort’).
The interpretation of these features influences plant names; it also serves
as a base for etiological legends about their genesis, beliefs about their relations with mythological personages; in fact, it forms the semiotic status of a plant.

The article concerns folk understandings of etymologically-opaque phytonyms in Slavonic languages and the consequences of these understandings, such as creating plant symbolism in folklore, their usage in etymological magic, folk medicine and agricultural practices. The author proposes a principle for the distribution of cases of etymo logical magic along a scale based on the ratio of verbal and contagious magic.

В данной статье предметом нашего интереса стали такие растения, в названиях которых отражена лексика, связанная с огнем и горением. В основании названий растений – фитонимов – может лежать уподобление огню по различным признакам. Растения с лепестками желтого, оранжевого и красного цвета своим ярким, «горящим» цветом вызвали в сознании носителей диалектов ассоциацию с огнем, пламенем, жаром, горением. Те же связи актуализируются в связи с горьким, жгучим вкусам, а также со жгучими свойствами растений. Место произрастания относится к менее актуальным признакам. Фитонимы, образованные по признакам растений, в свою очередь, тесно связаны с названиями болезней и с лекарственным применением «огненных» растений.

The review considers János Géczi’s monograph The Rose and its Symbols in Mediterranean Antiquity. The book concerns the forming of rose symbolism in Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and the culture of early Christianity. Moreover the monograph describes various aspects of Mediterranean life in antiquity — its mythology, literature, art, medicine, politics, economy.

Ethnobotanic notes. VIII. Calamus
Ethnobotanic notes concern Acorus calamus L. The article analyses the morphological features of the plant, its functional uses, and etiological and etymologic aspects of dialectal names of the plant.
Key words : phytoportrait, Acorus calamus, folk medicine, folk calendar.

The aim of the article is to analyse the process of giving some semiotic status to a plant on the basis of its features; to demonstrate the casual relationship between its appearance on the one hand and the phytonyms, superstitions, and rites on the other hand; to observe the ways of reflecting and semiotization of their features (color, smell, form) in traditional thought and creation. In this way it is possible to find some cognitive principles of including natural objects into the cultural sphere, their place in cultural and language models of different traditions and, finally, ethnocultural features by analysing the difference in such models. Here I would like to examine the ideas about several plants which are rather popular in traditional Slavonic culture and are named ivan-da-marja.

В статье анализируется группа славянских диалектных фитонимов, образованных от названий зайца. Выявляются признаки растений, которые легли в основу номинации растений. Делаются выводы о распределении тех или иных типов фитонимов по основным группам славянских языков.

The article concerns Slavonic dialectal names of sundew – a herbal insectivorous perennial plant of Droseraceae family, dwelling on boggy soils. A special attention is paid to the plant’s features influencing its names in various parts of Slavonic-speaking territory, beliefs about the plant
(reflected in folklore), as well as the use of sundew in ethnomedicine and folk magic.
Most Slavonic names of the plant – as, for example, Russian росяница, Bulgarian росица, Serbo-Croatian росика, Czech rosa, Polish rosiczka – ascends to the root ros- ‘dew’. These phytonyms reflect the special feature
of the plant, that is drops of the liquid, intended for digesting insects, on the upper surface of the leaves. These drops in folk ideas are likened to dew.
Such association includes the afore-named phytonyms into the vast area of general Slavonic ideas about dew. The dew was supposed to be especially useful in treatment of eye and skin diseases, which explains the use of sundew for diseases of eyes (and against the ‘evil eye’), and probably appearing of such phytonyms as Russian царские очи and царевы очи (lit. “king's eyes”).
On the one hand, such similarity in phytonyms suggests pre-Slavonic origin of the names for sundew. On the other hand, there exists not only a number of Slavonic, but also German, French, English, and medieval Latin names with the inner form “sunny dew”. They suggest a later borrowing of this composite phytonym from western manuscript tradition.
The insectivorous type of the plant’s feeding influenced its use as a love-potion.

В данной статье анализируется строго ограниченная группа восточнославянских диалектных фитонимов, образованных от зоонимов, а именно названий растений, образованных от слова медведь. В качестве материала использованы фитонимы, извлеченные методом сплошной выборки из восточнославянских диалектных и этноботанических словарей. При том, что все они образованы от одного и того же зоонима, мотивации их достаточно разнообразны. Важную роль играют латинские кальки.

Текст представляет собой рецензию на книгу представительницы люблинской этнолингвистической школы Станиславы Небжеговской, посвященную представлениям о мире растений, сложившимся в польской традиционной культуре. Книга является публикацией текстов, собранных в ходе полевых экспедиций. Тексты сгруппированы по жанрам; сначала помещены "малые" формы ― загадки, пословицы и поговорки, приметы и предсказания, затем ― толкования снов, колядки, рождественские и новогодние поздравления, жнивные песни, свадебные песни и припевки, любовные песни, погребальные песни. За ними следуют сказки, легенды и предания, этиологические рассказы, былички, записи поверий и практик, а также образцы рукописной крестьянской поэзии. В целом сборник материалов является богатым источником для изучения польской народной культуры второй половины ХХ века. Он дает представление об отдельно взятой части верований и обрядов ряда локальных традиций Восточной Польши, в некоторых случаях ― при наличии нескольких вариантов одного текста ― предоставляя возможность их сравнения.

Ряд диалектных славянских фитонимов связан с персонажами христианской мифологии. Цель данной статьи – проследить те признаки растений, которые обусловливают эту связь, а также продемонстрировать влияние этой связи на создание названий растений и их использование в календарной обрядности, в народной медицине и магии.

The article demonstrates how, among the Slavs, a given objective feature of a plant becomes an important factor in the selection of plants for use in folk medicine. At the same time, this feature provides remarkably close ties between the plant, folk beliefs about certain biblical personages, and the symptoms of disease. The role of another mediator – natural language – is no less important for connections between different codes of traditional culture. A plant name becomes linked to words and objects, thereby acquiring secondary associations. Thus, traditional culture regards disease not only as a deviation but also as a situation close to the mythological time of world creation, and a patient is placed in the mythological space where he uses, as medicine, the herbs which have “appeared” thanks to characters of Christian mythology. The phytonyms and etiological legends, analysed in the article, are used within the tradition as an
instrument to ascertain the reason why a specific plant was selected for the treatment of a certain illness. In folk culture, an illness is observed – at least indirectly – as an anomalous state of the human being, however, it is also treated as a situation close to
the mythological time of origin of the objects of the surrounding world, and the ailing person is placed in the mythological space wherein he/she would use medicinal plants
created thanks to the figures of Christian mythology; this re-occurs again in the treatment of each new patient.

The text consists of reviews of three recently published books united by a common theme — folk plant names. Two of them concern Finno-Ugric phytonymic lexis, the third one — the terminology in a Russian dialect tradition. In I.V. Brodsky’s monograph, FinnoUgric plant names are analysed on the basis of wide comparative material. The author considers the attributes underlying naming patterns as well as the characteristics of word-formation. Yu.E. Koppalyova’s book concerns the characteristics of nomination in Ingrian Finnish phytonyms, their structurally-word-formation models and their synonymic variants. The dictionary by V.G. Arjanova represents phytonyms of the Middle Ob region. In conclusion some general comments on the evolution of ethnobotany are offered.

В статье рассматриваются фольклорные и мифологические образы как сада в целом, так и отдельных садовых растений на материале фольклорных произведений различных славянских народов, а также этнографических описаний обрядов. В традиционной культуре и мифопоэтическом
сознании славян сад занимает промежуточное место между освоенным,
культурным и чужим, природным пространством, входя, таким образом,
в оппозиции сад/лес и сад/дом. Как фольклорный локус это прежде всего местонахождение птиц и девушек. На ветхозаветном образе рая базируется представление о саде-рае. Однако, будучи соотнесенным с раем, сад ассоциируется и с загробным миром. В лирических и свадебных песнях сад наделяется положительными коннотациями и связывается с жизнью девушки в родительском доме до замужества. На акциональном уровне свадебного ритуала невеста относит в сад свой венок или ленту.
В магических практиках славян сад является местом совершения ритуалов,
призванных обеспечить плодородие. В образах отдельных садовых деревьев преобладает женская символика. В первую очередь это объясняется грамматическим родом названий плодовых деревьев, а также их способностью к плодоношению.

The paper analyzes a limited group of Bulgarian dialectal phytonyms formed from Bulg. мечка/мечок ‘bear/he-bear’. It focuses on 31 names for 32 plants. Some plants have several names, while the same phytonym may signify a number of plants. The phytonyms analyzed are formed from the same root and their motivations are rather various.

The article analyses Russian folk names of dandelion (Taraxacum), with a special attention to motivation of phytonyms by various plant features. The dependence among names in Russian dialects, folklore, and using dandelion is analysed. For example, lexemes with the roots дут- (‘to blow’) and пух- (‘fluff’) are determined by achenocarps with downy egrets, flying away while blowing; lexemes with the root молок- (‘milk’) – by white milky sap. There are also names motivated by taste, form and colour of inflorescences, leaves shape, locus of vegetation, using in folk medicine, magic, culinary. The dandelion shares several names with other plants, for example: горькуша/горькуха (lit. “bitter plant”), желтушка („yellow plant”), зубник („tooth plant”), куриная слепота („night-blindness” = „hens’ blindness”); this is caused by a number of similar features.

In both literary Russian and Russian dialects, romashka ‘chamomile’ can refer to various plants of the Asteraceae family. The article analyzes Slavonic dialect phytonyms in terms of their motivation by chamomile’s features and use in the traditional culture. A significant number of the native names for chamomile are motivated by its colour, habitat, blooming period (and, correspondingly, by its use in calendar rituals). Olfactory-based motivations are difficult to establish because of strong interference from Greek, Latin, and other European terms. An analysis of phytonyms against the background of their beyond-Slavia origins makes it possible to better specify their motivations.

The article analyses the Slavonic folk plant names formed from the words meaning
‘bear’. The purpose is to find the plants features, which became the basis for their
nomination. One might argue that the most important features are:
Size. “Bear” names are given, as a rule, to high plants with big leaves (like Bulg. меча леска, Serb.-Cr. медвjеђа лиjеска (lit. “bear hazelnut”) ‘Corylus colurna L.’– a tree of 20-30 metres high).
Shape. This group consists of a) plants having thorns; b) plants with leaves looking loke a paw; c) plants with bunches of small flowers or roundish, often tomentous leaves.
Surface. Comparing thick stalks with bear fur determines names for some mosses: Rus. медведь (lit. “bear”) ‘Polytrichum commune L.’ or some fungi: Bulg. меча глава, меча гъба (lit. “bear head, bear mushroom”) ‘Hydnum coralloides Scop.’.
Colour. Many “bear” plants have black or very dark fruits, like Bel. мядзвежыя ягады (lit. “bear berries”) ‘Solanum’; ‘Rubus caesius L.’.
Toxicity/inedibility/low status. Like many other zoonyms, the lexeme ‘bear’ is used to mark poisonous or inedible plants. Often the second part of the phytonym is a name of a cultivated plant: Sloven. medvedova hrušica (lit. “bear pear”) ‘Crataegus oxyacantha’.
Place. These plants may be edible but they grow in wild places, like Rus. медвежий лук (lit. “bear onion”) ‘Allium ursinum’. In this group, the same plants may have not only “bear” names, but also names of other animals and birds equal to notions ‘wild’, ‘forest’, ‘field’.
Edibility for bear. In some phytonyms the “bear” marker is determined by their being a part of the animal’s diet: Rus. медвежьи ягоды (lit. “bear berries”) ‘Rubus idaeus L.’. Folklore motive. Some names are a “compressed” variant of a folk motive: Rus. медвежья баня (lit. “bear bathhouse”) ‘Lycoperdon sp.’, as they say that bear rolls in these mushrooms.
Latin calques. Word-by-word translations from Latin exist in many European languages; some examples are Arctostaphylos uva ursi Spr., Allium ursinum L., Heracleum sphondylium, Primula auricula L. In many cases, “bear” names are based on several features simultaneously. The same motivation model ‘animal name’ → ‘plant name’ may be realized in very many phytonyms based on various plant features. At that, as one plant has a number of features, it may belong to several motivation groups. In West-Slavonic dialects there are only about 30 “bear” plant names; many of
them are calques from German or Latin. In East-Slavonic and South-Slavonic dialects
there are much more “bear” phytonyms. Among “bear” plants in general, many belong to the Umbelliferae family – high plants with hollow stem, large inflorescences and roundish leaves; they are often eaten by bears and grow far from settlements. In general, one can say that nomination by place is a background for the theriomorphic code of Slavonic folk botany.

The article analyzes Slavonic dialect phytonyms derived from the names of elements: air, water, earth and fire. Plant features motivating their names are very various: colour, taste, place of growing etc. At that, their proportion differs in various groups: colour is the leading feature for "fire" plants, while in "water" ones the place of growing is the most important. Plant features not only determine their names; they are taken as indication of their healing force and create the basis for various believes, folklore texts, using in culture.

The article covers the problems of reflection of the subject code of traditional culture (on the material of names of pieces of clothes) in the plant code — names of plants and folk texts about them. The author observes how the features of the plants makes people compare tham with some pieces of clothes and give them methaphorical names. The article is written on the material of Russian dialects.

The article presents the relations between two name codes in traditional Slavic culture: the names of body parts and those of plants or how the names of body parts are reflected in the plant name code. Three levels are presented: the level of language (that is the use of names of body parts in phytonyms), the level of folklore (etiological stories – the origin of plants from the human body) and the level of ritual (that is using–real and symbolical–human body or its parts to influence plants; on the other hand, plants are widely used to influence the human body; instructions and taboos about planting vegetables).

There  are  archives  (e.g.  of  folklore  and  ethnography)  where  the  main  corpus  of  materials  is  made  up  of  orally  transmitted  materials  (for 
instance,  records  of  folkloric  texts  and  other  material  transcribed  in  the  field,  interviews,  field  diaries).  Such  materials  are  not  primarily 
records  of  top-down  governance,  but  of  ‘daily  life’ and the day-to-day existence of low-status, indeed sometimes socially marginal, individuals.
In  addition,  this  material,  unlike  government  documents    and    so    on,    were    usually    not    composed  for  public  circulation  or  presumed 
in  advance  to  have  a  social  role.  Such  archives  therefore  raise  a  number  of  specific  issues  and  problems,  on  which  participants  of  this  “Forum” focus.