Диалектные названия синицы: внутренняя форма слова и символическое значение

Abstract

The paper addresses the dialect nominations of titmice. The purpose of the study is to reconstruct their internal form, determining not only the name of a particular type of titmouse, but also the symbolic meaning of the word. The paper starts with analyzing the internal form of the word titmice and dialect names of this bird. Most of the nominations are motivated by the color of the operculum (sinyushka, zelenushka, chernec, pcheljak), memorable details, such as a tuft (barashek)) or “mustache” (borodavka), “vocal” data (zenchik, zenziver, kayan) and seasonal activity (ledolomka, zimushka). When reconstructing the internal form of words, the authors largely relied on the research of ornithologists. The second part of the paper touches upon the symbolic meanings of the word zinka. Symbolization refers to the process of objectification a perceptually generalized image or its details of some other abstract reality, little explored by man (‘vision’, ‘light’, ‘sound’, ‘soul’, etc.). In the word zinka, the internal form is due to the syncretic common Slavic root *zě- (or *zi), in which two semes — ‘hole’ and ‘speed’ — motivated the following symbolic meanings: zinka materializes 1) sunlight, 2) human vision perceiving it., 3) sound and the message it spreads. The symbolic meaning of ‘sunlight’ undergoes subsequent (along the chain) mythological interpretation and becomes the source of two more symbolic meanings — 4) ‘time’ and 5) ‘happiness'. The folk etymology acts as a source of the symbolic meaning of 6) ‘hunting and fishing’.