A GENERALIZED TYPE OF THE LANGUAGE PERSON OF THE MIDWIFE IN THE RITUAL DISCOURSE OF THE BIRTH OF A CHILD

Abstract

The article is devoted to the modeling of the linguistic personality of the generalized type of midwife, who takes an active part in all rituals of the Ukrainian rite of childbirth. In ritual discourse, this woman reflects the norms of ethnic linguistic culture. The purpose of our research was to analyze the linguistic personality of the collective type of midwife on ethnographic materials and materials of folk songs that accompanied the rituals in the rite of childbirth. The object was the linguistic and cultural personality of the generalized type of Ukrainian woman, who took an active part in antenatal and post partum rituals, as well as during childbirth performed all necessary work to save the lives of mothers and children. The subject was modeled on the verbal and nonverbal communicative levels of linguistic personality of the midwife, grandmother, as she was called by the people. In the process of work we used the following general and special linguistic methods: analysis and synthesis, descriptive method, as well as methods of induction and deduction; contextual-interpretive method and the method of modeling the language personality of the generalized type. The main attention was paid to the linguistic and spiritual state of this woman. In ritual discourse, the midwife reflects the norms of ethnic linguistic culture. The collective type of such a linguistic personality is represented by an elderly woman who can no longer have children. She is revered and respected not only in the village where she lives, but also far beyond. Her craft is passed down from generation to generation within the family. The midwife, who is often called the grandmother, is a connoisseur of sacred texts. The article analyzes the verbal and non-verbal means of communication through such texts with supernatural forces, including God and the Mother of God. Midwife has the secrets of folk medicine, she gives advice to the mother before childbirth, helps to correct the situation if there are complications during childbirth, and when the family already has children and parents do not want to give birth, prepares contraceptives for women. Grandmother is a good psychologist, she feels the woman’s condition during childbirth and calms her down with her words. The midwife’s dialogues or monologues have a suggestive effect on the midwife, who calls her mother, entrusting her life and the life of the child to the grandmother. The midwife is a modest and responsible woman. She can never refuse a request for help during childbirth: she gathers quickly and always has a set of ritual items that she carries with her. These are bread, holy water, candles, cloth, and so on. In turn, the new parents give the grandmother, who can, but always give bread and a towel. After that, the midwife becomes a member of the family, she prepares the first bath for the child, organizes a ritual of purification for herself and the mother, participates in baptisms and more. Folk songs preserve the glorification of the grandmother and the boundless gratitude for her work, which this woman always does conscientiously, without expecting a reward. The collective type of such a linguistic personality is characterized by knowledge of oral folk art, free possession of elements of folk speech. In the future, we see it possible to model a generalized type of linguistic personality of Ukrainian women in ritual discourse in a broad sense.