Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium L.) in the Folk Taxonomy of the Germanic and Finno-Permic Languages

Abstract

This article deals with folk names (phytonyms) that denote common yarrow (Achillea millefolium L.) in two Germanic (English, German) and three Finno-Permic languages (Finnish including Ingrian Finnish dialects, Karelian and Komi). The author analyses the motivations of these folk names and identifies some of the nominative characteristics which the names of this plant can be based upon. Some names belonging to the Germanic languages are also viewed in the diachronic perspective. The research employs the descriptive, contrastive, and comparative methods. The material mainly draws from the following sources: Dictionary of English Plant Names (J. Britten, R. Holland), Die Deutschen Volksnamen der Pflanzen (G. Pritzel, C. Jessen), Wörterbuch der Deutschen Pflanzennamen (H. Marzell), Suomalaiset kasvinnimet (P. Suhonen), Finnish Folk Plant Vocabulary (Formation and Functioning) (Yu. E. Koppaleva), and Komi-Russian Botanical Dictionary (A. N. Rakin). It is established that the names of yarrow are motivated by the following characteristics: form; usage in folk medicine; habitat; effect produced by the plant; usage by animals as food; folk beliefs and customs; colour; features of structure. The author concludes that the images of yarrow in the five languages considered mostly correspond with each other. This can be explained by the common view on the plant among the speakers of these languages. The names belonging to both language groups contain the following characteristics: form; usage in folk medicine; effect produced by the plant; folk beliefs and customs; colour. The Finno-Permic languages alone note the habitat and features of structure and only the Germanic languages note usage by animals as food. In addition, the article contains observations as to how frequently these nominative characteristics occur in the names of yarrow in the five languages studied. The author also describes some difficulties that can arise during the analysis and classification of this material.