Demononyms in Russian Mythological Texts of the Perm Region

Abstract

The paper deals with proper names of demons (demononyms) featured in the local mythological texts of the Perm region, narrating of people with supernatural abilities. The research focuses on the names of the spirits which the sorcerers infuse into the victim’s body to cause illness. This universal tendency to “personify” the spirits of disease becomes apparent as it happens to be a recurrent element of the plot in such spirit-possession narratives. In this respect, the use of a proper name is yet another means of creating an anthropomorphic character which is the spirit of disease. Concurrently, a name might also bring in certain ethnic, social, cultural, and linguistic implications. In the Perm regional mythology, 67 demononyms have been identified. Most of them are anthroponyms transferred to the category of demononyms retaining the same derivational patterns. The functions of demononyms are similar, but not identical to those of anthroponyms (i.e. to name, to identify, to distinguish). The use of a particular name helps to identify and to differentiate the demon from the possessed victim or another spirit “cohabiting” with it. Therefore, demononyms have a twofold specifying / deictic nature: they go back to an anthroponym, but act as a substitute for the demon’s name. Ultimately, proper names of demons also serve to “legitimize” the presence of the spirits of disease in a person, which leads to more particular context-driven functions correlated with those of anthroponyms. On a larger scale, the use of demononyms in mythological narratives about people possessed with a spirit of the disease tends to reflect the traditional “friend” or “foe” opposition that is typical to the Slavic culture.