Linguistic Harmony as a Means of Symbolization in Folklore and Poetic Texts

Abstract

The article discusses the use of linguistic harmony in traditional culture as a means of symbolisation. In folklore texts, the phonetic similarity of the words heightens the semantic connections between them. This happens when homonyms, paronyms, and other similar-sounding words in the text along with anagrammatic coding of the meaning of the text (for example, riddles) merge, combining two words in one hybrid word paronymous with both of them; by means of phonetic strengthening, complex sound compilation of the text as a whole, as frequently seen in poetry, etc. Symbolic correlations based on verbal consonances usually occur in spells, conjurations, dream interpretations, superstitions, and rituals that have a magical function (prognostic, healing, etc.). In archaic elements of the poetry, the harmony of the words combines an aesthetic function with a magical one (merging more and more with the aesthetic one over time), which allows us to talk about their true syncretism and the magical origins of poetry. Sound and logical-conceptual methods of symbolisation often interact with each other. The symbolism generated by the harmony of words fits into a wide cultural context, revealing deep-semantic cultural parallels from different eras and communities, since the supraindividual memory operating in culture is able to store and bring to life the accumulated connotations. Symbolism arising from the consonances of words has the property of reviving the etymological memory of a word in cultural contexts. In some archaic Slavic zones, symbolism, based on consonant words, still retains its productivity. In the symbolic language of the culture, it also performs a structuring function, takes part in the formation of connections and relationships between the single elements of the traditional picture of the world setting up certain parameters for it, for example, it forms parallels in folk zoology in animal and bird codes, isolating single groups of characters.