Names of diseases in Russian imprecations

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of names of diseases that appear in Russian imprecations. The disease is one of the most sought-after malicious characters (actors) of the imprecations; the constant recourse to this character in order to harm somebody is clear: many diseases are characterized by terrible symptoms and consequences; the nature of diseases is irrational for the naive consciousness; the ailments are often anthropomorphous, endowed with the properties of an active subject; in many cases, the images of diseases “merge” with the images of demons — the main contenders for the role of a source of evil; diseases are recipients of various genres of verbal magic, which contributes to the accumulation of an arsenal of magical formulas and inter-genre exchange of these formulas. The authors set out to determine what disease names are the most popular in the texts of imprecations and why. The analysis showed that the names of the following groups of diseases can be seen in Russian imprecations: any sickness, disease in general; external wounds, injuries and skin diseases (as well as internal diseases, aff ecting the condition of the skin); fever; acute pain syndrome; mental and nervous ailments, loss and clouding of consciousness; blindness; intestinal and stomach diseases; strain; “infl icted” diseases. The choice of these types of diseases is due to: a) expressiveness and disruptiveness of their symptoms; b) appraisal of these diseases as “low”, impure, humiliating, associated with the untidiness of the addressee; c) prevalence of these diseases among the people; g) connection of these diseases with the demons, etc. In the study, the authors establish the origin of a number of names of diseases with unclear semantics, as well as classify the names of ailments in accordance with their motivational characteristics.