Names of Memorial Days in the Traditions of Eastern Serbia: Ethnolinguistic Aspect

Abstract

The article examines the terminological vocabulary of one of the stages of funeral and memorial rites, fixed at the border zone of the Slavic and non-Slavic traditions of Eastern Serbia. Rites and customs of the Vlachs (obsolete Rus. Valahi, i.e. Wallachians, Serb. Vlasi), who moved to these territories mainly in the XIX century and currently live in villages that are interspersed with Serbian ones, influenced the Serbian folk tradition. The funeral and memorial rites of the Slavs represent the most conservative area of folk rituals and motivating beliefs and prescriptions, less susceptible to changes linked with both globalization and urbanization, and with the influence of neighboring traditions. Nevertheless, due to the fact that the funeral and memorial rites of the Vlachs are exceptionally bright, rich and representative, the considered ethnic complex of rituals could not but have a tangible impact on the Eastern Serbian rituals and representations associated with the transition to another world. The East Serbian dialect vocabulary largely reflects these processes, which is demonstrated in the article by the example of the lexeme pomana («commeration»), widely used in the dialects of North-Eastern Serbia. Meanwhile, the Serbs still retain the original Slavic archaic vocabulary, reflecting the ancient Slavic ideas about the deceased, his needs and necessities in the “other world”. Various types of sources are involved in the study: lexicographic (explanatory, etymological and dialect dictionaries), ethnographic (descriptions of customs, rituals and representations in certain regions of Eastern Serbia), data from the National Corpus of the Serbian Language and the author's own field ethnolinguistic materials (1997–2021).