The Reflection of the Yakut Perception of the Animal World in the Process of Nominating Plants

Abstract

Purpose. The plant world vocabulary belongs to the most ancient strata of the lexical fund of the Yakut language and reflects cultural, religious, economic, and practical study of nature by the Yakuts. The article analyzes 70 phytonyms containing a zoononym component in the Yakut language.Results. The research materials are dialectisms which were not subjected to a linguistic description previously, and were recorded by the authors of the article as a part of field work carried out in Amga, Verkhoyansk and Namsky districts of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The empirical material is classified according to semantic models revealing the Yakut understanding of the animal world, which is reflected in the process of plant nomination.Conclusion. Zoononym components in phytonyms reflect associative thinking and the formation of plant names by metaphorization. So, the names of domestic milk producing animals, being part of a two-component phytonym, emphasize the taste of berries and the presence of acids, sugar and other nutrients that are beneficial to the human body. The use of an animal and a bird as part of a nomination indicates prickliness and presence of thorns in the shoots of a plant. It was found that the form is one of the main motives in naming objects of nature.