Water in magical beliefs of the podillians: ethnolinguistic observations

Abstract

The research focuses upon nomination and beliefs connected with water, fixed by a special questionnaire in a settlement Rakhni-Lisovi of Shargorod district of Vinnytsia region of Ukraine (Central Podillia dialtet).Lack of systematic descriptions of Podolsky beliefs connected with water in the linguistic plane today on the one hand and wide series of ethnolinguistic material from Slavic countries on the other hand actualize ethnolinguistic analysis of the Podolsky beliefs connected with water, which aims at eliminating gaps in the Ukrainian information space of the traditional beliefs connected with water.The study attempts to model a detailed invariant structure of beliefs connected with water by means of dialect texts. Each ritual act is presented nominativly and through dialect microtexts that enables analysis motivation of nomens, syntagmatic relations between terms.It has been concluded, that Рodillians appreciate water as a source of life, a means of magical purification. At the same time, water space is conceived as a way to the otherworldly, a place of residence for the unclean powers and souls of the dead.The sacred properties of water are revealed through its connection with supernatural forces, the use of water during divination, the system of prejudices and reservations about the use of water.In the texts of the analyzed dialect we have fixed a wide system of nominative units for the designation of water, its types, characteristics and the actions associated with it: 1) аttributive characteristics of water; 2) water as the subject of action; 3) water as an object of action.