Slavic Groups Research Articles

South Russian Settlers of Western Siberia in the Late 19th to Early 20th Centuries, Based on Archival Documents and Field Studies

In cultural terms, as compared to many other Russian groups, the South Russian (Kursk) settlers of Siberia in the late 19th to early 20th centuries were a distinct group, having their own traditional culture but usually no compact settlements. In this work, for the first time, on the basis of the State Archive of the Kursk Region, the ethno-cultural composition of Siberian settlers from that region is examined. Attitudes of South Russian peasants of the post-Reform era to migration are analyzed, reasons underlying their “wanderlust” and their reflection about relocation and ethnic identity are explored. Documents at the State Archive of the Tomsk Region, and the findings of my fi eld studies in 2014– 2018 pertaining to the Siberian stage in the history of Russian “Yuzhaks” (Southerners) suggest that their priority was to live side by side with Ukrainian settlers, as they had used to do in their homeland. The reason is that the key role in the early 20th century migrations was played by Russian-Ukrainian frontiersmen—people of “no man’s land”. At the time of migration to Siberia, those living in the southern Kursk Governorate were Russian Old Believers, Southern Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians (Little Russians), Russian Cossacks, and “Cherkassians” (Ukrainian Cossacks). The latter preferred to live apart from others, even within a single village. Archival documents and findings of field studies in the Anzhero-Sudzhensky District of the Kemerovo Region, and in the Topchikhinsky and Kulundinsky Districts of the Altai Territory demonstrate that Southern Russians were situationally identical to Ukrainians, as evidenced, for instance, by the frequent shift of surname endings from “-ko” and “-k” to “-ov” and vice versa, depending on migration plans. A conclusion is made that the ethnic diversity of migrants from the Kursk Governorate, the situational equivalence of Eastern Slavic groups in Siberia, as well as marriages with Russian old residents and Ukrainians, were key factors in the formation of local Siberian variants of the South Russian culture.

HOMEOSTASIS AND COMPENSATION AS LINGUISTIC PHENOMENA (COMPETITION OF ASPECT AND TENSE ON THE EXAMPLE OF SLAVIC LANGUAGES WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO POLISH)

The present paper deals with two universal linguistic phenomena, homeostasis and compensation. The author examines their function in relation to two categories, aspect and tense in the history of the Slavic languages. It is beyond doubt that one of the most important categories of the Slavic verb is aspect the origin of which may lie in the Proto-Indo-European language. The effects of its emergence as a verbal category were far-reaching and can be well traced in the history of the most Slavic languages. Taking a close look to the linguistic data, it seems quite obvious that the category of tense and aspect were closely related and did interact, creating different patterns in modern Slavic languages. A certain competition between the category of aspect and that of tense can already be observed in Old Slavic and also in Old Russian and Old Polish where tenses like the aorist and the imperfect were becoming increasingly obsolete. The perfect, on the contrary, has gained ground, while the pluperfect has almost completely fallen into disuse. In the further development, the aspectual opposition also extended to the future tenses thereby affecting the entire tense system. This scenario took place everywhere in the East and West Slavic languages with some nuanced differences. Consequently, in the aspect-tense system of the modern East and West Slavic languages the tendency of the category of aspect to prevail over the category of tense together with the gradual decline in the number of tenses seems to be quite clear. The South Slavic languages, however, have taken a slightly different path showing perhaps the most complex picture. Although the Serbian and Croatian languages have preserved the old tenses, their use is rather limited. In terms of their aspectual development, these languages are getting closer and closer to the Eastern and Western Slavic language groups. In contrast, in Bulgarian and Macedonian one can see an intricate interplay of the aspectual system and the developed tense system. In the case of the change of the different Slavic languages, the phenomenon of linguistic compensation can be observed in all cases on the example of aspect and tense categories as the main means of striving to maintain linguistic homeostasis. Keywords: linguistic homeostasis, compensation, aspect, tense, Old Slavic, Slavic languages, Polish

EVOLUTION OF ABSOLUTE PARTICIPIAL CONSTRUCTION IN LANGUAGES OF ROMANCE, GERMANIC, AND SLAVIC GROUPS

The study was carried out within the framework of the current problems associated with the evolution of the absolute participial construction in several living and extinct languages of the Romance, Germanic and Slavic groups. The controversial issues, versions of the origin and development of the structure in these languages ("Latin", "Greek" and "autochthonous") are discussed. The structural and semantic features of the absolute participial construction are compared. It has been established that in the languages under study, the construction has a binary structure that includes a name (noun or pronoun) playing the role of a logical subject, and a participle in the role of a logical predicate. Together with the main sentence, the construction forms a paratactic syntactic complex, the constituents of which are not connected with each other by means of service words. Similarities include the ability to express definitively or syncretically temporary meaning; as for the differences, they are the expression in some languages of a causal, conditional, concessive, target, connecting meaning. Depending on the peculiarities of the development of grammatical systems of languages, the structure may include participles of different types, prepositions may be present, the structure may take both the general case form and another case fixed by the language for this type of structures. The words order, which can be either direct or inverse or depend on the transmitted meaning or part of speech of the subject, also differs in the languages. In conclusion, the necessity of further comprehensive analysis of this type of structures is substantiated.

Totalitarian Sects within the Current Political Processes

This article studies the phenomenon of totalitarian sects entering politics. It concerns the participation of totalitarian sects in the political processes and election campaigns with the aim of getting into power, as well as the attempts of some political figures to rely on the infrastructure of totalitarian sects in order to promote themselves in the ruling structures. The author summarizes the works of Russian and international social thinkers and religious scholars, studying totalitarian sects as a relatively new social and religious phenomenon, supplementing and developing their findings. In particular, the following features are recognized as the key characteristics of totalitarian sects. A relatively recent foundation — usually with the founder still alive. A charismatic leader — the founder or successor, who has unquestionable authority. Closed information environment, filtering any external information signals. Careful regulation of the adherents' life, as well as their double code language, allowing them to recognize others in a “friend-or-foe” mode, which likens totalitarian sects to criminal communities. A rigid hierarchy that doses information about the organizations' goals to its members at different levels of initiation; adherents' compulsory financial participation and preaching activities. The author analyzes the promotion of totalitarian sects in politics using examples from Ukrainian and Russian political practices of the post-Soviet period. In particular, he studies the political activities of such structures as the Livets Ord (lit. “Word of Life”) Baptist Church, the Scientology Church, the Embassy of God sect (Sunday Adelaja), the Unification Church (Sun Myung Moon), the Living Word Baptist Church, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the Last Covenant Church, Slavic neopagan groups and radical Islamist sects. The network community formed around the Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation also possesses the attributes of a totalitarian sect. Particular attention is paid to specific examples of the political involvement of totalitarian sects and their influence at different levels of government in Ukraine and in the Russian Federation, as well as the resulting damage. Considering the scale of totalitarian sects' activities in Russia — hundreds of such organizations are involved, up to 1 million people in total — the author emphasizes their use by foreign intelligence services, which poses a threat to Russia's national security.

The Socio-Economic Impact of Raiding on the Eastern and Balkan Borderlands of the Eastern Roman Empire, 502 – 602

Abstract This paper compares the socio-economic impact of warfare on two frontier zones of the sixth-century eastern Roman empire: the central and northern Balkans; and the northern Syrian-Mesopotamian and Armenian borderlands in the East. The theme of war damage is central to historical and archaeological work on the Balkans but plays a comparatively marginal role in research on the East. And yet the eastern provinces were affected by more intensive raiding by larger armies, and at least as regularly as the Balkans. Much of the difference in perception is related to contemporary sources’ exaggerated coverage of ‘barbarian’ raiding on the Balkans, a region traditionally viewed as a neglected backwater by authors such as Procopius. Conversely, such sources portray warfare with the Sassanid Persians in the East through a ‘classicising’ lens, describing at greater length generals’ speeches, battles, campaigns and sieges. Another reason for the disparity in modern discussions of the two regions is the socio-economic recession in the northern Balkans toward the end of the sixth century. This can be at least indirectly linked to the effects of warfare between the empire and the Avar Khaganate and Slavic groups. Recovery from the devastation caused by these groups’ invasions could no longer be funded by the imperial authorities, who, by this stage, were struggling to finance wars on multiple fronts and were feeling the fiscal effects of repeated bouts of bubonic plague. Despite also suffering from this absence of central investment, eastern societies and economies enjoyed a greater degree of continuity in the final decades of the sixth century. This was because non-imperial sources of agricultural and commercial wealth in these areas encouraged elites to invest in recovery projects. Local elites’ and wider populations’ deep-rooted feelings of cultural, linguistic and religious attachment also played a role in their survival. These economic and cultural ties can in part be explained by the fact that, unlike the Balkans, these eastern provinces had enjoyed a long period of peace and stability in the fourth and fifth centuries.

REFLECTION OF ETHNOCULTURAL INTERACTION IN THE MICROTOPONYMICS OF THE MIDDLE VOLGA REGION

The microtoponymy of the Middle Volga region is of particular interest to the author because of the polyethnic and multilingual environment. It is a region of cohabitation of Slavic, Turkic and Finno-Ugric population groups. The facts of ethnocultural interaction are revealed in substrate microtoponyms, which often have Turkic origins.There are also Finno-Volga substratum elements.Many of them were reinterpreted in Russian language.

The Nomadic Component of the Middle Dnieper (Right Bank Ukraine) Population of Ancient Rus Time According to Anthropological Data

The relationship between the nomadic and Slavic population of the Middle Dnieper during Kievan Rus period was considered by historians, archaeologists and linguists. The issue connected with the influence of nomads on the anthropological composition of the population formation in the region was considered poorly by anthropologists. Anthropologists associated separate skulls with people from nomadic groups, the Caucasoid features of which were weakened (flattening of the facial skeleton). The number of such skulls at Christian burial grounds of the Middle Dnieper is insignificant. However, among the nomad populations of Eastern Europe there were groups with pronounced Caucasoid features. These are primarily groups genetically related to the Caucasus. In this work, craniological materials from 12 Ancient Rus series were considered in a wide range of groups that represent the nomadic peoples of Eastern Europe. The analysis included nomadic groups of steppe regions of Ukraine, the Caucasus, the Don region and the Volga region (V—XIII c.). Statistical processing of materials was carried out using the Systat software package. For the Ancient Rus period, the biological presence of people who were genetically associated with the Alanian (Iranian-speaking) groups is recorded in this region. They dominate at two burial grounds out of 12. The Alans were a group with Caucasoid features. They were one of the components of the Saltovo-Mayakш culture population. Еру Alans are represented at the medieval burial grounds of the North Caucasus. Their physical presence is recorded at a number of Lower Dnieper burial grounds. The Alans (Jassy) could also be a part of the Chorni Klobuky Union. Perhaps they were more ready to accept Christian ideas and that is why they were better integrated into the Slavic environment. All Turkic series turned out to be morphologically and statistically far removed from the Slavic groups of the Middle Dnieper (Right Bank Ukraine). This is especially true for Polovtsians and Pechenegs. For these groups of nomads, brachycrania (or a tendency towards it), large face sizes, and weakened profiling of the facial skeleton were typical.

Trends in colorectal cancer incidence in western Kazakhstan through the first decade of the screening implementation, 2009‒2018

IntroductionThe study is aimed to outline the vector of colorectal cancer incidence in the industrial Aktobe province of western Kazakhstan through the first decade of the screening implementation, 2009–2018. MethodsRough incidence rates and annual percent changes were estimated for each age group at diagnosis, ethnicities, gender, residences, the disease stages and anatomic subsites (total N 1128) via regression analysis. ResultsWithin 2009–2018 colorectal cancer rates increased from 14.74 to 23.19, with annual percent changes of 4.69%. The most significant growth was traced in men compared to women, up to 28.39 by 2018, with annual percent changes 6.64% vs. 2.64% (p=0.0009). Annual percent changes in Kazakhs reached 8.7%, whereas Slavic groups showed decline in the incidence, annual percent changes −4.3% (p=0.002). Declining in rates was also observed in urban population compared to rural one, annual percent changes −3.3% vs. 17.6%, respectively. Patients aged 60–69 made 31% of all cases and showed the largest annual percent changes 9.37% (p=0.002). Patients at Stage II made 61% of all observations, but general trend evidenced sharp growth in the group of Stage I (annual percent changes 28.91%, p<0.0001). ConclusionOverall, during the last decade colorectal cancer incidence increased 1.5 fold with expected further rise. However, the increment of Stage I portion by 2018 vs. advanced stages at diagnosis and the trend to decrease in rates among urban population inspire a definite assurance in potential efficiency of the screening program in long run. The next researches on colorectal cancer should include scenarios to reveal the role of disadvantaged environment in the region and consuming unhealthy ultra-processed food.

Macroanatomical and Topographical Features of Body’s Adipose Component Content in Girls

The aim of the research is to study quantitative representation and features of adipose component distribution in girls of 16–20 years of age having different constitutional properties.Material and methods. In the investigated Slavic ethnos groups of 250 girls of 16–17 years of age and 250 girls of 18–20 years of age having no signs of pathological processes disturbing physical development dynamics absolute content of body’s adipose component and topographical features of subcutaneous fat distribution in different body areas are evaluated by the methods of caliperometry and bioimpedancometry. As provided by typing according to a constitutional group leptosomic, mesosomic, megalosomic and indefinite constitutional groups have been singled out. Statistical analysis was based on the method of confidence intervals and determination of arithmetical mean index and its error.Results. It has been determined that subcutaneous fat thickness regardless of age and constitutional group is maximal in the abdominal region and minimal in the area of medial forearm region, chest and posterior shoulder region. Constitutional conditionality of this sign is determined by the fact that in the majority of body’s areas subcutaneous fat thickness in mesosomic constitution is 1.8–3.4 times more (р&lt;0.05) in comparison with leptosomic constitution, 1.1–1.6 times more (р&lt;0.05) in comparison with megalosomic constitution, 1.1–1.5 times more (р&lt;0.05) in comparison with the girls of indefinite constitution. Absolute content of body’s adipose component in girls of leptosomic constitution is 2.2–2.3 times (р&lt;0.05) less than in girls of mesosomic constitution. In girls of megalosomic constitution absolute content of body’s adipose component is 1.5 times (р&lt;0.05) less than in girls with mesosomic constitution. In girls of indefinite constitution absolute content of body’s adipose component is 2.2 times (р&lt;0.05) less than in girls of mesosomic constitution. At the age from 16–17 to 18–20 years subcutaneous fat thickness in mesosomic, megalosomic and indefinite constitutions is increasing insignificantly while in the girls of leptosomic group subcutaneous fat thickness is practically invariable. The indices of minimal and maximal subcutaneous fat thickness regardless of constitution and age demonstrate significant individual variability.Conclusion. The carried out morphological analysis has revealed a wide range of individual variation in body’s adipose component content and its dependence on the constitutional type.

Syntactic awareness skills in English among children who speak Slavic or Chinese languages as a first language and English as a second language

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: The purpose of this study was to examine syntactic awareness skills in English, among two groups of children: native Chinese speakers and native Slavic (L1) speakers. Both groups were second language English (L2) speakers. Their syntactic awareness skills were compared to a matched sample of L1 English speakers. Design/methodology/approach: Eighty-six third grade students participated in the study, matched between language groups on the basis of age and gender, as well as academic achievements and word reading levels. Data and analysis: L1 English and L1 Slavic groups performed significantly better on the syntactic awareness task than did the L1 Chinese group. A close examination of specific syntactic constructions revealed that the L1 Chinese group did not perform as well as the other groups on past tense constructions, which do not exist in Chinese but do exist in Slavic languages. However, there were no between-group differences on superlative and comparative constructions, which exist in all three languages. Findings/conclusions: The results contribute to our knowledge about cross-linguistic influences between English, Slavic, and Chinese, showing that L1 Slavic facilitates the learnability of L2 English, while L1 Chinese impedes the learnability of L2 English. Originality: The originality of the study lies in the comparison of children from three different L1 groups, matched with respect to reading level. The examination of languages that are typologically different in their syntax is unique. Significance/implications: The results highlight the importance of taking the specific language backgrounds of L2 learners into consideration. Limitations: The current study did not include an assessment of L1 language proficiency among participants.

To the problem of the "German question" in the Russian Empire prehistory: an emotional analysis of the colonization situation of the first half of the XIXth century

The author presents an emotional analysis of the colonization situation of the first half of the XIXth century and shows the connection between interethnic contacts of the colonization period with the development of so-called “German question” in the Russian Empire. Special attention is paid to the processes of interaction between Slavic (the Ukrainean, Russian) and German-speaking (the Mennonites, the colonist) colonization groups. Under conditions of colonization, inter-ethnic autostereotypes were formed. These ideas about the “others” were kept and saved in the field of collective unconscious and social memory, but under conditions of a conformist (strictly regulated) society, the autostereotypes were neutral and and did not show aggression. . The mobilization of the Russian nation was carried out according to the antagonistic scenario, which caused the formation of the “German question” as one of the theoretical nationalist concepts in the Empire. The ideologists of nationalism used autostereotypes to form anti-German sentiments. The resentment of masses was formed on the basis of negative experience of contacts. The resentment is a a sense of hostility, when the logic recedes, and the chaos of emotions prevails. It was used by supporters of nationalism to rally society around the titular ethnic group, to form emotional communities and to solve problems of eliminating competition with the most stable and successful ethnic groups, including Russian Germans. In the subsequent period, resentment was a psychological motivator of the lower classes group aggressive behavior in the inter-ethnic conflicts.

The analysis results of toponymic information layer of cultural landscapes: on the example of Polotsk Lake District hydronyms

Formulation of the problem. The first attempts to systematically study the features of Belarus toponyms, its toponymic field, date back to the late ХIХ and early ХХ cent. Despite the serious research, there are many gaps in this scientific area. The analysis of the toponymic information layer of cultural landscapes helps to clarify the answers to many questions («Which languages’ speakers participated in the settlement and development of the territory of Belarus?», «What are the settlement vectors?», «How were landscapes developed by various ethnic groups?», etc). Analysis of recent research and publications. The study of the hydronyms of Belarus Lake District was initiated by A. Sapunov (1893) and Yu. Trusman (1897). The problems of the hydronyms interpretation were actively studied in the 1970-1980’s by E. Katonova, V. Zhuchkevich, I. Yashkin. At the same time, all hydronyms were explained mainly as Baltic and Slavic. One of the first to scientifically substantiate the presence of the Finno-Ugric layer in the hydronyms of the Lake District was O. Hedeman (1930, 1934), J. Kondracki (1938), T. Lehr-Spławiński (1946). In 1980-2000-s there appeared works of G. Ryliuk, V. Isaenko, I. Prokopovich, I. Sharukho, R. Ovchinnikova, A. Manakov, confirming rather complicated picture of the hydronyms of the Lake District, on the territory of which pre-Indo-European, Celtic, Scythian, Finno-Ugric, Baltic, mixed Baltic-Finnish, Balto-Slavic hydronyms were found. Formation of the purpose of the article. The aim of the article is to analyze the recorded hydronyms, as an element of the toponymic layer of the informational layer of the cultural landscapes in Polotsk Lake District, their semantics and to establish a connection between hydronyms and ethnoses that took part in the settlement and development of the region. Presentation of the main research material. In the article, based on the published book of I. Sharukho «The Edge of the Century of Europe. The Geographical and Statistical Handbook: Polotsk district. Polotsk. Novopolotsk» (2017). The Handbook fixes 4000 toponyms including 615 hydronyms of the region. Analysis of the toponymic information layer of cultural landscapes can contribute to the reconstruction of the settlement picture in the region from ancient times. Variants of a number of hydronyms origin are considered. It is established that only 27% of all hydronyms are Slavic, conditionally Slavic, the rest are Finno-Ugric (at least half) and Baltic origin. Prefixes, hydronyms formants are analyzed. Examples of hydronyms of different origin are given. The edition of the dictionary of hydronyms of Polotsk district is being prepared. Polotsk district refers to territories with increased density of Finno-Ugric hydronyms. Finno-Ugric tribes came to the border in the III and II millennium BC. The most productive bases of Finno-Ugric hydronyms are: RZH-, BAL-, VOL- / VAL-, VAD-, VEL-, VOR-, VET-, KAB-, KAD-, KL-, LAB- / LAP-, PAL- and others. The subsequent waves of migrants transformed the names that existed, brought their elements into the toponymic field. A large number of hypotheses on the origin of names are explained by the complex picture of the settlements of the territory. Baltic hydronyms are names with basics DR- / RD-, DUN-, ZHUR- and others. Only 20-30% hydronyms are Slavic, or transformed Slavs. On the territory of Belarus, Slavic are 15-20% of hydronyms (according to our data - 27%). Hydronyms with prefixes are about 5%. About 100formants are recorded. The most common formants are: -ets (7.6%), -ino, -ina (5.5%), -itsa, -itsy (8%), -k, -ka, -ki (4.7%), -no, -na, -ne, nia (5.5%), -oje (10.9%), -skoje, -skaja, -skij, -skije (5.2%). Slavic are the formants -ov, -ev, -in, -tsy, -etc, -atc, -its, -itsa, -k, -ki/-ka, -evo, -ova, -ina, -ichi. The Welbars (Gothic) are the prefix of the form on –za and the form -ie. Formant –shchynabelongs to Polotsk-Smolensk krivichis. Conclusions. Polotsk district has very different ages, multilingual beds. Along with the nostratic names, the names of ancient Indo-European, Celtic, Scythian, Gothic, Finno-Ugric, Baltic, Slavic and mixed groups of names were recorded. But most of the names of water objects belong to the Finno-Ugric languages, at least half of them. It is planned to compile a series of formant maps, a separate edition on the hydronymics of the region. A subsequent study of the issues raised in the paper should be coordinated with geographers, historians, archaeologists, linguists.

From Once-Dominant Minority to Historical Christian Outpost on the Southern Caspian: Azerbaijan’s Orthodox Christians

Based on field observations and an empirical survey on religion and identity that was conducted among the Slavic Orthodox population in the wider Baku area and in Ganja, this article examines the identity and social position of this community, now the country’s main Christian population group. While earlier research on the nominally Christian Slavic groups in the Caspian–Central Asian space tended to concentrate on ethnolinguistic and political issues, this research focuses on religious identification, religious practice, and the status of the Orthodox Church. Numbering just 1.5 percent of the population, the Orthodox Christian community in Azerbaijan is nearing extinction due to its aging membership. Nonetheless, Orthodox Christianity will keep a presence in the country and its society, although it could attract a more heterogeneous following.

Traditional Tailoring Technology as an Ethnographic Source (the Case of Eastern Slavic Clothing in Southern Siberia)

The techniques of manufacturing men’s and women’s shirts by late 19th to early 20th century Russian peasants in Southern Siberia are described in the context of ethno-confessional studies. Sewing various parts together, types of seams, and general modeling are analyzed using the descriptive and graphic system adopted in tailoring technology with a view of assessing similarities and differences between Southern Siberian peasant clothing and that common in other Eastern Slavic groups. Traditional terms are listed and interpreted on the basis of fi eld studies in the 1970s– 990s and the analysis of museum collections of traditional clothing. We describe shirts with rectangular inserts on shoulders (polik shirts) including those where the inserts are connected with sleeves (non-polik shirts). The technique was based on using straight pieces of fabric. Technological analysis suggests that such shirts were sewn by a group of Russian Old-Believers, known as “Polyaki”. Absence of parallels with another group of Old-Believers, known as “Semeyskie” and living in Trans-Baikal, suggests that the latter had begun to use store-bought clothing and sew oblique sleeves comparatively early. The clothing worn by Old-Believers (who had migrated from the Dnieper-Desna interfl uve), and by non-Old-Believers (migrants from Vetka near Gomel and the adjacent areas of Chernigov region) was generally similar.

OS 05-01 PROX1 GENE CC GENOTYPE AS A MAJOR DETERMINANT OF EARLY ONSET OF T2D AND CARDIOVASCULAR COMPLICATIONS IN SLAVIC SUBJECTS FROM ADVANCE STUDY

OBJECTIVE: We have previously reported distinct genetic architectures of renal impairment in T2D patients of Slavic and Celtic origins participating in the ADVANCE trial (J Hypertens. 2015 Jun;33 Suppl 1:e3). Further analysis suggests that the major driver of the difference in the prevalence of T2D complications between Slavic and Celtic groups is due to an earlier onset of diabetes in Slavic patients. In an attempt to distinguish between environmental and genetic factors on age of onset of diabetes, we have determined the age of onset of T2D in Slavic subjects living in Celtic countries and confirmed the same earlier onset (-2 years) in these subjects, notwithstanding their living environment. DESIGN AND METHOD: We performed GWAS analyses of age of onset of T2D in 3500 T2D patients from ADVANCE trial. Analyses were done for Celtic and Slavic groups separately and combined. RESULTS: 7 loci are associated to age of onset of T2D in patients of both Celtic and Slavic origins, including HDAC9 gene (rs1128745). 9 loci are selectively associated to this phenotype in patients of Celtic origin, including the Il23R (rs1273974) while 9 different loci are associated to it in Slavic patients only. Among the latter, PROX1/PROX1-AS1 genes (rs340841) has the highest effect size. SNP rs 340841 homozygous CC genotype is associated with 2 years earlier onset of T2D in Slavic patients living in Slavic countries or in Celtic countries. This locus is also associated with eGFR decline in Slavic, with macroalbuminuria and hypertension in all ADVANCE subjects of Caucasian origin and with Interleukin-6 levels at baseline. In recent literature search we found that PROX1 gene has been associated with abnormalities of glucose metabolism and risk of diabetes with variations depending on ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that fine granularity of distinction in geo-ethic background assist in resolution of clinically relevant genetic contribution to cardiovascular complication in T2D.

Język polski na Uniwersytecie Łotewskim w Rydze

The Polish language at the Latvian University in RigaThe history of teaching of Polish language in the University of Latvia (LU) starts soon after its establishment in 1919. In the 1930s thanks to such famous scientists as Julian Krzyżanowski and Stanisław Kolbuszewski, the number of subjects connected with the Polish culture has increased at the Faculty of Philology and Philosophy and the Latvian society was introduced to the numerous works of these professors, published in different publications in Latvia. After the Second World War, Polish language has been taught within Russian philology with the aim of comparison Eastern and Western Slavic language groups. At the same time scientific works on the state of Polish language of local Poles started to appear. Since the 1990s students of Russian Philology of the LU study Polish language as the foreign language by acquiring not only the structure of it for comparative purposes, but also by acquiring communicative skills. Due to the intensive cooperation with the Polish institutions, exchange programmes and the interest of the students, Polish language as the foreign language occupies a stable place among the courses of Bachelor programme of Russian philology in the LU.

Paleo-Balkan and Slavic Contributions to the Genetic Pool of Moldavians: Insights from the Y Chromosome

Moldova has a rich historical and cultural heritage, which may be reflected in the current genetic makeup of its population. To date, no comprehensive studies exist about the population genetic structure of modern Moldavians. To bridge this gap with respect to paternal lineages, we analyzed 37 binary and 17 multiallelic (STRs) polymorphisms on the non-recombining portion of the Y chromosome in 125 Moldavian males. In addition, 53 Ukrainians from eastern Moldova and 54 Romanians from the neighboring eastern Romania were typed using the same set of markers. In Moldavians, 19 Y chromosome haplogroups were identified, the most common being I-M423 (20.8%), R-M17* (17.6%), R-M458 (12.8%), E-v13 (8.8%), R-M269* and R-M412* (both 7.2%). In Romanians, 14 haplogroups were found including I-M423 (40.7%), R-M17* (16.7%), R-M405 (7.4%), E-v13 and R-M412* (both 5.6%). In Ukrainians, 13 haplogroups were identified including R-M17 (34.0%), I-M423 (20.8%), R-M269* (9.4%), N-M178, R-M458 and R-M73 (each 5.7%). Our results show that a significant majority of the Moldavian paternal gene pool belongs to eastern/central European and Balkan/eastern Mediterranean Y lineages. Phylogenetic and AMOVA analyses based on Y-STR loci also revealed that Moldavians are close to both eastern/central European and Balkan-Carpathian populations. The data correlate well with historical accounts and geographical location of the region and thus allow to hypothesize that extant Moldavian paternal genetic lineages arose from extensive recent admixture between genetically autochthonous populations of the Balkan-Carpathian zone and neighboring Slavic groups.

A room for one’s words

Abstract Smaller animals have more names than bigger ones, not because of size, but because they escape people’s attention. For objects out of scope, human language cannot focus, and names proliferate from village to village. This paper gives examples from Slavic and other language groups. From these examples, the author shifts to the root/affix structure, showing that roots and affixes may change at different paces, giving a wide scope to dialect diversity. With reference to theories of cyclic evolutions of languages (Beames, Haudricourt, Hagège), the possibility is considered that the difference between center (root) and periphery (affixes) is motivated by opportunities for disjoined evolution.

Phonological and Morphological Functions of Palatalisation in Irish and Polish

The paper attempts to compare the status of palatalization of consonants in Modern Irish and Polish within the phonological and morphological systems of the two languages. Irish and Polish have been selected from the Celtic and Slavic groups due to the fact that both have palatalized consonants. One function, which is connected with the palatalized / non-palatalized distinction is expressing lexical contrast, e.g. Irish cúis [ku:ʃ] ‘reason’ vs. ciumhais [kʲu:ʃ] ‘edge’ and Polish beli [beli] ‘roll, Gen.sg.’ vs. bieli [bʲeli] ‘whiteness, Gen.sg.’. Phonologically speaking, the term ‘palatalization’ is rather broad and ambiguous, as it subsumes two quite disparate linguistic situations. Namely, it may be understood as a dynamic phonetic or phonological process of fronting or softening a consonant in the context of the following front vowel [i/e] or glide [j]. In this sense, palatalization is allophonic, that is, a context dependent assimilatory process, as may be the case with Irish bith [bʲi] ‘existence’, or Polish bił [bʲiw] ‘he beat’. On the other hand, both Irish and Polish seem to show that palatalization of consonants may also be independent of the context, in which case we are not dealing with a process, but with a genuine lexical property of given consonants, that is, a phonemic distinction. This point can be illustrated by such forms as Irish beo [bʲo:] ‘alive’ and Polish biodro [bʲodro] ‘hip’. Here the palatalized consonant is followed by a back vowel and could not have been derived by assimilation. Another argument for the phonemic status of palatalization in the two languages comes from the forms in which the presence of a front vowel does not guarantee that a consonant will be palatalized, e.g. Irish tuí [ti:] ‘straw’ (cf. tí [tʲi:] ‘house, Gen.sg.’) and Polish beli [beli] ‘roll, Gen.sg.’. It may appear that the phonological similarities between Irish and Polish palatalization are considerable. However, the appealing picture becomes more complicated when the two systems are looked at in detail. Once present in the phonological representation of words, the property of palatalization in Irish behaves quite disparately from what is observed in Polish. In Irish, palatalization behaves as an independent property (autosegment) and has a tendency to spread leftwards, affecting the preceding short vowels, e.g. sop / soip [sop / sipʲ] ‘wisp / Gen.sg’, consonants and vowels, e.g. olc / oilc [olk / ilʲkʲ] ‘evil / Gen.sg.’, or even entire syllables, e.g. dorn / doirn [dorən / dirʲinʲ] ‘fist / Gen.sg.’. Thus, palatalization as an assimilatory process is not entirely inactive. On the other hand, in Polish, there is some vestigial consonant-vowel interaction, practically limited to velar consonants, as well as some cluster assimilation. The paper aims to define the conditions on the phonological scope of palatalization in Irish and Polish from the point of view of the historical origin of the phenomenon, distributional restrictions, and participation in processes. Both languages successfully utilize the palatalized / non-palatalized distinction also in the respective morphological systems. This general similarity has a historical origin in the loss of final syllables. The paper surveys various lexical derivations and inflectional paradigms involving palatalization in Irish and Polish. From the formal point of view, there seem to be two main ways in which the palatalized / non-palatalized distinction is utilized morphologically, each of which has two subcategories: 1. Palatalization a. as a sole formative: C &gt; Cʲ, e.g. Irish bád / báid [bɑ:d / bɑ:dʲ] ‘boat, Nom.sg. / Nom.pl.’, and Polish ryb-a / rybi-a [rɨba / rybʲa] ‘fish, Nom.sg. / adj.Nom.sg.fem.’. b. as a co-formative: C &gt; Cʲ+vowel, e.g. Irish deas / deise [dʲas / dʲeʃə] ‘nice / Gen.sg.’, and Polish student / studenc-i [student / studeɲtɕi] ‘student, Nom.sg. / Nom.pl.’. 2. De-palatalization a. as a sole formative: Cʲ &gt; C, e.g. Irish athair / athar [ahir / ahər] ‘father, Nom.sg. / Gen.sg.’. b. as a co-formative: e.g. Polish liść / list-ek [liɕtɕ / listek] ‘leaf / dim.’ From the functional viewpoint, these effects are seen, in Polish, in some paradigms of nominal inflection, the derivation of abstract nouns from adjectives and of possessive denominal adjectives, as well as in large areas of expressive word-formation, etc. In Irish, the morphological impact of palatalization is best observed in the nominal inflection, but it also present in verbal inflection and some derivations, e.g. Verbal Nouns. Further cross-linguistic comparison and typological research is called for in order to fully appreciate the status of palatalization as a link between phonology and morphology. This paper attempts to lay the foundations for such research.

Energy demands and the mechanisms of lipid metabolism regulation in Eastern Finns eating the traditional diet

The energy demands of the Eastern Finns were estimated with allowance for the anthropometric characteristics, environmental conditions, and characteristics of traditional nature use. It was found that their energy demands under the conditions of the traditional mode of life ranged from 2608 to 2957 kcal/day, which is much higher than the average caloric value of food of the modern population of the Russian Federation (2488 kcal/day). The carriage frequency of allele apoE*4, which ensures a more rapid and complete utilization of dietary fats, was studied in the samples of Komi-Zyrians, Komi-Izhems, Udmurtians, Meadow and Mountain Maris, and Komi-Permiaks. It was discovered that these people are characterized by a high, on the European scale, proportion of apoE*4 allele carriers (13–24% in the examined samples versus 8–14% in East Slavic groups). It is assumed that, until the beginning of the XX century, selection favored the preservation of sufficiently high concentrations of the apoE*4 allele in the populations of Eastern Finns, which allowed them to efficiently survive the periods of seasonal starvation and food shortage.