Ethnobryology: traditional uses and folk classification of bryophytes

This study, based on ethnographic, linguistic, and folk materials, describes and interprets Buryat ideas of birds. The analysis of lexical data reveals the principal groups of birds according to the Buryat folk classiﬁcation. The bat’s status is indistinct, since bats are not subordinate to the kings of the animal world. Diagnostic criteria underlying the classiﬁcation of birds are outlined. The main criterion was whether a bird was beneﬁcial or harmful. Ornithomorphic images in Buryat mythology, folklore, and ritual are described. Cult birds and bird totems are listed, and relics of local bird cults (those relating to swan, goose, duck, pigeon, and eagle) are revealed. Birds with positive connotations are the swan, crane, swallow, pigeon, eagle, and eagle-owl. Those with negative connotation are the kite, raven, crow, quail, cuckoo, and hoopoe). The attitude toward ducks, hawks, magpies, and jackdaws is ambivalent. Certain birds (ducks and ravens) were related to cosmogonic ideas; others (swan, goose, eagle, etc.) were endowed with a werewolf capability. The raven, the cuckoo, and the hoopoe symbolized natural cycles, whereas the magpie and the quail were associated with the soul. The role of bird images in the mytho-ritual practices is discussed. The Buryat mythological ideas reﬂected not only speciﬁc ethnic views of certain birds, but also universal ones.

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Notes on the ethnoicthyology of fishermen from the Tocantins river (Brazil)

Acta Amazonica ◽

10.1590/1809-43921990201351 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 20 (0) ◽

pp. 341-351 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

A. Begossi ◽

J. C. Garavello

Keyword(s):

Fish Species ◽

Body Shape ◽

Fish Habitat ◽

Terrestrial Plants ◽

Realized Niche ◽

Folk Classification ◽

Detailed Classification ◽

Tocantins River

Ethnobiology includes the study of how populations perceive and classify organisms. This study focuses on the utilization and classification of fishes by fishermen from the Tocantins river. The study area is located between the cities of Imperatriz and Estreito (Maranhão and Tocantins States). Interviews with fishermen and collection of fish species were performed from October 1987 to June 1988. The criteria used by fishermen to classify fish species are mainly morphological, such as related to body shape and coloration. Fish habitat is also an information used in folk classification. Terrestrial plants and animals are a reference for some fish names. Fishermen showed a deeper knowledge and detailed classification of species of fish used for food, sale, or medicine. Folk classification represents the knowledge a population has on its environment, and it is more detailed on species which are part of its realized niche as indicated by this study.

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Eastern Polissian dialectal speakers’ metatextual utterances: dialectal speech

Movoznavstvo ◽

10.33190/0027-2833-317-2021-2-005 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 317 (2) ◽

pp. 67-82

Author(s):

O. M. Kholodon ◽

Keyword(s):

Mixed Type ◽

Literary Language ◽

Folk Classification ◽

Village People ◽

Language Environment ◽

The Village ◽

Everyday Communication ◽

The Town ◽

Metalinguistic Activity

The article deals with the problem of the study of the dialectal personality phenomenon and analyzes Eastern Polissian dialectal material, which testifies about actualization of the dialectal speakers’ metalinguistic consciousness. It is noted that the territory of Eastern Polissia borders on Belarusian and Russian languages, on the border of which scholars notice a special “surge” of metalinguistic activity, although they indicate that dialectal speakers’ metatextual utterances are not frequent in everyday communication. The purpose of the study is to identify the metatextual utterances of the Eastern Polissian dialect that reflect their knowledge and evaluation of the dialectal speech. The source of the study is the dialectal material recorded by the author in Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts during 2009–2019 and recorded dialectal texts; metatextual utterances are fixed occasionally. It is established that metatextual utterances in the dialectal communication arise spontaneously in the condition of communicators’ / speakers’ language norm contravention, understanding the opposition “his own” — “foreign”, relocation of dialectal speakers to another language environment and explorer’s provocation with direct questions. Revealed manifestations of oppositions “the Ukrainian literary language (or dialectal speech, which, according to dialectal speakers’ opinion, is close to literary)” — “the dialectal speech”, “the town speech” — “the village speech”, “the speech of educated people” — “the speech of village people” reflect the folk classification of idioms. It is determined that Eastern Polissian dialectal speakers, comprehending the dialectal speech, define in general its locality, peculiarity (e.g. га|монитʼ па-с|войему, па-с|войему разга|варʼуйем, тара|торим па-с|войему), mixed character (e.g. |мʼешана |мова, |мова |путана, пе|ремис’) and the language belonging of dialectal words in particular (e.g. гово|ритʼ, кур|сʼіроватʼ, наж|раўсʼа). The negative and positive axiology of dialectal speech is determined, in particular negative estimation is prevalent. Pointing to a mixed type of the dialectal speech — a combination of the Ukrainian, Russian or Belarusian language elements, dialectal speakers identify themselves with the khokhols; also they identify themselves with Ukrainians. Neutral or negative dialectal speakers’ estimations of the name of khokhol are fixed partially. The study outlines vistas of further research into dialectal metatextual utterances.

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