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INDIVIDUAL LINGUISTIC PECULIARITIES OF A STORYTELLER (THE CASE OF SHOR HEROIC EPIC STORIES’ RECORDINGS) // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2020. Issue 3 (29). P. 20-31

This article deals with individual peculiarities of word usage by Shor storytellers (qaychi’s). We have analyzed (and, partially, deciphered) a row of manuscripts of Shor heroic epic stories and delineated some linguistic features typical for a certain storyteller. Storytellers use similar or identical stylistic devices and communicative and pragmatic means. Firstly, each storyteller preserves the features of his or her dialect or subdialect, both lexical and grammatical ones. Secondly, modern storytellers widely use Russian borrowings as global or partial copies. Thirdly, practically all storytellers use typical for the spoken language contracted forms of verbs, verbal forms, pronouns and nouns. Fourthly, storytellers abundantly use communicative and pragmatic particles of their choice. Such particles are difficult for translation into Russian; they are often omitted in written editions of epic texts (e. g. polza, tedir, noo, etc.). Fifthly, each storyteller has its own individual expressions and words. The oral register of telling an epic story makes the use of communicative and pragmatic particles especially prominent. Each storyteller has his or her preferred particles used most often, although, of course, all particles can be used by any storyteller. Such particles help the storyteller to collect his or her thoughts, to communicate with the listeners, etc.; moreover, they fulfill very important semantic and pragmatic functions: Tedir stresses the hearsay evidentiality of epic texts or a certain distance of the speaker to the narrated events meaning ‘as one says, as people say, as far as I can judge, as far as I could understand, it has appeared (to me), etc.’ Izä in epic texts stresses the adequacy of a narration. Polza is used in Shor as a particle marking switch reference (as for …); in epics, it is a particle serving as a stylistic device suspense, and helping to raise the interest of the listeners in the continuation of the story. Even if these features are common to all storytellers whose epic texts we have analyzed, their choices of a certain word, expression or form are individual. Certain words and peculiarities of their usage indicate the personality of a storyteller, similar to his typical handwriting; both of them are individual and unique. Moreover, some usages give a clue to the emotions and the state of mind of the qaychi during his performance.

Keywords: the Shor language, vocabulary, heroic epic story, storyteller, individual word usage, communicative and pragmatic particles, audio recording

The naming ceremony in the heroic stories of shors // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2023. Issue 2 (40). P. 9-20

The article deals with the naming ritual in the epic tales of Shors recorded by N. P. Dyrenkova, A. I. Chudojakov, L. N. Arbachakova, and Shors' narrators; some have not been published yet. The naming ceremony is one of the most important poetic and mythological motifs in all traditional oral cultures; it is associated with initiation. In folklore, it is treated as one of the so-called "epic formulas" or “commonplaces” as a standardized form of expression for folkloric motifs. Using descriptive and comparative methods, we have shown the general structure of the naming ceremony and its variability depending on the gender of the epic character and its role in the epic narrative. The article also describes the manifestations of naming an epic hero and his inner divine status. Special attention was paid to the linguistic representation of the naming ceremony and the epic formulas used. In the heroic stories of the Shors, the name of an epic hero has a great symbolic effect; the one who gives him a name is highly respected and honored. An epic hero is born miraculously. The boy (rarely a girl) grows very fast and gains all his power in just a few hours or days after an epic sleep. When he awakens, his parents or other close relatives send him to the coast or a mountain's steps to receive a name. They give him a drink to take to the person who will do the naming. Only if he has a heroic name can he fight the invaders, perform other glorious deeds or find a bride. The naming ceremony of the Shors consists of several parts: The child leaves the parental palace and goes to the place of the ceremony, he calls for a person who will give him a name, the name-giver comes, receives the drinks brought by the boy, announces the name and the blessing, the name-giver disappears and returns to his palace. During the naming ceremony, the name is first given to the epic hero's horse and only then to himself, followed by blessings and good wishes for him and his horse to be invincible and overcome all obstacles.

Keywords: Shors stories, heroes, epics, naming ceremony, blessings, epic characters (alyp)