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WARRIOR SOUL AND POWER IN SHOR HEROICS EPICS // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2016. Issue 1 (11). P. 86-93

This article on examples of Shor heroic legends explores concepts such as soul (tyn) and power (küš), which have both positive and negative characters epic. The soul understand by Shor People as eternal origin, giving the body lives and capable, separated from him, exist independently. The results of the study found that soul and power arecalled "clean" (aryġ), in relation to the heroes regardless of their role in the epic, positive or negative. In addition, it turned out that the epic power of the main epic hero is stored not just in weapons but also in armor and other items, but the power of the negative character may be in the animal (cat) or the knifeskestik. Lost alyp power and soul restored various magical ways: reception inside (grass-cow parsnip, threejoint herb, egg, water), through the return of personal items (armour, lash), committing any actions (musical trumpet- pyrġa, injection in the mouth). Preserved in the epic beliefs and views associated with the notion of soul and power, reveals that they are identical. Lost force alyp necessarily loses his soul.

Keywords: Shor people heroic epics, warrior soul and power, stollen and return of soul

FEATURES OF THE EPIC TELLING BY A. P. NAPAZAKOV // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2017. Issue 2 (16). P. 51-55

The article deals with decoded audio records of legends and is dedicated to the peculiarities of epic performance traditions, exemplified by occasional repetitions and slips of tongue. These typically occur at the time in the tale and are natural for the spoken discourse. Self-repairs and clarifications by the storyteller greatly facilitates the folklore analysis. In addition to random slips of the tongue, the teller, A. P. Napazakov makes errors, which are repaired by him immediately. Such errors, slips of the tongue, repetitions, Russian borrowings – are the performer's personal inputs, dependent on memory, mood and even on the audience, which is an evidence of direct effect of a storyteller can have on the contents of epic and its perception.

Keywords: Shor heroic epic stories, epic storyteller’s speech, Russian loans, repeats and reservations

THE POETIC OF TEXTS OF SHOR SHAMAN RITUAL // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2018. Issue 2 (20). P. 75-79

The article uses examples of the shamanic texts of Shor people to analyze artistic-visual approaches as well as archaic and shamanic vocabulary. We also compare the shamanic texts to heroic legends. The language of shamans is full of allegories, similes, and epithets. A characteristic artistic feature of the shamanic texts is the abundance of additional items that do not have any semantic value but perform constructive functions that support the rhythm. Throughout the shamanistic ritual (kamlanie), all the texts are accompanied by interjections. The shamanic texts also contain borrowed Russian words associated with household items, such as kitchenware, from which the surrounding spirits partake. The borrowed Russian words found in the heroic legends indicate the degradation of the epic tradition and disappearance of this genre. The stylistic expressiveness of the kamlanie ritual is enhanced through the usage of paired words. An important role in the poetics of shamanism belongs both to simple epithets that consist of a single definitive word and expanded ones that include two or three words. As a rule, the epithets found in the ritual (kamlanie) are related to the sacred otherworld: "magic doors" – arba jezhik; "rusty grips of the land" – tapty tudalyғ jezhigiӊ. Along with geographic objects (mountains, rivers, villages, towns) and real animals, the shamanic texts include the names of mythical characters and places. The main shamanic characters (a deity – Ülgen; a domestic thirty-headed Mother Fire – odus pashtyғ ot Enezi, helper spirits, mythical animals, etc.), as well as mythological objects and animals in the ritual (kamlanie) are characterized by numbers, colors, etc. The artistic language of shamans awaits its researchers.

Keywords: Shor shamans, mythological characters, spirits-helpers, poetics, epithets, Russism

THE REPERTOIRE OF SHOR STORY TELLER TANNAGASHEV // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2019. Issue 4 (26). P. 92-97

Today, when living story-tellers tradition of the Altai-Sayan peoples gradually fade away, we were able to make audio recordings of heroic legends in a performance of representative of Mrass story-tellers school V. Tannagashev (1932–2007). According to ledger recordings, in the repertoire of the storyteller 72 heroic legends, among them 37 made audio and video recordings, and 35 self writing of story-teller (kajchi), 16 epic stories do not have options. Available audio and video recordings of legends of V. Tannagashev, made by L. N. Arbachakova and D. A. Funk. There are some fixing stories, produced other collectors provide a good background for deep research, dedicated to the creativity of one of the greatest storytellers of Mountain Shoria.

Keywords: Shor heroic poems, story tellers, audio records, repertoire, storage of epos

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

STORYTELLER AND COLLECTOR OF EPIC // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2021. Issue 3 (33). P. 81-90

In this article, using examples of handwritten texts of heroic legends and self-recordings by Shor storyteller (kaichi), the collecting activity of the folklorist and the performance of the epic at home are considered. Performing a legend at home is a situation for kaichi that is directly opposite to the generally accepted tradition, when an honorary invitation followed and the performance of alyptyg nybak in a circle of friends and fellow villagers, who perfectly knew the epic tradition of kai The storytellers needed a real audience, an epic environment that would support him on his way beyond the alyp. In the case of one collector-listener-guest, the kaichi, more like a hospitable host, personally thanked him, blessed and bestowed good luck on the alyp. Some storytellers (A. P. Napazakov), in the presence of one collector or in self-recordings (V. E. Tannagashev), completely missed the appeal to the audience. In their room, the storytellers, having lost the habit of performing kai, felt constrained, tuned in for a long time and were forced to perform one epic from morning to dinner, sometimes until evening, if they were in no hurry to go anywhere. However, thanks to confidential communication with storytellers at home, we managed to clarify some “dark places” of the texts, to find out the meaning of archaic words and expressions. Sometimes the collector could make changes to the names of epic works, and the storytellers, trying not to offend the guest in their home, agreed with the opinion of the person who wrote down about the renaming of the legend. Performing alyptyg nybak for one listener-collector in the daytime, the storytellers, for various reasons (mood, haste, arrival of guests, etc.), reduced the performance, which undoubtedly affected the quality of the content of the epic. V. E. Tannagashev has repeatedly reported that due to the limited time, he is forced to shorten the legends, or say it by recitative. Performing legends in an unusual situation, especially for the collector, the kaichi, finding themselves outside the epic environment, did not feel in unity with their listeners, which affected the narrators' remarks and the traditional poetics of legends.

Keywords: heroic epic story, storyteller, listener, collector, performance, self-record, audio record

MODERN (NEO-)SHAMANS OF MOUNTAIN SHORIIA // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2022. Issue 4 (38). P. 103-110

In this article, using the example of the shamanic ritual Shachyg (sprinkling, treatment of the spirits of the mountains and rivers), the ritual activity of the so-called modern shamans who have not undergone the ordeals of the “shamanic disease” is considered. They are “discovered” by a more experienced local who has sometimes attended training courses with Khakass or Tuvan shamans and has the relevant credentials. Some Kams also spoke of the shamanic gift being inherited within the family from grandfathers or grandmothers. The Shachyg ritual was performed in 2019 in Tashtagol by S. Teneshev (born in 1973) and other shamans on the Day of Indigenous Peoples of the World. At the beginning of the ritual, the reason for the ceremony is stated, and the most "painful" current problems of the whole people or a certain group of participants are listed, which can be solved with the help of higher powers. The example of a ritual text has shown that the language of ritual texts is reduced to the everyday level and is very poor. In the text of S. Teneshev that we studied, there are Russicisms, interjective exclamations, names of geographical places (e.g., the mountain Mustag), Belkovo (a suburb of Tashtagol ), but no archaisms and vocabulary connected with shamanism, and there are no allegories, similes and other means of expression characteristic of earlier records of rituals. He mentions only the god Kudai, the spirits of mountains and rivers, and the spirit of fire. However, the ritual itself is characterized by detailed treatment of the spirits of rivers and mountains, the use of ritual objects during the ritual (tambourine tӱur, kai-komus), and the presence of national costumes. During the ritual, S. Teneshev, together with other shamans, asks various eezi spirits for a majestic holiday and blessings for all the Shors present: people preserving their native language, wealth, growth of livestock, childbearing, health, happiness, and good luck. This ritual is particularly interesting because in the context of globalization, with the departure of the authentic carriers of the traditional worldview in modern society, there is a demand for the revival and maintenance of national traditions through the reconstruction and popularization of shamanistic rituals, the so-called “neo-shamanism”. It is very important that researchers record these processes, analyze the material, ethnographic, and textual components of the "new" rituals, and compare them in the future with the authentic shamanic rituals recorded in the 20th century and with the global trends of neo-shamanism.

Keywords: shamanizm, Shor shamans, ritual, costume, spirit sprinkling, shaman's spirits, language

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)