F. M. Lelkhova. Principles of plant nomination in the Khanty language

Fedosia M. Lelkhova
Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Research and Development,
Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia

Introduction. The article considers the identification of the ways of plant nomination in the dialects of the Khanty language. The aim of the research is to classify the principles of flora nomination in the Khanty language, taking into account dialectal features. The object is the vocabulary of the plant world, which provides rich material in synchronic and diachronic aspects, since it belongs to the most archaic layers of vocabulary. The relevance of the work is due to the fact that until now the principles of plant nomination in this language have not been studied.
Materials and Methods. The material for the article was the floristic vocabulary of the Khanty dialects. The linguistic material was collected during the field work and direct communication with the speakers of the dialects. The work employs a complex of research methods such as: descriptive, including the identification and classification of material, the method of component analysis, as well as individual elements of etymological analysis.
Results and Discussion. As a result of the analysis, it identifies various and numerous principles of plant nomination in the Khanty language and its dialects, such as “consumption of plants by animals and birds as food”, “place of growth”, “color”, “function”, “edibility for humans”, etc.
Conclusions. The process of naming plants is based on certain characteristics that reflect both the characteristics of the plants themselves and the specifics of the culture of the people. In the Khanty language, the most representative motivational features for the nomination of plants are the correlation with objects of the animal world, place of growth, color, specificity of economic use.

Keywords: dialect, vocabulary, language, Khanty, Finno-Ugric, method of nomination, phytonymy, motivation

Acknowledgments: The author thanks the Pohjoishantin Šuryškarin kirjakielen kieliopin ja muiden apuneuvojen laatiminen project, and Koneen Säätiö foundation for the help in orginizing the expeditions to the northern Khanty for collecting the lexical material on the topic.

For citation: Lelkhova FM. Principles of plant nomination in the Khanty language. Finno-ugorskii mir = Finno-Ugric World. 2021;13;2:116–123. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.15507/2076-2577.013.2021.02.116-123.