Cult Vocabulary in Buryat Traditional Culture: Semantics, Genesis, and Aspects of Functioning

Abstract

One of the most promising aspects of research into the cult tradition of the Buryats is the study of the concepts of ‘cult’ and ‘sacred’. Goals. The paper aims to analyze the issue of applying the category of ‘sacred’ developed by European religious studies to the lexical material associated with the category of the sacred in the traditional culture of the Buryats on the basis of etymological and historical-genetic research. Results. Description of the scope of application of the concept of ‘sacred’ in Buryat culture, as well as semantic analysis are necessary to avoid inadequate interpretations and extrapolations while using respective lexemes. By virtue of their conservatism, ritual terms contain invaluable evidence of the cultural and historical perspectives, preserve the valuable information that allows us to reconstruct the ethnography of the past, its social structures, spiritual culture, including the cult tradition.

Keywords

• hierophany
• adoration
• sacrality
• the cult
• theophany
• deity
• soul
• destiny