Revisiting Some Kalmyk Names of Cooking Wares and Utensils (a case study of the Explanatory Dictionary of the Kalmyk heroic epic of Jangar)

Abstract

The article deals with the thematic group ‘Names of Cooking Wares and Utensils’ in the context of the creation of the Explanatory Dictionary of the Kalmyk heroic epic of Jangar (EDJ). The work reveals some peculiarities and distinct features of names of wares and utensils, examines the lexemes хәәсн ‘cauldron’, ааһ ‘bowl; cup’, шанһ ‘ladle’, and provides examples of concise dictionary entries with the mentioned lexical units acting as header words. In general, names of cooking wares and utensils are poorly represented in the Jangar Epic. This is likely to have been determined by the nomadic lifestyle of the Oirats — ancestors of the Kalmyks — which required universal minimalism, including in household activities. The epic narratives contain no detailed descriptions of such wares or utensils, and to restore some missing distinct features during the compilation of corresponding definitions authors of EDJ turn to lexicographic, ethnographic, and other sources to clarify the meanings of certain words.

Keywords

• kalmyk language
• corpus of texts of the jangar epic
• explanatory dictionary
• dictionary entry
• wares
• utensils.