Curses as a genre of Lezghi and Kumyk folklore

Abstract

The article analyzes folk curses that have an emotional charge and relate to abusive language. Most often they are psychological or domestic in nature. Mostly, this kind of curse is pronounced unconsciously during a domestic quarrel or other conflict. They can be considered as a communicative, imperative and expletive formula. The purpose of the study is to analyze curses in which the speaker expresses dissatisfaction and indignation towards the listener. As a rule, they convey the feelings of the speaker or swearer and their attitude towards a certain situation or a specific person. The object of the study is curses presented in the folklore of Lezghins and Kumyks. Curses are found in the form of proverbial expressions, prose miniatures, and individual phrases at the heart of large works (most often in folk songs). We give a general idea of the functional and semantic aspects of curses. The article proves that curses are detailed figurative statements of negative content. This genre of folklore has a great practical value. The curses are based on a person’s faith in the magical component of the word. The article indicates that the distinctive features of curses are semantic content, emotional richness and color. The authors focus on formulaic curse expressions using the imperative form of the verb, where the focus is on the intended recipient. The work attempts to present some models arising from culturally specific characteristics. To simplify the qualitative interpretation of the material, we divided the texts of curses into various groups based on their relationship to different spheres of life. Thematic features of verbal formulas are distributed depending on the addressee. 

Keywords

• lezghin folklore
• kumyk folklore
• genre
• curses
• spells
• ethnography
• ethnospecificity