Methis: Studia Humaniora Estonica (Dec 2015)

Veel kord regilaulu parallelismist, poeetilisest sünonüümiast ja analoogiast/ Once more on the parallelism of runosong, on the poetical synonymy and analogy

  • Mari Sarv

DOI
https://doi.org/10.7592/methis.v13i16.12451
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 16

Abstract

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Teesid: Parallelism on rahvaluules väga levinud nähtus ning ka regilauludes regulaarselt ja mitmekesiselt kasutatav tekstiloome printsiip. Olgugi et varasemad uurijad on kirjeldanud ja analüüsinud regilaulu parallelismi mitmeid aspekte, ei tule senises kirjanduses esile vajadus eristada regilaulu mitmekesise parallelismikasutuse seast kanoonilist, kogu teksti läbivalt kujundavat parallelismitüüpi. Mitmesugustele varasematele analüüsidele tuginedes on artiklis välja pakutud läänemeresoome regilaulu kanoonilise parallelismitüübi määratlus. S U M M A R Y The article proposes the definition of the type of parallelism, which is canonical in the common Finnic poetic tradition (runosong). Parallelism is very common in the oral poetry, and it is represented in various level of poetical text in the runosong tradition as well. Although the parallelism of runosong has been described and analysed from many aspects, the previous researchers have not perceived or expressed the need to discern and define the type of parallelism canonical to the runosong among all the variants of parallelism represented in the runosong texts. Canonical poetical feature should occur with high regularity in the texts of respective tradition and fit in the whole poetical system. Relying on her own previous research on runosongs and proverbs demonstrating the mutual dependency of alliteration and parallelism typical to runosong (Sarv 1999, 2000, 2003), the results of syntactic analysis of runosong texts in H. Metslang’s dissertation (1978), Juhan Peegel’s definition of poetical synonyms in runosong (Peegel 2004), and Ewald Lang’s concept of quasisynonymy (Lang 1987), the author proposes the definition of the canonical parallelism of runosong as follows: it is a grammatical verse parallelism where all or some of the syntactic elements of the main verse have corresponding parallels in the successive lines representing the same general notion, and interpreted in the context of the parallelism as semantically equivalent, irrespective of their semantic relations in the colloquial language (equivalence, synonymy, metonymy, metaphor, analogy, antonymy, hyponymy etc.). Because of this semantical equivalence, the parallel words can be selected and combined into the parallel verses according to their formal features enabling the metrical alignment and alliteration. The article also points to the problems with the classification of runosong parallelism to the analogous and synonymous by Wolfgang Steinitz (1934), widely used in the runosong discourse: although analogy and synonymy probably represent the most remarkable semantic relations between the parallel lines, it is not easy to make clear distinction between synonymous and analogous lines (or concepts)—even in the colloquial non-poetic language the synonyms are usually not equivalent in all aspects of meaning; the regular use of poetical synonyms in runosongs makes it impossible at all—the geese, ducks, and grouses as different birds are analogous in the colloquial language, but synonymous in the runosong all denoting the group of maidens.

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