Russian Linguistic Bulletin (Aug 2023)

CULTURALLY DEPENDENT SEMANTICS OF CURSING IN THE DARGWA AND THE LAK LANGUAGES

  • Mishaeva M.V.,
  • Mishaeva L.K.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.18454/RULB.2023.44.17
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 44, no. 8

Abstract

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The Dargins and the Laks (Laki) are speakers inhabiting central and south parts of Dagestan, North Caucasus. In the North Caucasus, people believe cursing expressions have destructive and powerful significance. Although in the Dargwa and Lak cultures curse words are used to cause fear, to express emotions and negative attitude towards others, cursing practice is not well studied and documented.The objective of this article is to describe the sociolinguistic meanings and the structural patterns of cursing expressions in the Dargwa and the Lak languages, and then to compare the expressions to uncover if there are universal tendencies in the rules and routines of cursing. The study follows qualitative and comparative research methodologies. The major part of cursing expressions were collected from aged and middle-aged key informants. The findings showed that cursing seems to be realized through much the same means in both cultures. It predominantly refers to bodily functions, supernatural beings and religion.

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