Oriental Studies (Dec 2020)

Lexical and Semantic Analysis of the Lexeme baltyrγan ‘Hogweed’: Based on the Corpus of the Bashkir Language

  • Anita Sh. Ishmukhametova

DOI
https://doi.org/10.22162/2619-0990-2020-51-5-1406-1414
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 5
pp. 1406 – 1414

Abstract

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Identification of names of plant curatives and substances in folk and fiction texts shows close interactions between man and the world, attitudes of people towards nature. Research in phytonyms and medicinal plant names proper is most essential for the understanding of a nation’s cultural heritage. The paper examines the lexeme балтырған in Bashkir discourse. Materials. The analyzed materials include linguistic dictionaries, folklore and fiction texts of the Machine Fund of the Bashkir Language, and etymological dictionaries of Altaic languages. Goals. The study aims at a comparative investigation of the lexeme балтырған ‘hogweed’. Results. The term proves a widespread phytonym in Bashkir discourse, which is attested by that it denotes a wide range of plant species in Bashkir and has parallels in other Turkic and Mongolic languages. The lexeme is included in academic, explanatory, dialectal, phrasal, and mythological dictionaries of the Bashkir language. The comparative analysis shows that baltyrγan ‘hogweed’ usually denotes a plant of the order Apiales, a medicinal herb. Baltyrγan~ baltirγana contains the initial bal / baltïr / baldïr with the meaning ‘green, young, fresh’.

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