The Wendish Research Exchange - Kolosova, Valerija: Lexis and Symbolism of Sorbian Folk Botany against a General Slavonic Background

Lětopis Abstract 2011 1: Kolosova, Valerija: Lexis and Symbolism of Sorbian Folk Botany against a General Slavonic Background

In this article Sorbian phytonyms are analysed against the wider Slavonic background. In the first section of the article, they are grouped according to the features reflected in them. These features are: colour, size, form, number of plant organs, time of appearing and flowering, place of growth, taste, smell, sound, medical usage, usage in magic, and so on. Various models are used according to the motives driving them: 1) direct (‘feature’ → ‘plant name’); 2) metaphorical ‘a subject having a certain attribute’ → ‘plant name’; 3) mythological: ‘mythological motive’ → ‘plant name’. The second section of the article analyses various lexical groups used for producing phytonyms – body parts, “male” and “female” code, folk Bible, mythological creatures, names of nations, clothes, numbers, animals. The third section of the article concerns the geographical-linguistic aspect of Slavonic phytonyms using the example of several plants: cornflower, nettle, plantain, wormwood, violet, and thistle. The material analysed demonstrates the general Slavonic character of the Sorbian phytonym system, though the ways of realising general Slavonic models can vary. At the end of the article, some notes on the most likely direction in the development of Slavonic ethno-botany are made.