Revisiting a Lexical-Semantic Group of Names of Livestock Species in Kalmyk Legislative Monuments: 17th to 19th Centuries

Introduction. The article examines names of livestock species traced in 17th–19th-century legislative monuments of the Kalmyks. The texts describe not only animals as such but also physiological conditions of theirs, such as age and sex. Names of livestock species are to be found within lexical clusters dealing with penalties (mulcts) for different crimes and misdeeds, including ones where animals acts as targets of crime.  Topicality of the research is determined by the  absence of studies dealing with vocabulary of such interesting informative historical documents as codes of laws used by Kalmyks for centuries. Goal and objectives of the research is to discover and describe names of domestic animals in texts of legal codes. Materials of the research are based on legal documents used by Kalmyks in the 17th to 19th centuries. Findings. The paper reveals names of domestic animals described in Kalmyk legal documents, defines a quantitative ratio of the usage of names of domestic animals. It shows that according to the Mongolian legal system the gradation of fines (penalties) had depended not only on gravity of offence but also on the social position of the defendant and also on his/her material wealth. The given statements reflect not only criminal, civil, military and religious rights of Kalmyks but also the economy of the society during that period; it is possible to trace the dynamics  of the society’s economic conditions if legal codes from different periods be compared. mentions penalties at the rate of hundreds and even thousands livestock units, and the 18th-century Spiritual and Civil Laws mention not numbers but just age of livestock to be paid since the penalty was equal to one livestock unit only. Conclusion. The vocabulary of domestic animals from the legal codes illustrates that Kalmyks bred four types of the livestock, namely: camels, horses, cattle, and sheep. The fragments describing sizes of fines reveal gradual reduction of the livestock in Kalmyk households in Russia. The texts of the legal codes from different periods show that the court practice maintained the tradition to punish offenders with the cattle fine and not with imprisonment. The latter was perceived most painfully by Kalmyks who were not used to being deprived of physical freedom

legislative monuments, names of livestock species, theft, mulct, fine, penalty, four species of livestock

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