Religious and Theological Concepts of Islam in Bashkir, Uzbek and Tajik Proverbs: A Perspective from the Theory of Cultural and Linguistic Transfer

Introduction. The article shows how Bashkir, Uzbek and Tajik proverbs reflect religious ideas of the Islamic peoples. Goals. The study examines a certain thematic group of Bashkir, Tajik and Uzbek proverbs containing religious and theological concepts to illustrate how the Muslim profession of faith yielded somewhat linguistic and cultural transfer. Materials and methods. The paper analyzes patterns contained in the authors’ proverbial database compiled via continuous sampling from a variety of dictionaries (75 publications) and survey results of different aged Bashkir, Tajik and Uzbek native speakers (20 individuals). The employed techniques rest on value criteria when it comes to select value constants, highlight some semantic condensate, and conduct comparative analyses. Results. The contrastive insights into proverbial collections of the three languages that form a sort of a triangle of interconnections (Bashkir and Uzbek — cognate languages, Tajik and Uzbek — contacting ones) are indicative of which religious and theological ideas of Islam did prove most required by the latter’s speakers, stable in relation to external influences, and would receive further axiological comprehension as ‘their own’. Conclusions. The identification of semantic dominants shows a commonality of the languages under consideration. The partial coincidence of the three paremiological clusters is explained by the cultural and linguistic transfer, when Muslim ideas penetrated into the Turkic language environment through Iran and its cultural mediation, while it is through Central Asia that the former arrived in the South Urals. All this attests to a complicated and multi-stage cultural and linguistic transfer ignited by Islam.

1. Akhtyamov M. Kh. Dictionary of Bashkir Proverbs and Sayings. Ufa: Kitap, 2008. 776 p. (In Bash.)

2. Kalontarov Ya. I. Tajik Proverbs, Sayings, and Their Russian Analogues. Dushanbe: Irfon, 1965. 535 p. (In Russ.)

3. Kalontarov Ya. I. The Wisdom of Three Nations: Analogous Tajik, Uzbek, and Russian Proverbs, Sayings and Aphorisms. Dushanbe: Adib, 1989. 432 p. (In Taj., Uzb. and Russ.)

4. Khisamitdinova F. G. (ed.) Academic Dictionary of the Bashkir Language. Vol. 1: Letter A. Ufa: Kitap, 2011. 432 p. (In Bash. and Russ.)

5. Madvaliev A., Begmatov E. (eds.) Explanatory Dictionary of the Uzbek Language. A. Nava’i Institute of Language and Literature. Tashkent: National Encyclopedia of Uzbekistan, 2006–2008. (In Uzb.)

6. Mirzaev T., Musokulov A., Sarimsakov B. (comps.) Uzbek Folk Proverbs. Sh. Turdimov (ed.). Tashkent: Shark, 2003. 512 p. (In Uzb.)

7. Naumov A. (comp.) Uzbek Folk Proverbs and Sayings. Tashkent: Uzbekistan, 1985. 93 p. (In Russ.)

8. Shukurov M. Sh., Hoshim R., Masumi N. A., Kapranov V. A. (eds.) Dictionary of the Tajik Language: Tenth to Early Twentieth Centuries CE. Ca. 45,000 word entries and phrases suppl. with Arabic inscriptions. In 2 vols. Moscow: Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya, 1969. Vol. 1. 952 p. (In Taj.)

9. Shukurov M. Sh., Hoshim R., Masumi N. A., Kapranov V. A. (eds.) Dictionary of the Tajik Language: Tenth to Early Twentieth Centuries CE. Ca. 45,000 word entries and phrases suppl. with Arabic inscriptions. In 2 vols. Moscow: Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya, 1969. Vol. 2. 950 p. (In Taj.)

10. The Quran. M.-N. Osmanov (transl., comment.). St. Petersburg: Dilya, 2009. 576 p. (In Russ.)

11. Ahmad S. The role of language in the process of Islamization: A brief analysis of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas’s thought. In: Seminar Kebangsaan Isu Ketamadunan dan Cabaran Semasa (SIKCAS 2013), University Sains (Malaysia, 27 November 2013). Available at: https://www.academia.edu/9541377/The_Role_of_Language_in_the_Process_of_Islamization_A_Brief_Analysis_of_Syed_Muhammad_Naquib_al_Attas_s_Thought (accessed: 10 October 2022). (In Eng.)

12. Al-Maturidi. Kitab al-Tawhid (Book of Monotheism). Kazan: Khuzur, 2018. 520 p. (In Russ.)

13. Al-Nawawi. Riyad as-Salihin (The Gardens of the Righteous). Moscow: Badr, 2001. 880 p. (In Russ.)

14. Bausani A. Le lingue islamiche: Interazioni e acculturazioni. In: Bausani A., Amoretti B. S. (eds.) Il mondo islamico tra interazione e acculturazione. Rome: Istituto di Studi Islamici, 1981. Pp. 3–19. (In It.)

15. Bredis M. A. Man and Money: Essays on Proverbs and More. St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie, 2019. 296 p. (In Russ.)

16. Bredis M. A., Ivanov E. E. Linguoculturological commentary in polylingual dictionaries of proverbs. Russian Journal of Lexicography. 2022. No. 26. Pp. 5–29. DOI: 10.17223/22274200/25/1. (In Russ.)

17. Bredis M. A., Lomakina O. V. Border territories as an example of cultural and linguistic transfer (Based on the material of Latgalian and Rusin paremiology). Issues of Ethnopolitics. 2020. No. 2. Pp. 28–38. (In Russ.)

18. Bredis M. A., Lomakina O. V., Mokienko V. M. Rusin phraseology as an example of cultural and linguistic transfer in Slavic languages (Based on numerative units). Rusin. 2020. No. 60. Pp. 198–212. (In Russ.)

19. Espagne M. Les Transferts culturels franco-allemands. Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1999. 296 p. (In Fr.)

20. Fatkullina F. G. Ethnic mentality in paremiological system. In: Kunafin G. S. (ed.) The Phenomenon of Mustayi Karim and the Global Twentieth Century: Ethnic and Spiritual Cultures in Global Contexts. Conference proceedings (Ufa, 30 October 2019). Ufa: Bashkir State University, 2019. Pp. 241–244. (In Russ.)

21. Feshchenko V. V. (ed.) Linguistics and Semiotics of Cultural Transfers: Methods, Principles, Techniques. Joint monograph. Moscow: Kulturnaya Revolyutsiya, 2016. 500 p. (In Russ.)

22. Fragner B. G. Persian as Lingua Franca: Regional Features, Identity, Language Contacts in Asian History. Moscow: Märcani Foundation, 2018. 136 p. (In Russ.)

23. Frolov D. V. Arabic Linguistics: Grammar, Versification, Quran Studies. Articles of different years. Moscow: Yazyki Slavyanskoy Kultury, 2006. 440 p. (In Russ.)

24. Galyautdinov I. G. The Two Centuries of Standard Bashkir. Ufa: Gilem, 2000. 448 p. (In Russ.)

25. Gishkaeva L. N., Lomakina O. V., Makarova A. S. Reflection of faith in God as a value constant in the State Fund (On the example of Christian and Muslim linguistic cultures). Cuadernos de Rusística Española. 2021. Vol. 17. Pp. 135–147. (In Russ.)

26. Ivanov E. E. Aphorism in the circle of small text forms in oral, written and electronic discourses. RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2022. Vol. 13. No. 4. Pp. 898–924. DOI: 10.22363/2313-2299-2022-13-4-898-924. (In Russ.)

27. Ivanov E. E. Functions of aphoristic units in the Russian language. Russian Language Studies. 2022. Vol. 20. No. 2. Pp. 167–185. DOI: 10.22363/2618-8163-2022-20-2-167-185. (In Russ.)

28. Ivanov E. E. Linguoculturological commentary in the Tuvan-Russian-English Paremiological Dictionary. The New Research of Tuva. 2023. No. 1. Pp. 243–258. DOI: 10.25178/nit.2023.1.14. (In Russ.)

29. Ivanov E. E. Proverbs and sayings from biblical sources in the modern Nagaybak language. Bulletin of Chelyabinsk State University. 2022. No. 9 (467). Pp. 74–83. DOI: 10.47475/1994-2796-2022-10910. (In Russ.)

30. Ivanov E. E., Lomakina O. V., Petrushevskaya Yu. A. The national specificity of the proverbial fund: Basic concepts and procedure for determining. RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics. 2021. Vol. 12. No. 4. Pp. 993–1032. DOI: 10.22363/2313-2299-2021-12-4-993-1032. (In Russ.)

31. Ivanov E. E., Maslova V. A., Mokienko V. M. The Biblical Heritage in Languages and Cultures of Russia and Belarus. Moscow: RUDN University, 2022. 406 p. (In Russ.)

32. Kaelble H. Herausforderungen an die Transfergeschichte. In: Schulte B. (ed.). Transfer lokalisiert: Konzepte, Akteure, Kontexte (Comparativ 16, 3). Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2006. Pp. 7–12. (In Germ.)

33. Kerimova A. A. Contemporary Standard Tajik: Functioning and Development. Dr. Sc. (philology) thesis abstract. Moscow, 1997. 30 p. (In Russ.)

34. Khurramshahi B. Encyclopedia of the Qur’an and Quranic Studies. Moscow: Sadra, 2016. 390 p. (In Russ.)

35. Komova D. D., Lomakina O. V. Vocabulary and discursive directions of reconstruction of the paremiological picture of the world: Interpretation (On the material of the Russian language). I. Yakovlev Chuvash State Pedagogical University Bulletin. 2019. No. 3 (103). Pt. 1. Pp. 78–86. (In Russ.)

36. Lomakina O. V., Mokienko V. M. Value constants of the Rusin paremiology (Compared with the Ukrainian and Russian languages). Rusin. 2018. No. 4(54). Pp. 303–317. DOI: 10.17223/18572685/54/18. (In Russ.)

37. Lüsebrink H.-J. Kulturtransfer und Übersetzung. Theoretische Konfigurationen und Fallbeispiele (aus dem Bereich des Theaters). In: Mengel E., Schnauder L., Weiss R. (eds.). Weltbühne Wien – World Stage Vienna, Approaches to Cultural Transfer. Vol. 1. Trier: WVT, 2010. Pp. 21–35. (In Germ.)

38. Mabruroh M., Khoiriyah R. Islamization of Malay language and its role in the sevelopment of Islam in Malaya. Academic Journal of Islamic Studies (AJIS). 2019. Vol. 4. No. 1. Pp. 13–29. (In Eng.)

39. Middell M. Kulturtransfer und Historische Komparatistik. Thesen zu ihrem Verhältnis. Comparativ. 2000. No. 10. Pt. 1. Pp. 7–41. (In Germ.)

40. Middell M. Kulturtransfer, Transferts culturels, Version: 1.0. On: Docupedia-Zeitgeschichte. Posted on 28 January 2016. Available at: https://zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/frontdoor/index/index/docId/702 (accessed: 10 March 2023). DOI: 10.14765/zzf.dok.2.702.v1. (In Germ.)

41. Petrushevskaya Yu. A. Belarusian parallels of Vepsian proverbs: In search of typologically common and ethno-specific. Vestnik Ugrovedenia (Bulletin of Ugric Studies). 2022. Vol. 12. No. 3. Pp. 497–505. DOI: 10.30624/2220-4156-2022-12-3-497-505. (In Russ.)

42. Petrushevskaya Yu. A. Tuvan and Belarusian proverbial parallels (Typological community amid ethnocultural specificity). The New Research of Tuva. 2022. No. 3. Pp. 241–263. DOI: 10.25178/nit.2022.3.16. (In Russ.)

43. Petrushevskaya Yu. A. Universals in the Tuvan proverbial fund (As compared to modern European languages). The New Research of Tuva. 2023. No. 1. Pp. 259–279. DOI: 10.25178/nit.2023.1.15. (In Russ.)

44. Rezvan E. A. The Quran and Its World. St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie, 2001. 608 p. (In Russ.)

45. Semenov N. A. The etymology of the Yakut word kudai: Borrowing from the Persian language? North-Eastern Journal of Humanities. 2019. No. 3(28). Pp. 70–76. (In Russ.)

46. Smirnov A. V. Consciousness. Logic. Language. Culture. Meaning. Moscow: Yazyki Slavyanskoy Kultury, 2015. 712 p. (In Russ.)

47. Versteegh K. Can a language be Islamic? Eurasian Studies. 2020. No. 18. Pp. 5–25. (In Eng.)