Finno-Permic Phytonymic Portraits: Centaurea
https://doi.org/10.22162/2075-7794-2016-28-6-48-59
Abstract
The paper provides a phytonymic portrait of Centaurea (cornflower) in the Finno-Permic languages that form a branch of the Finno-Ugric language family, the other being that of the Ugric languages. These languages contain over one hundred and fifty names for cornflowers, i.e. the latter are present in all the Finno-Ugric languages and are diverse enough.
The vast majority of names of cornflowers are compound and usually consist of two components. The second component usually acts as a determinant of the plant’s denomination class object. There are almost no Centaurea’s names derived by means of affixes in the languages under consideration.
The paper also studies origins of plant names, special attention is paid to denomination based on properties. Most commonly names of cornflowers are based on their color, place of growth and medicinal qualities. The main species widespread enough in the geographical range of the Finno-Ugric languages is blue-flowered Centaurea Cyanus. It often grows in rye and wheat fields. So, the two main properties that determine its names are the color and place of growth, and the names as such are ‘blue flower’ and ‘rye flower’ respectively. Names of Centaurea Cyanus are far more frequent than names of other Centaurea species in Finno-Permic languages.
Lots of compound names of cornflowers comprise names of different animals, such as bear, wolf, raven and crane. In most cases, the linguistic phenomena are not that easy to explain, and sometimes result from transfer of another plant’s name or alliteration. Finno-Permic languages contain few borrowed words to denote cornflowers, and most of them stem from Russian.
Comparative studies of plant names from related languages (including Finno-Permic ones) are rare, thus, the author finds it necessary to depict phytonymic portraits of plants names which are numerous and diverse enough to be compared. And, undoubtedly, this is the case of cornflowers.
About the Author
Igor Brodsky
Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation)
Russian Federation
Ph. D. in Philology, Associate Professor, Department of Uralic languages, Folklore and Literature, Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation)
Russian Federation
Ph. D. in Philology, Associate Professor, Department of Uralic languages, Folklore and Literature, Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation)
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Review
For citations:
Brodsky I. Finno-Permic Phytonymic Portraits: Centaurea. Oriental Studies. 2016;9(6):48-59. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22162/2075-7794-2016-28-6-48-59
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