The article is devoted to the history of the relationship between spiritual leader of Geluk school the Dalai Lama V (Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, 1617-1682), and the Manchu Emperor Shunzhi (1644-1661). Their meeting in Beijing in 1642 showed Ethical Aspects of the relationship, and helped to restore the union of Tibetan hierarchy and the Chinese Emperor on the “Mentor - Patron” principle. The event was tested in the context of ethics and, as a result, showed the unique point of view of each side on this union, as well as on the “Mentor - Patron” principle. Manchu Emperor, by means of special ceremonies and titles granted for the Dalai Lama, clarified new status of Tibet and its hierarch. Therefore, official correspondence of monarchs, describing the ceremony of meeting, sharing of titles and diplomas, submitted in Chinese sources, are involved. Ethics of the relationship between the Dalai Lama and the Emperor of China’s Qing dynasty on the principle “mentor - patron” had undergone significant changes since entering into the religious-political alliance with the Sakya school and the Mongol Khan. A new utilitarian view on the relationship between the Lama and the Emperor emerged after the first meeting of the Manchu Emperor - Shunzhi and the Dalai Lama V and existed until the collapse of the Empire. In order to legitimize the power and to maintain peace in the state, the Qing emperors had to support all religions. Despite the fact that the Qing rulers paid great attention to the communication with Tibetan lamas directly, political interests took precedence over the religious ones, and the relationship between “student” and “teacher” over time, began to weaken.

The article is devoted to the migration of a part of Zunghars (Dzungar people) from Central Asia to the borders of South Russia in the late 17 century, which still remains insufficiently explored in the historiography. The further fate of this group of Kalmyks requires more serious and detailed studies. It is known that the Dzungarian ulus of Danzin Tyuri who moved from Ayuka for some reason and joined Tsagan-Batur, was soon divided between two brothers Tsagan-Batur and Baakhan-Manzhi. Baakhan together with the part of his men settled at Taganrog, where he happened to have a personal meeting with the Russian Tsar Peter I. After that meeting, he together with his ulus people took the decision to baptize under the name of Moisey Alekseev. The other part of Zunghars settled among the Don Cossacks, where they subsequently founded the village - Zuyngarskaya. The fate of the taisha Tsagan-Batur is, unfortunately, not yet known, but the research in this section is still ongoing. Thus, on the basis of newly received archival information we can present one of the least known chapters in the history of the Oirats of the 17 century. Besides, the circumstances and the exact time of the first appearance of Zunghars on the banks of the Volga and the Don as well as written evidence of the main participants of those events are now known. In the future, we are going to have a more thorough study of the archival material that could shed light on the fate of this group of Kalmyks. Of great interest for us are also the letters, written by Dzungar taishas.

The article aims to study the characteristics of the formation and evolution of the Tannu-Tuvan bureaucracy, in the era of the domination of the Qing Empire (1757-1912). Based on archival sources, the author researched and systematised the hierarchy of ranks and degrees of difference in Tuvan traditional society. After the establishment of the domination of the Manchu Qing dynasty on the territory of the Tuvan tribes administrative and territorial reforms were held, new military ranks were introduced, and titles of nobility, insignia began gradually displace the old titles and ranks. The main problem in functioning of the administrative apparatus established in Tuva became the combining and duplication of some functions, which greatly complicated the work of the officials. Having introduced a new administrative division of the Tuva tribes on the territorial principle, the Manchu Qing dynasty replaced the former ranks, titles and positions with the new ones, without achieving fundamental changes in management. As a result, new ranks and titles began to overlap with the previous titles and completely failed to displace them. The main principle of the innovation of the Manchu-Chinese administration became the division of officers of all ranks into military and civilian, with further clarification of their functional duties, but in Tuva local traditions and customs were also taken into account. The main merit of the current administrative staff machinery was its role in the creation of a sovereign state. During the hard period of choosing the historical development ways from 1912 to 1921, outstanding representatives of the officialdom of the traditional Tuvan society became the key figures who maintained the order and tried to find their own way for further development. The article analyzes the hierarchy of ranks and degrees of difference in Tuvan society during the domination of the Manchu Qing dynasty Dynasty. The study of archival documents and ethnographic sources, found that Tannu Tuva formed patrimonial officialdom, including not only the former nobility (the heads of clans and tribes), but also those who distinguished meritorious service to the Manchurian-Mongolian authorities.

The purpose of this article is to review the judiciary system in the Kalmyk society of the 18th century. Based on the analysis of legislative and historiographical sources, the author reconstructed the order of the formation and powers of Zargo. In 1771 when the greater part of Kalmyk uluses migrated to Dzungaria, the Kalmyk khanate was liquidated by a rescript of Catherine II, which resulted in the restructuring of the Kalmyk People Administration (UKN). The Commission for Kalmyk Affairs was attached to the office of the Governor of Astrakhan, where in 1772 the Kalmyk court - Zargo was founded, consisting of three members - by one representative from the three sub-ethnic groups of the Kalmyk people. Instead of the Commission for Kalmyk Affairs, the Kalmyk Military Chancellery was established. However, the reform of P. S. Potemkin proved to be unsuccessful, as well as the decision to delegate the functions of Zargo to the Russian district courts. Having lost the ability to exercise civil proceedings by its own laws, Kalmyks without knowing the Russian language and Russian laws appeared to be vulnerable in legal terms. Having superseded the Governor-General of the Caucasus and the Astrakhan Governor P. S. Potemkin, the State Counsellor - L. S. Alekseev tried to rectify the situation of his predecessor. All civil judicial cases related to the Kalmyk people were transferred to the Kalmyk Chancellery from the lower courts. Though, the land law, criminal and other important cases were in charge of the Caucasian Governor-General and his government. After the tsarist government had abolished the institution of the vicegerency in 1796, Astrakhan and the Caucasus regions regained the status of independent provinces. In 1797 the Kalmyk Chancellery was renamed to the Kalmyk Board and under this title, it continued to combine administrative and judicial functions up to August 1800. Thus, the authors conclude that during the 18th century, as a result of the imperial policy of the authorities, the judiciary system in the Kalmyk society underwent the transformation process.

Issues of social sphere have always been given close attention by local authorities. Thus, both the Central government and local authorities were concerned by the organization of the teaching system. Meanwhile, until the 19th century there were only Khurul and missionary schools in the Kalmyk steppe which played a positive role in spreading literacy among the Kalmyk population. Secular education was born in the Kalmyk steppe only in the middle of the 19 century. The incorporation of the national borderlands of the Russian Empire brought to the fore the need for qualified personnel able to participate in the governance of the territory under the Imperial law. On the basis of archival documents, the author examines the activities of bodies of local self-government of the Kalmyk steppe in the 19 - early 20 centuries. Special attention is paid to the decisions of ulus and aimak gatherings on the issue of opening the schools and their funding. The author concludes that despite the deficit of funding for public education, the public administration managed to solve the problem with the help of the state, thus breaking the plans of the conservative government. So, under the influence of economic, national and historical factors, the process of establishment of the system of education in the Kalmyk steppe during the 19 - early 20 centuries was taking place. The research has shown that its effective development was dependent on the activities of bodies of local self-government. However, the Kalmyk steppe was still one of the culturally backward border regions of Russia.

The article considers the formation in 1917 of the Constituent Assembly in accordance with the regulations adopted by the Provisional government. The democratic principles of the voting right and the electoral process imposed by the Provisional government, allowed individual ethnic groups, including the Kalmyks, to take an active part in the preparation and conduct of elections of deputies to the Constituent Assembly, as well as in the implementation of passive and active electoral rights. As a result, in the Constituent Assembly, which declared in January 1918 Russia to be a democratic Federal Republic, the Kalmyk people was first introduced in the Supreme legislative body of the country by his two deputies. However, Russia was not destined to follow the path designated by the Constituent Assembly. Only in 75 years Russia was forced to return to the path of a democratic federative law-governed state with a republican form of government, to the path, the Constituent Assembly wanted it to follow.

After gaining the independence, Mongolia, in the period of 1911-1919, carried out an independent policy aimed at reviving the national economy. An important policy direction of the Mongolian government in this area was considered to be the exploitation of wealth and natural resources, the proceeds from which were to be the source of the solution of financial difficulties. In these circumstances, the government of the country took concrete measures such as drafting legislative acts, entering into contracts and contracting with the company “Mongolor” and Russian entrepreneurs for the development of gold mines and increase of tax for the exploitation of the country’s wealth. All this though did not bring big economic benefits, but contributed significantly to the strengthening of national interests of the Mongolian state.

Implementing national policy, the Soviet power provided many peoples of Russia, including the Kalmyk people, with national statehood. In spite of great difficulties and costs, it was creating the necessary conditions for overcoming economic and educational backwardness and was doing much in improving their well-being and training personnel. Thus, much was done for implementing the nation-building policy. Being based on the documentary materials from the Soviet higher authorities, the article considers the evolution and objectives of the national policy of the Bolsheviks before and after the October revolution, its implementation in the first years of the Soviet power. The author concludes that Soviet national policy since the first years of the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat became a program of involvement of the peoples of Russia in socialist construction with the elements of federalism in a unitary state. It is specifically noted that, in addition to the principles of Unitarianism, this state is distinguished by the fact that the organization and activity of bodies of the ruling party, built on the principles of democratic centralism, were solid enough to save centralized and ideologically-based system of governance, which played an important role in ensuring the unity and indivisibility of the Federal state.

As the Great Patriotic War is considered in the history of the Soviet state to be a triumph of courage, demonstration of heroism, loyalty and devotion to the homeland of its peoples, it is worth mentioning about the Berlin operation - one of the most famous offensives of the Great Patriotic War where representatives of many nationalities of the Soviet Union took an active part. Being based on the historiographical review on the participation of the Chechen soldiers in the Great Patriotic War, the article provides an analysis of personal data of the participants of the Berlin operation to estimate the contribution of the Chechen people to the defeat of Nazi Germany, who fought bravely in the capture of Berlin. The author has reconstructed the battle path of 16 Chechen soldiers. Special attention was paid to their heroic actions. Thus, the author comes to the conclusion that the national unity of all peoples has become the key to the great Victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany.

The article analyzes the official activities of the Commissioners of Religious Cult Affairs in the Kalmyk ASSR in 1960-1991 and provides their sociodemographic characteristics. The issues of religious policy and the relations between the commissioners, the Christian clergy and the Executive organs of religious societies were considered. Among the functions of the Commissioner for Religious Affairs were to attend worship services, talk with religious leaders and Church representatives, and travel to areas where he met with the believers and members of the party-state authorities. At the meetings he explained the nature of religious law, became acquainted with the religious situation, resolved problems encountered in the relationship between the believers and the authorities. The main duties of the Commissioner included the supervision over observance of legislation on religious cult affairs by believers and representatives of state institutions as well as public organizations. He checked the activities of the clergy and authorities, their documentation, attended meetings of believers. In case of violation of the law he had the right to initiate before the government authorities the process of striking off the register religious societies and groups, removing clerics from the performance of their official duties, achieving re-election of the Church Council and the audit Commission. In the late 1980s there were positive changes in Soviet religious policy: both the Buddhist and Christian clergy were actively involved in the political life of the Republic. Moreover, in 1989 the heads of Buddhists and Orthodox took part as candidates in the elections of the “Councils of Deputies and Workmen” of different levels. The article is based on the materials of the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the National Archive of the Republic of Kalmykia.

The article is devoted to the activity of trade unions of Kalmykia on managing the work of primary organizations of a society of inventors and rationalizers (VOIR). The article is based on the documents of the National Archive of the Republic of Kalmykia. The analysis of an extensive documentary material has shown that there was a gradual increase in the number of innovators and inventors, in the number of rationalization proposals applied in industry and their economic effi ciency in the researched period. However, the activities of trade unions in guiding the work of the society of innovators and inventors were not perfect. The workersinnovators did not reach their full creative potential; membership involvement was poor. The facts of red tape in registration of rationalized proposals and payment of the royalties were also observed. Sometimes economically favourable offers remained without attention, the duly calculation of the received savings achieved from the implemented proposals was not conducted. Economically advantageous offers were sometimes ignored, savings achieved from the implemented proposals were not counted timely and many of the suggested ones were not implemented. The proposals which required a radical restructuring of the technological process were not popular since their introduction could put the company at risk of exceeding the allotted time for the plan which was fraught with serious consequences. Unfortunately, many enterprises could not give much attention to the development of mass technical creativity. The work in agricultural enterprises, enterprises of local industry, public utility companies was poorly organized due to the lack of engineers and technicians involved in the working process as well as the lack of broad assets; the released funds for the development of technical creativity were not fully utilized for various reasons. The analysis of an extensive documentary material has shown that there was a gradual increase in the number of innovators and inventors as well as in the number of rationalization proposals applied in industry and their economic efficiency in the researched period. Despite some shortcomings the trade-unions had to overcome, rationalization activity as well as invention were successfully developed in Kalmykia.

The complexity of ethnic problems solving related to the rehabilitation of repressed peoples is examined. The factors that form the ethnic and political tension in the region are revealed. One of them was a delay of repressed peoples rehabilitation by the local government, and, first of all, the recovery of administrative and territorial borders that existed before the forced evictions. All this contributed to the politicization of the national movements and the appearance of centrifugal tendencies. The experience of public authorities on the social, economic and cultural rehabilitation of the Balkars, the Karachays, the Cossacks and the stabilization of international relations is generalized. Analyzing the issue on the rehabilitation of repressed peoples of the Northern Caucasus, the author concludes that much work on the rehabilitation of repressed peoples of the North Caucasus had been done by the government of the Russian Federation and local authorities in the North Caucasus during the period of 1991-2005. The consistent implementation of the Law of the RSFSR “On rehabilitation of repressed peoples” greatly contributed to the elimination of tension in international relations. However, territorial disputes remain one of the most difficult issues of the rehabilitation process. To solve the issue peacefully, both the Federal and local governments must take balanced steps not only to eliminate the crisis situations which had already taken place, but also to anticipate and prevent possible clashes over territorial disputes.

The article presents versions and the hypothesis of early Barga - Buryat ethnogenesis and further branching of ethnic history. The study is based on ethnonym materials, as well as the latest research in the field of the history of these peoples. By the time of the disintegration of the Mongolian Empire the territory of Bargujin-Tokum was a part of the Yuan state. However, after ascent of the new Ming dynasty the northern territories remained out of control of Ming China. The ethnic history of this region was practically never reflected in written sources prior to the coming of Russians from the northwest and Manchu from southeast in the early 17th century. The ethnic history of Northern Mongolia, Baikal region and Cis-Hovsgol area in the Ming epoch has practically never been a subject of research. The majority of modern scholars consider this period a “dark age” of history. Historical ethnonymics forms the basis of this research paper. The key terms for the study are “Bargu” and “Buryat”. By the 17th century Buryat ethnonym almost lost its meaning in the local environment due to long usage in the nomadic-community stage of development in the peaceful period when various ethnoterritorial entities became dominant, such as the Bulagats on the Angara, Ekhirits on the Upper Lena, Ikinats on the Angara and Oka, Ashibagats on the Uda and Oka, Gotols on the Ida, Batulins on the Upper Kuda and so on. In this period the ethnonym Buryat lost its political significance among the carriers, but it was widely used by the neighboring peoples from whom the Russians first learnt about the “Brats”. In the stem of the brat/bratskii term apparently lied a Turkic (Khakass or Altaic) exoethnonym pyrat-purat in which the radical pyra-pura was a phonetic variant of the word “wolf”. A return to the common ethnonym was characteristic of the consolidation processes. Another characteristic feature was a new phase on the development of the ethnogenetic legends and myths in which Buryadai became the father of Ekhirit and Bulgadai and a brother to Horidoi. All these myths are based on the real historical events when the local population went through a long period of ethnic contacts as a result of which a unity with the single Mongolian proto-Buryat language was formed. The Buryat ethnonym evolved from its medieval spreading only on the Mongolian-speaking population groups and became common for all population groups in Cisbaikalia who, in their turn, already switched to Mongolian (Buryat) language.

The article discusses the symbolic nature of traditional games of Tuvan youth festival “Oytulaash”. The author concludes that being a relic of the initiation rites and chaotic group marriage, these games were aimed at evoking the fruitful forces of nature and a man. One of the objectives of the article is to show the wealth of the Tuvan folklore. It should be noted that the youth festival “Oytulaash” had existed long before the formation period of the Tuvan People’s Republic. Later it became obsolete in Tuvan society as an alien element. Traditional holiday “Oytulaash” was aimed at provoking reproductive forces of nature and man. Scientific studies show that “Oytulaash” as a phenomenon of culture of the people, had its positive and negative points. The positive effects can be attributed to the fact that during these public festivals, the young people had a rest from everyday work, were happy to live through cold winter and all spring work was behind. The analysis of folk games in traditional festivals allows identifying with the layers of later development an archaic gaming culture, dating back to the early forms of traditional worldview and culture of the Tuvan people. It should be noted that cultural links with the Tuvan peoples of China and Mongolia had an influence on the formation and structure of the traditional games. Youth games including pet games symbolized fertility and conveyed the idea of well-being and prosperity of the whole clan. The traditional festive culture of the Tuvan people was associated with the transformation into a different creature; something that was unacceptable became acceptable, thus, contributing to the successful functioning of the society’s life activity.

The article is dedicated to the history of one of the most popular with the young Circassian diaspora dancing genres - the shcheshchen. The author of the article tries to study the ways of correlation between the local exhibitions of the dancing genre and its trivial terms, local folk tunes, social taboos and the precepts of a definite diaspora society using the shcheshchen as an example. The purpose of the study is the synchronous description of the genre features of the endemically formed choreographic phenomenon called “adyghe shcheshchen” (the Circassian shcheshchen), tracking of the universal analogues (the terminological, musical, choreographic ones), detection of its social and semantic functions in the definite local culture. The subject of the study is the discursive practices about public merrymaking traditions, and also the context relations between the archival explorative texts and the historical sources which give the narrative description of the choreographic phenomena of the “metropolis” - the Caucasus - analogous with the shcheshchen. The object of the study is a verbal (oral) and non-verbal text (collected in the folklore field of Turkey and in the Internet) which actualize the information about the dance called shcheshchen. The field methods: the participant observation and informal conversation, the method of memory boosting established by the author of the article, the online poll. The methods of analytical processing of the materials: structural/functional, pragmatic analyses, discourse analyses. The shcheshchen acts as a cultural complex which equalizes people according to the rules of a public merrymaking and maintains the civilizational identity of Anatolia Circassians at the same time. The author of the article explains the reasons of some inconsistency of the deliberations about the ‘little prestige” of the shcheshchen and its popularity simultaneously. These conclusions would be useful for theoretical researches of the history of folklore genres, the culture of Circassian diaspora, and also for applied purposes: the ethnographical information collected by the author of the article and the complex theoretical observations data about the forms of the folk dances included in the article are published for the first time and would be interesting for specialists engaged in searching of the traditional ethno-choreographical styles and stage performances.

The paper discusses the problem of religious revival and interaction in the Republic of Buryatia. The religious revival is proposed to consider in the context of desecularization process that implies return of religion from the periphery to the center of social and cultural practices. This in its turn means rapprochement between religious institutions and state, the clergy’s participation in political and educational activities, and resolute rejection of atheism in favor of religiosity. Buryatia is the territory where different religious traditions have coexisted for centuries: Buddhism, Orthodox Christianity, shamanism and the Old Belief. Albeit in the popular consciousness Orthodoxy and Old Belief mark the Russian cultural space and Buddhism and shamanism the Buryat one, still the long interaction of ethnic cultures has developed in the religious syncretism and mutual tolerance. The most obvious evidence of intercultural reciprocality manifests in the participation of different ethnic groups in the religious festivals, visiting temples, and observance of religious customs. But such interactions have also deeper worldview basis due to the peculiarities of world-perception in terms of ethnic and cultural diversity that is built on the inevitability of mutual economical and everyday aid in the harsh natural environment. Initially the rapprochement took place from the side of Buryats who entered the russification processes more actively than other Siberian ethnic groups. However, on the part of Russians, the steps toward rapprochement with the Buryats were also significant. In the world outlook sense, the Russians learned the ideas about spirits of locality and necessity to propitiate them thus adopting the shamanic animistic ideas. When Russians visit the Buddhist clergy this has less to do with religious faith but mainly with the credibility of the lamas in the matters of Tibetan medicine, astrology and worldly wisdom.  Based on the latest methodological approaches, the authors analyze the variety of religious practices in the multiethnic and multicultural society, in which regardless of religious ascription the people possess peculiar understanding of the special world of Buryatia where the tradition of cultural interaction has continued since old times to the present.

The article is devoted to the cultural analysis of the tradition in the study of fine arts of Buddhism. The subject of the research are Buddhist artifacts from the collection of the Kiev Museum of Western and Oriental Art named after B. and B. Khanenko which are considered as a cultural heritage of Kalmykia. It was formed during the interaction of tradition and innovation. The art shows historical destiny of the iconographic canon in the artistic culture of Northern Buddhism. Traditional psychogenetic particular worldview, ceremonial culture and folklore are projected in the iconography, defining “local” nature of art. The analysis of the Kalmyk artistic tradition revealed visible local features of graphic images of iconographic interpretation. Selectivity of pantheon deities observed in particular images of Kiev collection is explained by the history of the people who lived beyond the bounds of their ethnic homeland. It is a local variant of the Central Asian pantheon, where archaic traces of nomadic mythology preserved in a different cultural environment can be found.  Inscriptions in Old Kalmyk todo bichig script (usually on the left border of the painting) and in Cyrillic script with yat on the lower edge of the images of Amitābha Buddha, Green Tārā Bodhisattva and Bhaisajyaguru Buddha are the specific features of the described religious paintings. Vertical ligatured todo bichig script (Kalmyk: Амидава, Отчи бурхн, Ноhан дәрк) written in ink faded to pale brown is the indisputable defining feature of Kalmyk painting. Kalmyk art developed gradually both in separate formal details of paintings and in general aesthetic interpretation of images. Canonization of deities involves introduction of border scenes, symbolic attributes and accented symmetrical front compositions into the painting. On the whole, concise symmetrical scenes with unelaborated plot which tend to emphasize main image’s personification that is the center of a religious painting and believers’ direct object of worship prevail in Old Kalmyk art.

The article is devoted to the people, who in early 1990-s rendered an invaluable help, not only with their knowledge as informants but also with their human emotional attitude to the members of an academic expedition who came from Moscow to study their village Tory (Tunka district of the Republic of Buriatia). That study was a part of an interdisciplinary and an international joint project under the title “A Portrait of an Oriental Village”. Five villages in different regions of the Russian Federation (Dagestan, Buryatia, Bashkortostan Republic), as well as of the former USSR, the Crimea (then part of Ukraine) and Kyrgyzstan were selected for the expedition. The author of the article became a member of the Buryat part of the project, led by the head of the department of general problems of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the RAS - S. Panarin. A group of scientists was selected for the expedition in Tory village which lasted four years (1992-1995). However, the article is devoted not to the results of the work but to the people who rendered an invaluable help to the expedition participants. Four of the selected from a large number of the volunteered assistants belonged to different strata of the rural society. Among them there were a fortune-teller, a shaman, a nurse and a director of a boarding school. Each of them intrigued the author at that time, first of all, as a distinct personality with his/her peculiar inner world, each one was instrumental for understanding the processes occurring in the Buriat village in the post-perestroika time. Three of them have already died without any official obituaries written for them. So, the article is devoted to their memory.

On the material of the Kalmyk language with reference to the Khalkha Mongolian, the Buryat languages and old Mongolian script, the article considers a thematic group of floral vocabulary to identify the Turkic-Mongolian parallels. The names of trees and shrubs both wild and cultivated, the names of melons and gourds as well as truck crops, cereals and herbs were taken for the analysis. To prove the fact that the Turkic parallel was of the Turkic nature, the authors referred to the Ancient Turkic Dictionary and the dictionaries of the Kazakh, Nogai, Bashkir languages (the languages of Kalmyks’ nearest neighbors who had contacted with them). In addition to the comparative material from the Mongolian and Turkic languages these terms were also accompanied by comparative-historical as well as etymological analyses which revealed the Turkic origin of the Turkic Mongolian parallels in the composition of the floral vocabulary of the Kalmyk language. Some of the given terms, as it was revealed, along with the Kalmyk language, exist also in the Khalkha Mongolian and Buryat languages and were even recorded in the old Mongolian script. It suggests that these terms have been stored in the Kalmyk language since the time of the ancestors of Kalmyks - Oirats, who lived in the steppes of Central Asia with the Mongols and had contact with the ancient Turks, from whom they borrowed the terms. Many of the floristic terms are presented only in the Kalmyk language and coincide with those of the Kazakh, Nogai, Tatar and Bashkir languages, which had been borrowed by the Kalmyks from these languages as a result of later contacts.

Though studying of the problem of root word is the classical sphere with its established tradition and principles, specific purpose and objectives, the nature of monosyllabic words which forms the basis of the language is not fully disclosed. The actuality of the problem of root is connected with the multistage and contradictory complex nature of the Turkic roots which originates from the appearance of a sound language. As B. M. Yunusaliev says about monosyllabic forms “…monosyllabic root-stem often looks like a repetition of an undulating agglutination”, though development of the forms of Turkic words from simple to complex is a basic feature of Turkic languages, the problems like the inverse processes (contraction, reduction, elision etc.) according to phonetic rules and its re-complication make it difficult to determine the nature of the root [Yunusaliev 1959: 185]. According to the principle of economy, phonetic phenomena, haplology and reduction generate a new compatibility of the sound and new phonological situation. It leads to positional change of sounds, loss of sounds, emergence of one sound instead of two sounds and according to the principle of conservation of communicative isolation, cumulation of changing sounds will support the new formation of the phonetic system. The changes in the phonetic system may affect monosyllabic forms and simple phonetic changes may affect the phonological structure during the semantic development. As the cognition of the nature of words demands cohesive review of a form and meaning, interrelations of semantic development of monosyllabic forms is, as a phenomenon, directly connected with human consciousness and worldview, the basis of the general Turkic vocabulary with psycho physiological processes according to the multilateral principles of semasiological system, complicate the issue. The author of this paper takes an attempt to expand the nature and semantics of V structural models of monosyllables in Orkhon, Yenisei, Talas and the Kipchak languages.

Declension system of the Turkic languages is characterized by a large number of cases and a variety of forms of cases. The research works indicate the number of cases in the Turkic languages in different ways, in some languages they are considered to be 6, and in the others 7 or 8. There are different opinions about the number of cases in the language of the ancient Turkic written monuments, known as the source of the Turkic languages. Some scholars define 11 cases and some say that the number of main cases is 7. In the language of the Orkhon, Yenisei and Talas monuments there are hidden or null form of cases, as well as the meaning of cases can be given by individual words. Also, some endings correspond with the formants of other cases according to the form or comply with other formants of cases according to the meaning. If we look at the course of historical formation and development of case endings (formants) in the language of the ancient Turkic written monuments, the written heritage of medieval Turkic language and modern Turkic languages, we notice that in general, the reconstructed original Ancient Altaic and Turkic proto-language form is preserved in the declension system. The peculiarities of the declension system of the modern Turkic languages are connected with a variety of case endings that is a phonetic variation by adding endings to the last sound of the root-word.

The article is devoted to the linguo-pragmatic peculiarities of non-standard compatibility of language units in English fiction by L. Carroll. As a result of the linguo-pragmatic analysis at the phonetic, lexical and semantic levels, the following peculiarities were revealed: cryptography method, based on the encryption of the information from the reader in order to involve him in a game of decoding the meaning; the creation of an atmosphere of “mystery”; the realistic description ofcharacter images; comicality of the character images; the effect of failed expectations; the change of communicative spheres: (everyday speech / etiquette) and nonsense. At the phonetic level of the language, the non-standard compatibility of language units in the works of L. Carroll is built on such techniques, as anagrams, alliterations, onomatopoeias, and various semantic convergences of words. At the lexical level, the non-standard compatibility is shown, usually through the language game, created by such derivational means as affixation, contamination, abbreviation and shortening. At the semantic level, the non-standard compatibility of language units is implemented through the play on meanings of polysemantic lexical units: zeugma, oxymoron, tautology and breaking the figurativeness of words through the creation of unusual phrases and turns of speech. Thus, non-standard compatibility techniques help the author to create specific images, which reveal the ideological content of the work and have an emotional influence upon the reader.

This article examines a brochure “Idea et desiderata” (1773) by H. L. Ch. Bacmeister which includes parallel texts in Russian, German, French and Latin. The text is essentially an instruction to the collection of linguistic material that has not been previously any content analysis. We analyze the relationship of this text with “Russian grammar” by Schlözer and the concept of “different languages” which underlies the language differentiation in the Pallas dictionary. The brochure consists of three parts: the instruction, the questionnaire and the example. The instruction contains information about transcription and data which are to be collected. The questionnaire is not a list of words but sentences containing basic vocabulary and grammar. The example is a translation of a Bible quotation. The article contains a page of translation from Russian into Arabic. The article suggests a place for Bacmeister’s composition in the history of linguistics: Bacmeister’s recommendations for collectors of linguistic material may be considered as a first guide to field linguistics, first in Russia.

The article considers the system of interpretations of entry words, which are the kinship and properties terms included in the Glossary of the Explanatory dictionary of the language of the Kalmyk heroic epic “Jangar”. Besides, the number of dictionary entries with the entry words of the listed above thematic groups has been tested. The electronic version of the Explanatory dictionary of the language of the Kalmyk heroic epos “Jangar” will contain the dictionary entries including the list of all word usages of the meaning of this or that entry word (with the reference to the source). The paper version of the Explanatory dictionary because of the large amount of illustrative material will contain only the most representative examples deliberately restricted by five. Particular attention is drawn to the fact that in interpreting kinship terms this or that semantic valency does not receive any syntactic expression. Dictionary entries should have relational and absolutive use of terms of kinship, because similar kind of interpretations create a false impression of the sameness of semantic and syntactic potential. The analysis revealed the following: kinship terms that are not specified in the literature are recorded in the epic; some kinship terms are used in the position of address, in the interpretation of polysemantic words and homonyms the knowledge of the macro-context is required.

The article describes the interpretation system of the lexical units denoting the color coat of the horse in the Kalmyk language. It contains a table of lexical units denoting the color coat of horses with their interpretation, translations, synonyms, depending on the type of dictionary. It should be noted that in the Kalmyk language, some words denote color in general, and serve to denote the color of an animal (khar ‘black, (dark-)chestnut, black’), others call only the color coat (zeerd ‘chestnut’, ker ‘ bay’, saarl ‘ashen, mouse-coloured, dun’). Besides, the adjectives that are used to represent the coat color at the same time can act as an animal nicknames. As the format of the dictionary is explanatory, all the entries are given without translation in comparison with the existing dictionaries of the Kalmyk language. Though the descriptive method of the dictionary is the main one, in some cases, the descriptive-synonymous method is also used as they are both the best ones in interpreting the meanings of words, fully and accurately discovering the meanings of entry words. In square brackets the source of the word usage is indicated, which gives the name of the version of the epic “Jangar” in abbreviated form (see list of abbreviations), through a colon comes a song number - in Roman numerals, as in [EO: V], [MB: I], [BC: II]. The given vocabulary entries of the language of the Kalmyk heroic epic “Jangar” are the one way to test them. The results of the research provide a basis for improving practices of adequate interpretation and further developing clichés-interpretations for the other groups from the Explanatory dictionary of the language of the Kalmyk heroic epic “Jangar”.

This article deals with the problem of development of the dialectological base of the Machine fund of the Bashkir language. Along with the written monuments, folklore material, dialect is one of the most important sources for the study of the historical development and formation of the literary language. The main task of dialectologists is not only the collection but also the storage of dialect materials of the Bashkir language. Taking into account the importance of translation of dialect materials in electronic format and opening of free access to a wide audience to the information provided, the staff of the Laboratory of Linguistics and Information Technologies of the Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Ufa Scientific Center established a dialectological base as a part of the Machine fund of the Bashkir language consisting of three separate databases - lexical database, the database of dialectological atlas and textological database. The lexical database includes information about the dialectal lexicon of the Bashkir language. The database was developed on the basis of dialectal dictionaries compiled and published by the staff of the Institute of History, Language and Literature. The volume of the database is more than 52 000 dialectal units. The database of dialectological atlas is developed on the basis of materials of Dialectological atlas of the Bashkir language. The database allows to select the types of linguistic phenomena (phonetic, morphological, syntactic, lexical), for each type specific isoglosses were identified. Isoglosses allocated 250 strong points of the republic and neighboring regions. The textological database represents illustrative materials collected during numerous expeditions by the staff of the Institute of History, Language and Literature. To date, the database contains more than 500 texts in all dialects of the Bashkir language. Introduced in dialectological base material forms the basis of synchronic and diachronic study of the language features of dialects and sub-dialects of the Bashkir language.

The article considers the issue associated with the concept of development of the language situation in Dagestan on the eve of the October Revolution on the basis of the analysis of the article “The language problem” written by well- known Kumyk writer-enlightener Abusufyan Akaev. Being a thorough, argumentative scientific work on the language problem which was actively discussed and debated in the Kumyk press in 1917 it has become of great interest to other outstanding literary and public figures of Dagestan as well. The author emphasizes that a solution of language problems in society acquires great significance at the period, when some kind of epochal events as a change of the political system take place. A. Akaev proves extremely productive idea of the impossibility in the modern world by one or the other ethnic group to achieve leading positions both in science and education, without losing the differences between learning language and spoken language. The fact of the publication of the article with similar content demonstrates not only the high level of scientific erudition of its author, but, above all, the sufficient degree of development by that time of the Kumyk literary language itself. Abusufyan Akayev differed from many of his contemporaries not only by proclaiming the idea of raising the status of the native language but by the way of explaining his vision of how to achieve it in simple phrase, accessible to the average reader. Judging by the form of his speech presentation, the focus on a mass audience, the reasoning of judgments, the use of the method of persuasion and others, the author distinguishes the national character of his works, convinces us that he had always been a true people’s enlightener, loved his people passionately, worried about it and wanted to improve its life, devoting himself to his people.

Myths take a significant place in the folklore tradition of the Evenks and the Evens. Among them the texts of the myths stand out that are united by the theme of the world’s creation. Moreover, in the culture of these people among the stories of the creation of the world particularly the creation myths of the earth are presented. The article describes the antipodes Hargi (the Evenks) and Aringka (the Evens), acting as creator’s assistant Seveki and Hevki in the creation of the world. In the myths of the creation the Hargi’s image evolves from the “inept” wannabe - co-creator to the evil antipode - demiurge. Everything that Hargi created on the outlooks of the Evenks is harmful for the person and all worlds around. According to the materials, the Hargi’s image is presented only in the Evenk mythology of the creation, neither in the epic, nor in other folklore works. The Even’s Aringki, acting as a co-creator of the earth, is the antipode of the deity Hevki. In the myths of creation, this hero acts as a personalized character having its own name. According to the materials of the Even’s folklore, unlike the Evenk Hargi, the character Aringka went beyond the myths of the creation and became the hero of various folklore genres. In heroic legends he often acts as the main negative character, opposing the main hero or heroine. The analysis of the etymology revealed that the name of the Evenk co-creator is associated with the evil ghost, reviving again and again through the devilry. The author defines the general conclusion that the antipodes of the creators in the myths of creation the Evenks and the Evens keep community and also have its own specifics.

This essay identifies descriptions of sacred lands within the Sakha (Yakut) olonkho, and compares them to mythopoetic honoring of sacred mountains among the Tlingit of Alaska and the Mapuche of Chile and Argentina. The olonkho of Niurgun Bootur, Kulun Kullustuur, Kyys Di϶b϶liye, and Эr Sogotokh are featured. Sacred site depictions in olonkho range from the fantastic and metaphorical to the more realistically descriptive and named. Given that many epics were composed before Uraangkhai Sakha ancestors arrived in territories of the Far North, it is difficult to identify specific sites with known current geography, although some Sakha scholars have tried. The Sakha olonkho depicts a well-known cosmology describing three worlds - Upper, Middle, and Lower. But what more specifically constitutes sacred geography? Natural criteria (mountains, lakes, rivers, meadows and trees), as well as characteristics of beauty within the Middle World, are revealed in olonkho. Rituals such as summer solstice ceremonies, yђyakh, and spirit offerings made with blessing prayers, algys, are associated with sacred sites. It is significant that many olonkho end with grand finales depicting these special places and rituals. I argue that “sacred land” ritual spaces of other indigenous peoples may be comparable to sacred spirit offering groves and special yђyakh sites, and that efforts to preserve sacred lands for contemporary rituals are part of ongoing cultural revitalization projects tied to ecological and spiritual consciousness in places with significant shamanic legacies.

The article considers the type of a hero from the heroic legends of the Evenk But clan. The heroic legend of the But clan is an archaic epos, the epos of the tribal community which is shown in plots and images of the epic narrators. The legends of the Evenk clan But have high-quality records and are voluminous in content. During the study, the author reveals the features reflecting the material and spiritual culture of the Evenks, which manifest themselves in military-hunting equipment, housing, and heroes’ clothing. By analyzing images of heroes of the But clan, the author highlights the features that reflect the Evenk ethnic culture. The author describes hero’s dwelling, typical to the ancient population of Siberia, describes his clothing (dressed appropriately for the conditions of the nomadic lifestyle of the Evenks; military and hunting gear) and his methods of hunting. The author concludes that the legens of the Evenk clan But describe a typical type of an Evenk epic hero, i.e., “evenki-beye”, “uryangkay-Evenks”. The type of a hero from the heroic legends of the But clan reflects the material and spiritual culture of the Evenks, which manifest themselves in military-hunting equipment, housing, and heroes’ clothing and deeds. For example, the clothing of the hero - mukuke is determined by the conditions of the nomadic way of life of the Evenks (the type of hunting on foot); the hero hunts using the most ancient Evenk way of hunting - by the way of rut, etc. The aim of this work is in the description, identifying the type of the Evenk warrior in the heroic legends of the But clan.

The article discusses the features of the image of the horse in folklore genres of the peoples of Dagestan - in epic poetry and fairy tales. As the material shows, the horse is represented in them according to their genre principles. In genres of epic poetry - the heroic epos, the heroic-historical and historical songs - the horse serves as means of idealization of the epic hero, his fighting feats. In the Kumyk and Nogai heroic songs (“Song about Kartkozhak and Maksuman”, ‘Song about Dzhavat”, “Er-Targyl”, etc.), as well as in the Avarian, Dargin, Lak heroic-historical songs (“Brave Bekbulat”, “Kaplan, the son of Arslan”, “Batyr Huchulav”, etc.), the horse acts as the savior, the friend and the helper of the hero thanks to whom he wins a victory over the enemy. In epic poetry the horse is “black”, flies “as wind”, “as an arrow”, he speaks human language, prompts to the owner how to behave at a difficult moment. Functions of the horse in fairy tales are also caused by an esthetic problem of a genre - to emphasize extraordinary abilities of the hero by means of fiction and fantasy.

The era of globalization with particular clarity shows the unity of the world of culture, where domestic and foreign folklore and literature are connected by invisible threads. Based on this thesis, the author puts forward the concept that the ideas of the Enlightenment era of the 18th century indirectly influenced the formation of the North Caucasus “educational” tales as well as the intensive development of this folklore sub-genre. As the subject of artistic analysis the author elected specific stories dedicated to the cult of reason which is the highest ontological and anthropological value. Among them there are such tales as “Smart Teacher”, “Smart girl”, “Mind of a five year old boy”, “Wealth, Happiness, Mind” and others. Besides, there are gender marked tales among them which demonstrate the power of the female mind. The children’s tales of scientific and educational content such as “Why salty?”, “Where is the navel of the earth?” play an important role in the Karachay-Balkar folklore. The author concludes that we can draw logically valid historical and cultural parallel between the oriental tales of modern times and the Enlightenment ideology. As a result of the research it can be concluded that the thematic center of Karachay-Balkar social and everyday tales is the cult of reason, the cult of understanding the world. In folk axiology the mind has always been held in high esteem. But enlightenment ideas played a significant role in the intensification of “intelligent plot” in world folklore, including oral folklore of the mountaineers of the North Caucasus.

The article is devoted to the different aspects of the events of the First World War which are reflected both in Turkish poetry of different schools and in Turkish folklore. Turkish poetry connected with the theme of the First World War can be represented by the names of such authors as Ziya Gökalp, Mehmed Yurdakul, Vedat Nedim, Manastırlı Mehmed Hasib, Mithat Cemal (Kuntay), and so on. Many of their verses were published in “Harb mecmuası” magazine which was released in 1915-1918 in 27 issues and was specially devoted to the rise of the patriotic morale among the Turkish troops. We compare the Turkish poetry of those years which is full of patriotic mood which also influenced on the form of a verse, that summoned to close literary poetry to a folklore and folk military songs (asker türküleri), and in general so-called türkü - the one of the most ancient genres of Turkish lyric folk song). These folk songs which almost have never been the object of the scientific research and attention in Russian turkological studies reflect the most dark and dramatic for Turkey events of the First World War - the battle of Sarıkamış and Çanakkale. Texts of those songs are full with grief and despair in contrast with the literary poetry. At the same time these folk songs keep their wide spreading popularity up till now and its texts often exist in several different versions. The fact of the popularity and the existing variation of the text of these folk songs make us suggest that poetic tradition born of the tragic and heroic events of the First World War in Turkey still continues to stay alive. Of course, these folk materials require further study of their introduction into scientific circulation, as well as annotated literary and critical translation and publication.

The article considers the works of one of the brightest representatives of the Kalmyk literary exile - Sanji Basangovich Balykov (1892-1943). His writing career began in exile. However, despite this circumstance, national pictures in his works are drawn with extreme care and thoroughness. The life of the Kalmyk people never ceased to interest him. In his works S. Balykov acts as a kind of psychologist and ethnographer. He describes life, traditions and customs of the Kalmyk people. Every his work, whether it is a story, a narrative or a novel, is associated with his thoughts on homeland, its history, culture and language of the great and long-suffering people. Reading the story “More than power” one can reveal a correlation between the writer-emigrant and the ethno-national traditions, and see the degree of his national identity realization (given the fact that the writer socialized within the emigre circles) that provides a basis to determine the origins of his works. The author of the article concludes that the national thinking of the writer is reflected in his works through ethical categories. The main communicative goal is that disrespect and disregard for all norms of national ethics of its people is a bad omen, which may be followed by great tragedy for all humanity. Every nation is great not by its size, says the Kalmyk writer, but by the power of the national spirit, preserving the language and culture.

The article considers the distribution of family units of the Republic of Kalmykia according to the results of the all-Russian population census - 2010. The analysis of family structure and the distribution of children within the family units  based on the results of the 2010 Population Census shows the predominance of small families in the Republic of Kalmykia and in Russia as a whole. Most families of the Russian Federation have one child (68 %), the proportion of large families is negligible (6 %). In Kalmykia, the situation is more favorable. However, the overall growth of families having one or two children is also typical for the region. One of the major problems of the Republic is a high proportion of single parenting among young families. According to the 2010 Population Census, more than a third of families (39,3 %), where parents are under 35 years, raise their children without a spouse. That is why a single-parent family has difficulties in carrying out its specific functions, one of which is reproductive. In most single-parent families there is only one child (73,7 %). The comparison of distribution of children among urban and rural families shows minor differences in family structure of Kalmykia. At the same time the spread of families having one or two children in the Republic is gaining momentum.