Shamanic Anthroponymicon in the Plots of Evenki Folklore and Historical Documents

Evenki shamanic names, drawn from folklore and historical documents, reveal the central role of shamanism in Evenki culture. The meanings of these names, analyzed using Tungus-Manchu dictionary entries, provide literal or figurative descriptions of ancient cult servants' characteristics and duties. The naming traditions illustrate the unique word-formation patterns of agglutinative languages and reflect the ideological and social traditions of the Evenki people.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The paper aims to determine the specifics of Evenki anthroponymic traditions associated with shamanism. The study is novel in that it is the first to consider the shamanic anthroponymicon of the Evenki in the plots about shamans of various genres of Evenki folklore and historical documents. On the basis of the shamanic vocabulary of various groups of the Evenki published in the editions of Tungus-Manchu dictionaries, the meanings of the names of folklore characters and historical figures are given, which are literal or figurative characteristics of ancient cult servants. As a result of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that the anthroponymic traditions of the Evenki show the great role of shamanism in the ethnic environment: the names of Evenki shamans reflect the unique characteristics and functional duties of a cult servant; the shamanic anthroponymicon of the Evenki demonstrates the specificity of word formation in agglutinative languages and is a reflection of the ideological and social traditions of the Evenki.