Article

Name: Concepts JARGY ‘the court’, ‘thanks, thanks’ and BYIAN ‘blessing’, ‘thanks’ in the shaman text of the Altaians

Authors: N. R. Oinotkinova

Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of folklore

Abstract: The paper is devoted to the concepts of jargy ‘court’, ‘grace, mercy’ and byian ‘grace,’ ‘blessing’ in Altaic shamanic texts. The material for the study was taken from published and archival texts recorded at the beginning of the twentieth century by researcher A. V. Anokhin from different ethnic groups of the Altaians. The author has found that the historical layer of the concepts concerned is associated with the Buddhist religious tradition. An etymological analysis showed that the word jargy is of Turkic origin. On the one hand, it reflected the archaic representations of Turkic shamans about a heavenly (divine) court. According to the ideas of shamans, the heavenly court, the court of the gods is considered the highest instance of determining the life path of man. In the mythopoetic consciousness of Altai shamans, grace granted by deities or mountain spirits was figuratively represented by a golden or white light, a sparkle (аltyn jargy ‘golden grace’, ‘golden sparkle,’ ak byian ‘white grace’) descending from the heavenly spheres to the home to the fire. The soul of a newborn (sus or kut) was considered a blessing bestowed by a deity. It was presented in the form of a sunbeam, as a means of transmitting the embryo sent by the deity to a person. On the other hand, the concept of altyn jargy ‘the golden court, the golden decision (deities)’ has much in common with the concept of light, radiance (jaryk), which underlies the Buddhist “Sutra of Golden Glitter” (“Altyn Yarug”). The appearance of the concept of court in shamanistic culture under the influence of the Christian concept of the posthumous court has not been studied. Another keyword byian / pyian was most likely borrowed into the Turkic languages from Sanskrit (p`unya ‘pure, sacred’), while Buddhist monuments were translated. In shamanic texts, the word byian / pyian realizes the meanings ‘blessing’ and ‘grace.’

Keywords: Altai, shamanistic text, polysemy of the word, concept, shamanism, Buddhism

Bibliography:

Altaysko-russkiy slovar’ [Altai-Russian Dictionary]. A. E. Chumakaev (Ed. in ch.), N. V. Ekeev, A. N. Maizina, K. K. Piyantinova, N. N. Tydykova, E. V. Tyuntesheva (Eds), BNU RA “S. S. Surazakov Research Institute of Altaistics”. Gorno-Altaysk, 2018, 936 p.

Anokhin A. V. Materialy po shamanstvu u altaytsev, sobrannyye vo vremya puteshestviy po Altayu v 1910–1912 gg. po porucheniyu Russkogo Komiteta dlya izucheniya Sredney i Vostochnoy Azii [Materials on the shamanism of the Altaians collected during travels in Altai in 1910–1912 on behalf of the Russian Committee for the Study of Central and East Asia]. Leningrad, RAN Publ., 1924, 152 p. (Sbornik MAE pri Rossiyskoy akademii nauk [Collection of MAE RAS, vol. 4, pt. 2).

Berzin A. Smena religiy uygurami. Istoricheskoye vzaimodeystviye buddiyskoy i islamskoy kul’tur do vozniknoveniya Mongol’skoy imperii. Biblioteka Berzina (1996) [Change of religions by the Uighurs. The historical interaction of Buddhist and Islamic cultures before the emergence of the Mongol Empire. Berzin Library (1996)]. URL: https://studybuddhism.com/web/ru/archives /e-books/unpublished_manuscripts/historical_interaction/pt2/history_cultures_09.html (accessed 07.08.2019).

Bokovenko N. A. K probleme rekonstruktsii konskikh uborov skifskoy epokhi Yuzhnoy Sibiri [To the problem of the reconstruction of horse harnesses of the Scythian epoch of Southern Siberia]. In: Severnaya Yevraziya ot drevnosti do srednevekov’ya [Northern Eurasia from Antiquity to the Middle Ages]. St. Petersburg, IIMK RAN, 1992, pp. 123–125.

Bol’shoy akademicheskiy mongol’sko-russkiy slovar’: V 4 t. T. 2: Д–O. [Big academic Mongolian-Russian dictionary: In 4 vols. Vol. 2: Д–O]. G. Ts. Pyurbeyev (Ed. in ch.). Moscow, Academia, 2001.

Dyrenkova N. P. Kul’t ognya u altaytsev i teleut [The cult of fire in the Altaians and Teleut]. In: Sbornik MAE [Collection of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography]. Leningrad, 1927, vol.6 pp. 63–78.

Khakassko-russkiy slovar’ [Khakass-Russian dictionary]. R. G. Syzdykova, K. Sh. Khusain (Eds). Almaty, Dayk-press, 2002, 1008 p.

Klyashtornyy S. G., Livshits V. A. Sogdiyskaya nadpis’ iz Buguta [Sogdian inscription from Bugut]. In: Strany i narody vostoka. T. 10 [Countries and peoples of the East. vol. 10]. Moscow, Nauka, 1971, pp. 121–146.

Levitskaya L. S. Etimologicheskiy slovar’ tyurkskikh yazykov: obshchetyurkskiye i mezhtyurkskiye osnovy na bukvy Җ, Ж, Й [Etymological dictionary of Turkic languages: All-Türkic and Inter-Türkic foundamentals on the letters Җ, Ж, Й]. E. V. Sevortyan, L. S. Levitskaya (Authors of lexical entry). Moscow, 1989, 292 p.

Malov S. E. Pamyatniki drevnetyurkskoy pis’mennosti: teksty i issledovaniya [Monuments of ancient Turkic writing: texts and studies]. Moscow, Leningrad, AN SSSR Publ., 1951, 452 p.

Muytuyeva V. A. Traditsionnaya religiozno-mifologicheskaya kartina mira altaytsev [Traditional religious-mythological picture of the Altai world]. Gorno-Altaysk, 2004, 166 p.

Nadelyayev V. M., Nasilov D. M., Tenishev E. R., Shcherbak A. M. Drevnetyurkskiy slovar’ [Ancient Turkic dictionary]. Leningrad, Nauka, 1979, 677 p.

Poppe N. N. Mongol’skiy slovar’ Mukaddimat al-Adab. Ch. 1–2 [Mongolian Dictionary of Muqaddimat al-Adab. Pt. 1–2]. Moscow, Leningrad, AN SSSR Publ., 1938, 452 p.

Potapov L. P. Altayskiy shamanism [Altai shamanism]. Leningrad, Nauka, 1991, 320 p.

Ramstedt G. I. Vvedeniye v altayskoye yazykoznaniye [Introduction to Altai linguistics]. Moscow, Izd. Inostr. lit., 1957, 254 p.

Rassadin V. I. Ocherki po istorii slozheniya tyurko-mongol’skoy yazykovoy obshchnosti. Chast’ 2. Mongol’skoye vliyaniye na leksiku tyurkskikh yazykov [Essays on the history of the addition of the Turkic-Mongolian language community. Pt. 2. Mongolian influence on the vocabulary of the Turkic languages]. Elista, Kalm. Univ. Publ., 2008, 243 p.

Sanzheyev G. D., Orlovskaya M. N., Shevernina Z. V. Etimologicheskiy slovar’ mongol’skikh yazykov: v 3 t. [Etymological dictionary of Mongolian languages: in 3 vols. Vol. 1: A–E]. Institut vostokovedeniya RAN; G. D. Sanzheyev (Ed. in ch.), L. R. Kontsevich, V. I. Rassadin, Ya. D. Leman (Eds). Moscow, IV RAN, 2015, 224 p.

Savaşči Yu. Uygurca Altun Yaruk’a ait belgeler (401–450): Yüksek lisans tezi [Documents of Altun Yaruk in Uighur (401–450): Master’s thesis]. Istanbul, 2006, 212 p.

Sevortyan E. V. Affiksy imennogo slovoobrazovaniya v azerbaydzhanskom yazyke [Affixes of nominal word formation in Azerbaijani language]. Moscow, Nauka, 1966, 437 p.

Stebleva I. V. K rekonstruktsii drevnetyurkskoy religiozno-mifologicheskoy sistemy [To the reconstruction of the ancient Turkic religious and mythological system]. In: Tyurkologicheskiy sbornik 1971 [Turkologic Collection 1971]. Moscow, Nauka, 1972, pp. 213–226.

Stepanov Yu. S. Konstanty. Slovar’ russkoy kul’tury [Constants. Dictionary of the Russian culture]. Moscow, LRC Publishing House, 1997, 824 p.

Tektigul Zh. O. Evolyutsiya obshchetyurkskikh affiksov v kazakhskom yazyke [The evolution of common Turkic affixes in the Kazakh language]. Astana, Akademiya yestestvoznaniya, 2013. URL: https://monographies.ru/ru/book/section?id=6681 (accessed 07.08.2019).

Tolkovyy slovar’ russkogo yazyka: V 4 t. T. 1 [Dictionary of the Russian language: In 4 vols. Vol. 1]. D. N. Ushakov (Ed.). Moscow, Russkiye slovari, 1994.

Yakhontova N. S. Oyratskiy literaturnyy yazyk 17 v. [Oirat literary language of the 17th century]. Moscow, Vost. lit., 1996, 152 p. (Yazyki narodov Azii i Afriki [Languages of Asian and African peoples]).