Ordinary Semantics of Bionym <i>Orel</i> and <i>Ezir</i> [<i>Eagle</i>] in Russian and Tuvan Language (Results of a Linguistic Experiment)

Abstract

The results of a comparative analysis of the everyday semantics of the bionym Orel and Ezir [Eagle] in the Russian and Tuvan languages are presented. The relevance of the study is determined by its incorporation into the problems of modern ethnoconceptology in that part of it that is associated with the description of everyday semantics in the languages of different ethnic groups. The scientific novelty of the study is due to the use of methodological techniques that allow us to trace the participation of different layers of semantics in the conceptualization of a word and to reveal the significance of various factors in this process (the objective properties of the referent and the national and cultural characteristics of the informants). The ambivalent perception of the eagle in Russian and Tuvan linguistic cultures has been established. On the one hand, it is a strong, majestic bird, symbolically embodying all male virtues (strength, becoming, pride), enjoying special reverence and elected as a state symbol. On the other hand, the eagle is associated with a bird of prey and danger. The mythological perception of the eagle as a royal bird, acting as an intermediary between Heaven and Earth, is more clearly seen in the Tuvan linguistic culture. In the ordinary view of a Tuvan native speaker, the eagle is embodied as a “dancing” bird, the imitation of the flight of which is filled with ethnocultural meaning and is associated with ethnocultural identification.