Klaipėdos universitetas

The ethno-linguistic origins of formation of miсrotoponymy of Sloviansk area and its regional features are explores in the article; the author states that an overwhelming number of language units have Turkic origin; as it turns out the Sloviansk toponymic nominations are its archaic and established layer of the vocabulary where “preserved” the coherent linguoethnogeographic story of analyzed lands.

Simple and clear at the first glance, the word sea, having Indo-European parallels which have practically the only meaning ‘sea’, on a closer examination turned out to be not so clear. Linguistic and ethno-linguistic, including folklore, data of Slavic traditions make it possible to interpret the word sea in Slavic languages and dialects in the sense of ‘water’ in general, and especially – the vast expanse of water – regardless of salinity, flowage and other properties of water. Moreover, the same semantics are characteristic of many, if not all, Indo-European denominations of the sea, and many words of non-Indoeuropean languages as well. Aspects of future studying of this topic can be seen in the explanation of other words with root *mor-/mar-, identification of their semantics, motivational relations and etymology, as well as other lexems, denoting the sea, the causes of their emergence or preservation in i.-e. languages and solving a number of other problems of diachronic aspect.

Before the mid-20th century, the Jews in Žemaitija were the most numerous and economically and culturally significant minority, with close contacts with the Žemaitijans. The paper focuses on the stereotypical characteristics of Jews as reflected in Žemaitijan dialect texts from an ethnolinguistic point of view. The analysis of these characteristics provides knowledge about the evaluated nation from the perspective of the evaluating nation. The research into stereotypical images of Jews rests on the view that they consist of a specific set of certain common characteristics and traits, and an analysis of linguistic expression provides more detailed information about them. The research has revealed that the ethnic stereotype of Jewish people in Žemaitijan dialect texts is quite positive.

The article discusses problems connected with Balto-Slavic mythological parallels, including typology of mythological characters, lexical similarities resulting from genetic affinity and borrowing, as well as the influence of mythological systems of neighbouring peoples. Some new Balto-Slavic parallels have been suggested, viz. Rugių boba – Baba Ruga (Roga); Pikulas – pikulík; nelabais, and nelabasis – nelapši, nelapszy, with the focus on their ethnolinguistic aspect, both as mythological characters and as elements of the mythological lexicon. Special attention has been paid to the etymology of these words. The new parallels between the two groups of related languages provides additional material related to Slavic and Baltic ethno- and glottogeny.