STYLE-FORMING FACTORS OF THE YAKUT HEROIC EPOS OLONKHO (AS ILLUSTRASTED BY THE YAKUT HEROIC EPOS
OLONKHO «MIGHTY ER SOGOTOKH»)
Nadezhda Anatolyevna Efremova
Candidate of philological sciences, assistant professor of department of Yakut language stylistics and Russian-Yakut translation of the Institute of languages and culture of peoples of the North-East of
Russia, NEFU named after M. K. Ammosov, Yakutsk, Russia Evdokia Sofronovna Gerasimova
Candidate of philological sciences, head of department of Yakut language stylistics and Russian-Yakut translation of the Institute of languages and culture of peoples of the North-East of Russia, NEFU
named after M. K. Ammosova, Yakutsk, Russia Sargylana Ivanovna Egorova
Candidate of philological sciences, assistant professor of Yakut literature of the Institute of languages and culture of peoples of the North-East of Russia, NEFU named after M. K. Ammosova, Yakutsk,
Russia
Maria Semenovna Vinokurova
Senior lecturer of department of Yakut language stylistics and Russian-Yakut translation of the Institute of languages and culture of peoples of the North-East of Russia, NEFU named after M. K.
Ammosova, Yakutsk, Russia
ABSTRACT
Analysis of the linguistic and stylistic approach to the Yakut folk heroic epic Olonkho is given.
Particular attention is paid to the methods of rendering elevated style, linguistic properties of the epic work via example of one of the classic Olonkho “Mighty Er Sogotokh”.
Keywords: Epos, Olonkho, olonkhosut, elevated style, epic formula, texts’ analysis, epic genre, grammatical and syntactic harmony, syntactic parallelism.
INTRODUCTION
Since 2005, UNESCO has recognized Olonkho as an intangible masterpiece of humanity. In connection with this decision, the heroic epic of the Sakha people attracts the attention of researchers of different branches of humanitarian science.
Researchers have repeatedly noted sublimity of the heroic epic style. The Yakut folklore scientist Ergis G. U. in “Essays on the Yakut folklore” writes that “one of the Olonkho style features is detailing when describing various phenomena and events with application of comparisons, epithets <...> In Olonkho the objects of action are described with such details, so vividly and realistically that listeners follow the development of events as if they are played out before their eyes. There are also naturalistic descriptions of individual scenes, everyday phenomena, etc. Sometimes, the Olonkho style is pretentious, long-winded and mystifies the narration” [1, p. 9].
Researchers have unanimous opinion that Olonkho is a poetical work, which presents the whole orchestration of Turkish prosody, "its primary element is alliteration, and secondary element is semantic and stylistic parallelism. Academician, Sleptsov P.A. reveals in his analysis that Olonkho language is also characterized by “formality”, i.e. ornamentality.
The question that has to be answered is how artists - olonkhosuts were able to remember so many lines (36 thousand!!!) by heart and to perform them in front of the audience without break. What is the secret of such a deep and sharp memory of artists?
The researcher of the Yakut heroic epos Illarionov V. V. in his works “Art of the Yakut olonkhosuts”
and “Storytelling within the system of folklore tradition” considers the epic formulas and typical places of Olonkho and comes to the conclusion that “formulas are considered to be a group of poems
These formulas and cyclically repeating places are keys of the storytelling itself. Olonkhosut, improvising and closely following the plot of Olonkho, skillfully used these formulas. And the epic formulas, like the arithmetic ones, did not change their grammatical and syntactic structure. However, as the analysis of Olonkho texts shows, typical places differed from each other. As the researcher, Illarionova T.V. notes, "even with the repeated performance of the same olonkho, storytellers varied typical places, shortened them or, on the contrary, supplemented them, changed the structure somewhat" [3, p. 87]. This may be due to the imagination and lexical richness of an artist himself. In the linguistic aspect, Olonkho is an epic genre, transmitted in poetic form. And poems, as a rule, consist from grammatically and syntactically arranged units. Sound system, rhyme in this regard also play a significant role.
Olonkho, first of all, is based on the repetition of the same statement that is considered to be syntactic parallelism in linguistics. Syntactic parallelism is a principle of syntactic constructions that includes a special case of symmetry and repetition for identical (full or partial) structure of syntactic constructions [4]. For example, such lines are the traditional beginning of Olonkho:
Here, the use of lexical synonyms is noticeable, which, from the first lines, makes elevated style of the epic and prepares a listener for perception of the volume poetic work.
When describing the middle world there is a list of names (wood, ponds, cuckoos, fish, people, cattle) in which the action of the heroes will take place:
Былыргы дьылым Быстар мындаатын Быдан ынараа өттүгэр, Урукку дьылым
Охсуһуулаах оурҕатын Отой анараа өттүгэр, Ааспыт дьылым
Анысханнаах айдааннаах күнүн Адьас анараа таһаатыгар, Куоппут дьылым
Кудулҕаннаах кудан өлүү уорҕатын Куоһаралаах хонноҕор...
A far distance behind Final top
My ancient years, Far on the further side Ridge of abusive My old years, Far beyond Violent vain days Long forgotten years,
Behind series of disastrous ridges My years have passed…
[5, p.76-77]
Ол курдук
Охтон баранар мастаах, Уолан суоруйар уулаах, Хараан төннөр кэҕэлээх, Ханчылаан төннөр балыктаах, Хагдарыйан төннөр мутукчалаах, Олкураҥнаан төннөр сүөһүлээх, Ороһулаан төрүүр киһилээх
Орто туруу бараан аан ийэ дойдубун...
With trees, which, falling, - perish, with waters which, evaporating, - shallow, with cuckoos, which, finish cuckooing, - become silent,
with fishes which, finish spawning, -go away, with needles, which, turning yellow,-shatter, with cattle which, dying out, - degenerate, with people who are late born,
My middle primary mother and earth [5, p. 78-79]
Grammatical and syntactic harmony (using of homogeneous parts of sentences) of this segment gives speech not only a sublime epic style, but also a fabulous embodiment of the expressed in the real world.
We consider next the passage describing the lower world where abaas lives:
One of Olonkho style features is the enumeration of phenomena and objects, which in syntactical terms is also expressed by homogeneous parts of the sentences. We should note that such enumerations have a logical harmony. For example, it can be sides of the horizon (North-South, East-West), or seasons (summer-winter, spring-autumn):
Аллараа дойдуга
Буспатах мунду миинин курдук Бутугас-итигэс дойдуларынан, Барбатах балык миинин курдук, Балыа-бүдүө дойдуларынан, Өҕүрүмэр оҕус саҕа
Үллэҥнии сүүрбүт үөннээх, Хороҥнуу сүүрбүт хомурдуостаах, Кыймаҥныы сүүрбүт кымырдаҕастаах, Арбайа сүүрбүт абааһылаах,
Сүөдэйэ сүүрбүт сөһүөккэлээх, Аҕыс уон аҥаарыйар албастаах, Тоҕус уон куодуйар кубулҕаттаах, Тумуһахтарын туораталаан, Сэттэ дьибилгэттээх, Кырыыларын чиэрэстээн, Уот Урбалдьын обургу Олорор сиригэр тиийбитэ.
I went down to the lower world, Along misty, foggy edges,
Like an undercooked minnow fish soup, Along gloomy, muddy countries, Like a homemade fish soup, Where as big as a bull Cerastes rush hoppingly, Beetles run skippingly,
Ants are swarming all over the place, Devils are randomly pacing ,
With eighty insidious magics, With ninety malicious tricks Passing capes,
With seven malefices Passing forests, Er Sogotokh To the place habitat
Wat Urbaldzhyna-monster arrived.
[5, p.226-227]
Ол курдук уохтаахтык айаннаан...
Күһүҥҥүтүн өксүөнүнэн билэн, Сааскытын хахсаатынан билэн,
Сайыҥҥытын самыырынан сабаҕалаан, Кыһыҥҥытын кырыатынан кыйдаран Субу курдук айаннаан,
Тымныы хонугу хонон,
Дьыбардаах айаны айаннаан испит... (С.120).
I did not know whether I was traveling for a long time,
Many autumns
According to the bad weather I recognized, Many springs
According to the rain I recognized, Many years
According to the frost, I felt Many winters
By recognizing the newly-fallen snow, Whiling away cold nights
So I went without stopping in severe cold.
[5, p. 120-121]
Comparison, often used in epic works is a figure of speech, in this example, it is a common epithet, that is transmitted by a logical four-fold repetition of the same format, which significantly multiplies the number of lines in Olonkho:
The personification of the heroic knife is transmitted by such expressively colored words:
In Olonkho there are cases of stylistic figures’ use (andyplosis - cohesion), which are based on the
"patterned" use of words:
Арҕаа диэки өттүн Эргитэ көрөн кээспитим, Араҕас сылгым
Арҕаһын түүтүн
Адаарыччы туппут курдук, Ардай хара тыалар
Арытыалаан үүнэн киирбиттэр эбит.
Хоту өттүн
Эргитэ көрөн кээспитим Куба көтөрүм
Хотоҕойун түүтүн Холбуу туппут курдук Хохудал хара тыалар
Хойдон үүнэн киирбиттэр эбит.
Илин өттүн
Эргитэ көрөн кээспитим, Эрдэҕэс көтөрүм
Түөһүн түүтүн кэккэлэччи туппут курдук Эргис хара тыалар
Эргийэ үүнэн киирбиттэр эбит.
Соҕуруу өттүн
Эргитэ көрөн кээспитим,
Сур сылгым сургунньаҕын түүтүн Субуруччу туппут курдук
Суһал хара тыалар
Субуруһан үүнэн киирбиттэр эбит
The Western side
Looking around vicinities, I have seen:
As if my red horse’s Long-maned withers Were ruffled-reared – Her black woods-woodlots;
The Southern side
Looking around vicinities, I have seen:
As if flocks of hair on the ridge Of my brown horse
Have one by one laid out – Her splittings of the dark woods;
The Eastern side
Looking around vicinities, I have seen:
As if breast plumage Of my female
Have divided into ranks – Her dense black woods;
The Northern side
Looking around vicinities, I have seen:
As if swan-bird of mine Flight feathers
In a bunch collected -
Her smoothbore black forests
[5, p. 84-85]
Хааннаах диэки көрдөҕүнэ, Хаатын иһигэр сылдьан, Хаачыргыы-хаачыргыы мөҥөр, Кыалаах диэки көрдөҕүнэ, Кыынын иһигэр сылдьан,
Кыычыргыы-кыычыргыы кыланар Кынчаал тимир быһаҕын...
His knife, which, has seen scarlet blood, Still in the scabbard,
Squeaking-gnashing, starts to rage, Has seen thick blood,
In the case,
Gnashing -squeaking, yelling starts, His iron knife-the dagger...
[5, p. 130-131]
Even erotic moments in Olonkho are transmitted by the way of repetition of synonymous words:
In the constructions of olonkho, built on the principle of syntactic parallelism, the following features can be distinguished:
1) same number of components in parallel syntactic constructions;
2) same syntactic relations between these components;
3) same arrangement of components of syntactic constructions;
4) use of lexical synonyms in parallel segments of speech (for example: ancient, old, long forgotten, my years passed;
5) use of logically related concepts (for example: western, southern, eastern, northern side)
Thus, the style-forming factors of the Yakut heroic epic in the linguistic aspect are stable epic formulas, syntactic parallelism, lexical, grammatical and syntactic repetition of speech segments, enumeration of phenomena and objects.
The mystery of the exquisite words of olonkhosuts, perfected over the centuries, which provide the reader with an irresistible aesthetic pleasure, is in repeated style-forming techniques.
REFERENCES
1. Ergis, G.U. Ocherki pa Yakutskomy folklory [Essays on Yakut folklore], Yakutsk, Bichik, 2008, p. 208-209.
2. Illarionov V. V. Iskusstvo jakutskih olonhosutov [Art of the Yakut olonkhosuts], Yakutsk, 1982, p.72.
3. Illarionova T. V. Tekstologija olonkho "Moguchij Jer Sogotoh" [Textology of olonkho "Mighty Er Sogotokh"] Comparative analysis of asynchronical records, Novosibirsk, Nauka, 2008, p.
67.
4. Culture of Russian speech. Encyclopedic dictionary, under the overall guidance of L. Yu.
Ivanov, A. P. Skovorodnikov, E. N. Shiryaev, M., Flinta, Nauka, 2003, p. 623.
5. The Yakut heroic epic "Mighty er Sagoth". Monuments of folklore of peoples of Siberia and the Far East, vol. 10, Novosibirsk, Nauka SIF RAN, 1996.
Урааҥхай диэхтэн ураты, Кыыл диэхтэн киһи курдук, Киһи диэхтэн кыыл курдук, Балык диэхтэн кыыл курдук,
Кыыл диэхтэн балык курдук дьүһүннээх Сыалбайан тахсан кэлбитэ.
To name Uraanghai - not that,
To name an animal–but a human like, To name a man – but a beast like, To name a fish – but a beast like, To name an animal– but a fish like, - Something awkward crawled out
[5, p. 348-349]
Уол оҕо барахсан Кыыс дьахтар
Үрдүк мындаатыгар тахсан, Үөмэлии оонньоото,
Хоҥор хаас курдук Холбороҥнуу оонньоото, Сара хаас курдук
Дайыалыы оонньоото
Our fellow,
Climbing on the high womb Of wife-maiden,
Starts jumping - playing, Like a goose gumenik, Starts slipping –crawling, As if he was a molted goose, Starts flying up -struggling [5, p. 218-219]
