The Interaction of Slavic Traditions in the Eastern Carpathians (On the Material of Demonological Vocabulary)

Abstract

Slavic–non-Slavic contacts in the Carpathian region have long attracted the attention of researchers. Less attention has been paid to the interaction between different Slavic traditions. The difficulties of studying closely related traditions are obvious. At the same time, understanding of the convergent processes between them, the direction of cultural borrowing, etc., can provide additional information on the history of the studied peoples and the development of their languages. The analysis of demonyms allows us to draw preliminary conclusions about the processes of interference and cultural exchange over a wide area of the borderlands of Poland and Slovakia in the Eastern Carpathians, where in the 14^th century the East Slavic population (Rusyns, Lemkos) developed. A detailed analysis of some demonyms, taking into account their form and semantics, distribution areas, and etymology, showed that, for example, the term boginka ‘forest woman abducting children’ should be distinguished from bohiňa ‘healer, sorceress’, and that there is another etymological possibility for the word boginka; that it spread in the region from the Polish-speaking areas. A common Slavic term with the root *jęg- (baba Yaga, ježibaba, etc.) demonstrates formal and semantic differences in the East, West, and South Slavic language groups. The Carpathian Rusyns eventually adopted the West Slavic look and meaning of the word (hindžibaba ‘witch, wild woman’). From Polish demonology, a character called mamuna came to the Slovaks and Rusyns. Surprisingly, the Rusyns were practically unaffected by the West Slavic image of the mora / mara; the latter remained generally within the framework of East Slavic reflections and root vowels. Other terms were also analysed. In general, it can be stated that despite the common Carpathian layer, the national Slavic demonologies in the Eastern Carpathians are distinctly different; they do not mix much and do not easily borrow names and images from each other.