Salbiev, Tamerlan K.
Izvestia SOIGSI. 2022. IIS 43 (82).

Abstract:
The problem of the origin, semantics and mechanism of such a phenomenon as Ossetian sound
syncretism solved in the article allows, first of all, to actualize the most important, typological
differences between the systems of sound perception in the ethno-cultural tradition and the
culture of Modern times. For the first time, not only the phenomenon itself was revealed, but
also the mythological approach, optimal for its study, was established. In this case, the linguistic
phenomenon by its nature, which reveals itself in the lexical undifferentiation of the Ossetian
verb wasyn / wasun, turns out to be directly correlated with such a property of mythological
consciousness as diffusion, that is, the indissoluble unity of sound and its source. From this point
of view, according to the underlying mechanism, it turns out to be identical to the well-known
color syncretism in the Ossetian tradition, which manifests itself in the lexical ambiguity of the
adjective c’æx. It is diffuseness that becomes the key property that allows tradition to overcome
lexical ambiguity, which is critical for semantic interpretation for modern consciousness.
Additional consideration of the cosmologization characteristic of this phenomenon allows us
to consider it within the framework of the main transition for mythology from the primordial
chaos to the cosmic order. Historically, it is possible to correlate it with the well-known episode
about the Scythian gifts to the Persian king Darius, with which the phenomenon in question
is connected from the point of view of cultural and historical continuity. At the same time, it
reveals connections not only in the archaic, but also in the German medieval folklore, which can
be confirmed by comparison with the famous fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm about the Bremen
Town musicians.

Keywords: Ossetians, sound perception, syncretism, diffusion, chaos, cosmos, continuity

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