No 6 (2024)

The article describes the main contexts of the word toska ‘sorrow’ and its derivatives in Russian charms, the correlation of these contexts with different functional types of charms (medical, love, cattle breeding, charms for power, etc.). Also the features of the sorrow image are formulated within these types with more or less certainty: its personification and subjectivity, material nature, allowing its physical elimination as an object, the correlations of sorrow and death, and finally the fiery nature of sorrow. The study of the word toska in Russian charms of different functional orientation revealed its five basic meanings: ‘illness’, ‘pain’, ‘mental illness of unclear etiology', ‘suffering in separation’ and ‘irresistible sadness in the absence of reciprocity’. It was found that the dialectal semantics of the Russian word toska and its derivatives fully correspond to its meanings in charms, while in the literary language the concrete physical meanings of the word toska are mostly lost.

According to the Christian and folk religious beliefs, the devil is the embodiment of evil and the cause of misery in the world, and therefore his name is subject to taboo. The material from Macedonian fairy tales, folk narratives and Christian legends testifies to the numerous euphemisms that are used in this meaning. In addition to proper names and borrowed nominations (vrag, bes; sotona, đavol etc.), as well as figurative folk attributes (rogatiot, kuciot, ednonogiot, nečestiviot, crveniot etc.), among the nomination models there are also examples of word fusion that go back to the formulas of curse and verbal amulet (natemago, daeskrajata). This article conciders the designations of devil in the Macedonian language, the stages of the origin of demononyms, the transformation of their meanings and functioning in contemporary Macedonian usage.

The article examines the practice of synagogue architecture through the lens of I. Hoffman's framework. Special attention is paid to the problem of avoiding the use of the terms «synagogue» and «prayer school» adopted in legislation in correspondence with communities. The article is divided into three semantic blocks, the first one examines in detail the mechanism for obtaining permission for temporary prayer halls and permanent religious buildings. The second is devoted to the analysis of terms used in the legislation for Jews of the line and outside it. In the third, with the help of frame analysis, bureaucratic language is analyzed as a ceremonial procedure requiring compliance with the rules of correspondence by both sides. It is concluded that outside of correspondence, the rule of avoiding terms did not work. The article is based on historical sources related to the Jewish community in the Volga Region.

The article reflects the results of an expedition to the villages of the South Banat district of Serbia, during which the author visited 11 Romanian, 4 Serbian villages and two villages with a mixed population. The article examines the calendar rituals of the Romanians of the Serbian Banat in comparison with the rituals of the Banat Serbs, with special attention paid to the funeral and memorial practices of the Romanians of the Banat. Serbs follow the Julian church calendar, Romanians follow the New Julian church calendar. The Christmas customs of the two nations differ significantly. Serbs and Romanians celebrate Easter at the same time. The period from Maundy Thursday to Monday of St. Thomas Week is associated both with Romanians and Serbs with numerous funeral rites. In Romanian funeral and memorial rites, in contrast to Serbian ones, instrumental music, in particular fanfare plays a significant role. Until recently, a common element among Serbs and Romanians was the voting for the deceased (Serbian: naricanje, Romanian: bocet).

The history of Montenegro has drawn attention of the Russian scholars for many decades. In the 19th century, E.P. Kovalevsky, V.V. Makushev, P.A. Lavrov, P.A. Rovinsky and many others were engaged in these studies. Modern researchers (N.I. Khitrova, L.P. Lapteva, Yu.P. Anshakov, V.B. Khlebnikova, N.G. Strunina-Borodina, etc.) continued to scrutinize the scientific problems raised at the turn of the 19^th–20th centuries, preserving the traditions of their predecessors and at the same time developing new concepts and approaches in the national Slavic studies. Among the pre-revolutionary Slavists, A.I. Alexandrov occupied a special place. As the main topic of his scientific research, he chose the history of Orthodoxy and the Orthodox Church in Montenegro. The scholar worked hard in the archives and book depositories of the Balkan states during his repeated trips abroad. A.I. Alexandrov collected extensive material and discovered new documents on the history and culture of Montenegro, which he consequently published. In the scholar’s works, the study of the poetic heritage of Prince Nikola I Petrovich-Njegos had an important place; historical sources characterizing the assistance of the Russian Empire to the Montenegrin Orthodox Church were introduced. The Slavist offered his own periodization of Montenegrin history. The object of his scientific interest were not only historical issues, but also the church life of the Montenegrin principality at the beginning of the 20th century. The article is the first attempt to analyze the scientific works of the scholar and to identify his views on various historical events in the fate of Montenegrins. The original point of view of A.I. Alexandrov is largely explained by his worldview, the analysis of which is also presented in this work.

The article publishes and analyzes for the first time the letters of R. O. Jakobson to the Academician A.A. Shakhmatov. They preserved in the archival funds of Shakhmatov and the Department of Russian Language and Literature of the Academy of Sciences. Jakobson’s letters demonstrate the scientific interests of the young researcher: on the one hand, in the field of Russian, Belarusian and Kashubian folk dialects, poetic translations into Lithuanian of A.S. Pushkin’ works, on the other hand, in the field of research and publication of monuments of Old Slavonic literature of the 11th century, what is connected with his diploma thesis on the Cyrillic part of the Reims Gospel. The article reflects the assistance of A.A. Shakhmatov to Jakobson in providing him with scientific publications, in organizing the publication of his first scientific work devoted to Old Bulgarian versification. The researcher received support from Shakhmatov in other matters as well.