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Dinislamova O.Yu., Dinislamova S.S. [Zoonymic metaphor in the folk riddles of the Northern Mansi people] World of Science. Series: Sociology, Philology, Cultural Studies, 2025, Vol. 16, No. 4. Available at: https://sfk-mn.ru/PDF/24FLSK425.pdf (in Russian).

Zoonymic metaphor in the folk riddles of the Northern Mansi people

Dinislamova Oxana Yurisovna
Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Researches and Development, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
E-mail: o.dinislamova@yandex.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2189-9102
RSCI: https://elibrary.ru/author_profile.asp?id=915822

Dinislamova Svetlana Siliverstovna
Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Researches and Development, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
E-mail: dinislamovass@mail.ru
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2410-4192
RSCI: https://elibrary.ru/author_profile.asp?id=773391

Abstract. The article is devoted to the study of zoonymic metaphor based on the traditional folk riddles of the Northern Mansi people. The object of the study is enigmatic texts containing zoomorphic images that allegorically describe various objects and phenomena. The materials are extracted from the folklore collections and the electronic resource «Depository for Folklore of the Ob Ugrians and Samoyeds» using a selective method.

The article identifies the mechanisms of the formation of zoonymic metaphors and symbols of the animal world in the mythopoeic consciousness, analyzes the features of the formation and functioning of zoomorphic images, and systematizes them on the basis of cultural and cognitive foundations. For the first time, an attempt has been made to reveal the system of associations and meanings inherent in the image of animals in the traditional worldview, based on the riddle as an enigmatic text. The frequency of the use of various animal names in riddles is analyzed and revealed, the most common zoonyms are identified. The main conclusions of the study are that the text of the Mansi riddles is a reflection of the traditional worldview of the people.

It has been established that in terms of frequency in the texts of the Mansiysk riddles, the names of wild animals occupy the first place, followed by the nominations of birds and fish. Images of pets are rarely used as a metaphor. The nominations of insects, reptiles, and amphibians do not serve as fake names for any of the enigmators or enigmatists of the Mansi riddles. The relevance of the work is determined by the need to study Mansi folklore in the context of cognitive linguistics and linguoculturology in order to understand the ethnic picture of the world.

The scientific novelty consists in a comprehensive approach to the study of the phenomenon of zoomorphism in the Mansi folklore worldview, based on a combination of analysis of the content of texts with their formal structure.

Keywords: zoonymic metaphor; Mansi language; Mansi riddles; linguoculturology; cognitive linguistics; semantics of riddles; folklore of the Mansi people; zoomorphic code; zoomorphic image; cultural code

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