Specific forms of figurative verbs in olonkho texts

The article analyses the specific forms of figurative verbs in order to identify and describe these forms in the texts of the olonkho and to determine the peculiarities of their use by olonkhohut-narrators. The relevance of the research lies in the insufficient study of the use of figurative vocabulary in epic texts. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time the functionality of specific forms of figurative verbs is considered as an object of research. The material for the study was the texts of the central epic tradition of Yakutia. In this work we used the method of solid sampling to collect figurative verbs from epic texts; component analysis based on dictionary definitions to reveal the semantics of words; the method of contextual analysis to reveal different meanings and shades of meanings of the studied verbs in context depending on their functions. We analyzed 212 figurative verbs, some of which are repeated in the olonkho texts. Among the specific forms of figurative verbs, the using of the base form, the form of instantaneousness and uniqueness, the form of mobility, the form of separate multiplicity, and the form of uniform multiplicity were found. As it turned out, in these species forms figurative verbs are involved, in general, in the description of the appearance of the main characters and minor characters and their movements, in the description of housing, everyday objects, natural phenomena and animals. The peculiarity of the use of species forms, according to the results of our analysis, is that depending on the situation, the specifics of the characters, the narrated action and the development of the plot of the olonkho, the narrator can combine species forms. For example, the form of mobility is used in active actions; the form of instantaneousness and onetimeness – in fragments where the characters act immediately; the form of separate multiplicity – in describing the movements of the characters, oriented on gait; and the form of uniform multiplicity – in defining the movements of the characters according to their complexion. Therefore, in our opinion, the olonkhohut’s special ability to combine the species forms of figurative verbs in the telling of the olonkho represents their artistic mastery.

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