The problem of the relationship between myth and ritual is the vector of research which this article follows. The purpose of the article is to show the isomorphism and invariance of the basic ideological scheme of the relations “sky – man – earth” realized in them through the analysis of the Nart legends of the Ossetians and the death of the hero Batraz, and the structure and analysis of the Ossetian rite “Tsoppai” (its variety associated with a lightning strike on a person/tree). The methods used in the article are structural-semantic and comparativehistorical. A comparison of specific texts of the Nart epic of the Ossetians and the Ossetian rite “Tsoppai” of the above-mentioned variety in the aspect we have chosen is carried out for the first time. The results of the study can be applied in the analysis of both the Nart epic of the Ossetians and Ossetian rituals, and more broadly the epic creativity and rituals of the peoples of the Indo-European circle and in the typological or other plans of the epic creativity and rituals of the peoples of the world. The comparative study was successfully carried out due to the fact that we turned to some of the first records of the Nart epic of the Ossetians by the students and followers of V.F. Miller, the brothers Dzhantemir and Gatsyr Shanaev. In the future, it is advisable to consider the ritual context more broadly, in particular to consider the “Tsoppai” ritual regarding the lightning strike on a tree, which will give a complete picture of the functioning of the Nart legends of the Ossetians in the field of the entire spiritual culture of the Ossetians. The observed similarity in the structure of the “Tsoppai” rite and the plot of the legend about the death of Batraz, expressed in the use of the number 4 and its multiples (numerical symbolism), as well as the connection of the “Tsoppai” rite with the Thunderer Elijah/Uatsilla, in combination with the “thunderous” nature of Batraz (according to J. Dumézil) and his likeness to lightning, allow us to put forward the following hypothesis: Tsoppai, Elijah and Uatsilla are different names of the same Thunderer, revered by the ancestors of the Ossetians (Scythian-Sarmatian-Alans) and modern Ossetians in different historical periods.

The article examines the status of the hero Khongor (Kalmyk “Dzhangar”) and the heroine Yangarchy (Altai “Yangar”), who occupy a special position among the assistants of the epic's protagonist. Khongor and Yangarchy are considered as heroes of “the same row”, “the same rank”, and their exclusivity and heroism are analyzed in the context of their relationship with the protagonist, around whom the main events of the epic unfold. This is the first time this issue has been examined from this perspective. The purpose of the study is to examine the nature of the manifestation of the special position of the hero Khongor and the heroine Yangarchy, to study their actions and deeds that influence the course of epic events. Research methods. When considering the issue of the status of Khongor and Yangarchy, B.N. Putilov's experience in differentiating epic heroes by various characteristics, including their origin, is taken into account. Elements of comparative-historical, comparativetypological methods are used, which are important for identifying and studying “stable meanings behind certain episodes, descriptions and stylistic figures of a folklore work”, including different-stage epics of peoples (Altaians and Kalmyks, in the past – Oirats), who had close historical and cultural ties over the centuries. Results. It was established that the nature of the special status of Khongor and Yangarchy – heroes of the same series lies in their destiny, exceptional heroic abilities, as well as in their relationship with the main character. It is shown that archaic motifs (brother–sister, elder and younger brothers) in the Altai epic “Yangar” retained the mythological semantics of “the first people on earth”, and in the Kalmyk heroic epic “Dzhangar”, in the epic of a later formation than the Altai “Yangar”, they were filled with new content, close to historical realities. Conclusions. The study leads to the conclusion that the equality of the hero Khongor and the heroine Yangarchy, expressed by their heroic qualities, their family relations with the main character, as well as their ability to replace the main character during his long absence, determine the special status of Khongor and the heroine Yangarchy in the hierarchy of epic society as heroes of the same rank.

The article is devoted to the identification and description of one of the fragments of the folklorelinguistic picture of the world – Turkic-Mongolian lexical doublets. The purpose of the study is to describe and identify the functional-semantic, etymological and linguacultural features of lexical doublets, most often found in the texts of heroic tales. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that lexical doublet pairs, the components of which are attributes of different languages, have not yet become the object of special research. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time, Khakas-Mongolian doublet pairs, which are widely frequent in the language of heroic tales, are identified as one of the types of epic forms of parallelism and described, two structural-semantic categories of doublet pairs are revealed: equal (symmetrical) and subordinate. The material of the study was 11 Khakas-Mongolian doublet lexical pairs, extracted by the method of continuous sampling from the texts of heroic tales. Lexical-semantic, etymological, structural-semantic methods were used to describe them. Such doublet pairs represent a separate lexical layer in the system of paired words. The Khakas-Mongolian paired doublets under consideration have their own characteristic lexical-semantic features, in particular, in terms of compatibility they are in equal (symmetrical) and subordinate relations. They do not allow the rearrangement of words and the introduction of other words, with the exception of some variants of traditional cliched constructions that perform a certain syntactic function. Such words are components of several variants of cliched sentences. Borrowed Mongolisms, as a rule, are not used in the Khakas language as separate lexical units, although they are recorded in the dictionary, but are in the passive sphere of the language or pass into the category of obsolete and folklore words. The folklore-language system of the Khakas has many unexplored, unsolved, and therefore interesting in the linguacultural plan conceptual fields, to which the material of our study also belongs. We believe that this topic has good linguistic potential and prospects for future research.

This article examines the interaction and mutual influence of folklore and literary traditions through an analysis of the dastan “Salsal”, a subject of significant relevance in modern folkloristics. Focusing on the interplay between oral and written traditions in the national epic, the study highlights the narrator’s role in shaping the dastan’s written form. The relevance of the topic of research is due to insufficient attention paid to this work in philological science. The scientific novelty of the work is that for the first time in the Tatar folklore and literature studies special study of dastan “Salsal” in the aspect of interaction of oral and book epic tradition is carried out. Its primary aim is to situate “Salsal” within folkloristic and ethnoliterary studies, addressing a gap in philological scholarship. The study conducts a comparative analysis of two textual variants: a 19th-century version compiled by M. Yumachikov and a modern variant documented by G. Ismagilov. By delineating their principal differences and shared features, the authors demonstrate the enduring cultural significance of “Salsal” for the Tatar people, emphasizing its synthesis of literary, written, and folklore elements. Key research tasks include tracing the epic’s scholarly history, comparing its protagonist’s traits and overarching narrative qualities, and identifying intersections between centuries-old written culture and Turkic oral epic traditions. This article uses comparative historical, historical-typological, comparative methods of research. The findings affirm that “Salsal”, as a manuscript bridging folklore and literature, represents a book-style Tatar dastan. The study underscores the need for further specialized research, particularly a monograph, to fully explore this understudied epic in Tatar academia.

Since ancient times, an epic tradition has been functioning in Kazakh folklore, within the framework of which epic legends are formed and developed. In addition to the classical examples of the heroic and romantic epic, there is a later layer consisting of legends of the Nogai period. The relevance of the material presented is determined by the coverage of some issues in the study of this cycle of epic legends. The novelty of the study is determined by a comprehensive consideration of the genre features of these legends, by the fact that among the Nogais they were preserved in the form of a separate epic, and among the Kazakhs in the form of a whole complex – a cycle of genealogical legends. Kazakh scholars began to study the epic of the Nogai period back in the 1940s. In the performance of the Kazakh storyteller Muryn Sengirbekuly, three genealogical cycles are recorded, containing about thirty epic tales. Unfortunately, in the Soviet period, the study of these samples of the epic was difficult. Nevertheless, individual researchers published their research on the Nogai epic. The main purpose of the article is to emphasize the cognitive nature and degree of knowledge of the Nogai epic. the study of the Nogai epic. I must say that the texts of the Nogai epic began to be published in full only after the collapse of the USSR. During the period of independence, several works were written on this topic, but the cognitive nature of the Nogai epic was not part of the task of study. They are valuable in that they contain numerous information of the onomastic order, shedding light on the past history of the Nogais and Kazakhs. The main provisions of this article were formed in the conditions of the historical, ethnic and ethnographic method of studying the Nogai epic. A comparative method was used, which made it possible to distinguish the main ethnic names in the epic. The conclusion summarizes the conclusions that the genealogical samples of the Nogai epic went through a cyclization process. Despite the abundance of historical information, in contrast to the classical examples of the Kazakh heroic epic, ethnonyms are very sparsely represented in them. Quite often there are anthroponyms, little unknown to the Kazakh epic tradition. Of course, the study of the Nogai epic is not limited to this. All onomastic names of the epic, not fully studied by academic science, need further in-depth study. Suffice it to recall the presence of one ethnonym “Hindu,” which is a mystery to epic scholars.

One of the significant tasks in folkloristics is clarifying the mechanisms through which plots and motifs migrate. To accomplish this successfully, we need a great deal of comparative material. The war between dwarves and birds is not included in the Aarne-Thompson index but is mentioned by Yu. Berezkin and Ye. N. Duvakin’s classification system under K22 (“Cranes and Pygmies”). This plot is characterised by its ancient origins and widespread presence in Eurasia, the Americas, and Africa. Although researchers have noted its presence in Chinese geographical and encyclopaedic monuments, beginning with the “Shen Yi Jing” (“Canon of divine marvels”, late 2nd century AD), and several compilations of texts have been published, a general overview of these fragments has yet to be conducted. This article aims to provide such an overview. During the research, previously collected data was systematised. Duplicates arising from citing earlier sources in encyclopaedic compilations were removed, new materials were added and the structure of Chinese narratives about the war with migratory birds was established. The diversity of motifs contained within these narratives was demonstrated. To this end, comparative methods and textual analysis techniques were employed, including structural and motifbased analyses of sources.

The scope of this research is limited to the chronological framework of early medieval China (from the end of the Han dynasty to the 15th century). Ancient sources do not describe conflicts between non-human peoples and predatory migratory birds, and later works may bear traces of the plot being reintroduced by Jesuits.

The findings confirm the hypothesis that the plot was introduced to the Chinese tradition multiple times from various directions, in both concise and detailed forms. There is significant variability in motifs and plot details. In Chinese sources, the birds may be cranes, “see cranes”, or swans; the dwarves are referred to by different names; and there is no definitive information about the location of their country. The pygmies are depicted as either hunters or farmers. Some fragments do not mention any form of confrontation with the birds: the pygmies appear as passive victims. Expanding the search parameters in Chinese sources reveals additional examples of the plot’s implementation.

Riddles refer to a genre of folklore that embodies the anthropocentric nature of language. The relevance of the research is explained by the fact that metaphorical descriptions of celestial objects allow not only to trace traditional culturally determined figurative comparisons but also to reconstruct archaic mythological motifs and plots preserved in the texts of riddles. The novelty of the study is determined by a semiotic approach to metaphorical images of Evenk riddles, reflecting mythological ideas of Evenks about the universe and its structure. The aim is to identify their traditional ideas about the celestial sphere on the material of cosmogonic riddles. To achieve the goal, the following tasks were solved: to distinguish key metaphors (codes) that actualize images of the sky and celestial bodies; to mark elements of traditional Evenk culture in the texts of riddles; to recognize mythological motifs and plots fixed in the riddles. The methods of contextual-semantic and semiotic analyses of cosmogonic paroemias allowed us to reveal that Evenks reinterpreted the images of the sky and celestial bodies through anthropic, zoomorphic, object-based, natural, actional, and food codes. It was established that folklore texts conserved various illustrations of elements of the Evenks’ mythological worldview, verbalized in the images of people, animals, household items, natural and sacred objects. The following results were obtained in the course of the study: in riddles there are traces of the mountain archetype, mythologemes of the world’s vertical model and primordial waters; motif of cosmic hunting is distinguished; riddles reconstruct myths and narrative lines about the anthropomorphic and zoomorphic nature of the cosmos; texts reproduce the daily life and subsistence culture of Evenks. Elements of traditional culture such as a chum, pelt, headwear are used as metaphors for the sky; the new moon is pictured through the image of a shoe made of deerskin; sun rays are depicted as a maut – a traditional Evenk lasso. Overall, the results of the study indicate that cosmogonic riddles may serve an interesting material illustrating archaic ideas about the creation of the world, the structure of the universe, as well as the specifics of the landscape, culture, traditions, and the daily life of the ethnos. The prospects of the work are seen in the possibility to use the results of the study in further research on the problems of reflecting the mythological worldview and cosmogonic representations in folklore texts of different ethnic groups.

The article is devoted to the expression of superlatives and absolute degrees by constructions with adjectives based on the material of the Olonkho epic. Revealing the uniqueness of the language of the plan of expression of the microfield of inequality of the functional-semantic category of comparativity by lexicomorphological means in the olonkho text is one of the undeveloped tasks in Yakut linguofolcloristics. The purpose of the article is to identify the specifics of the expression of degrees of comparison (superlative and absolute degrees) in the olonkho text. It provides for the solution of the following tasks: the definition of structures and the distribution of types of constructions with the semantics of superlativе and absolute superlative found in the texts of Olonkho. The main research methods were: the functional-semantic method, which involves a comprehensive consideration of multi-level linguistic means combined semantically to establish and systematize forms of expression of the meanings of excellence; the method of structural-semantic analysis for the most objective interpretation of the relationship between the grammatical and lexical components proper. The research material was the texts published by olonkho. It was established that the superlative expression in the texts of the Yakut Olonkho has a complex type and consists of constructions consisting of nouns and qualitative adjectives with a morphological index of possessivity and in conjunction with the particle kiene. The main differences between the superlatives are revealed. In the future, it is expected to identify the specifics of the expression of superlativе and the intensity of the feature in adverbs and nouns based on the olonkho material.

This study investigates the genre evolution of the Chinanay epic cycle within the Evenki folklore tradition. Contemporary research on Evenki folklore necessitates a comprehensive approach that examines both its intrinsic genre dynamics and its interplay with other forms of cultural expression. The relevance of this study stems from the need to analyze unique local traditions, particularly the Chinanay cycle among the Olyokma Evenki, which has remained understudied. The scholarly novelty of this work lies in its introduction of previously unpublished texts into academic discourse and its identification of distinctive features of genre transformation, wherein epic narratives retain their mythological core despite processes of comization. The research aims to reconstruct the evolutionary stages of the cycle: from archaic to desacralized forms. Employing structural and contextual analysis methods, this study elucidates the dialectic between the sacred and profane in the protagonist’s characterization. Special emphasis is placed on the figure of Chinanay, who embodies both culture hero-demiurge and trickster attributes.

Key motifs were identified (the fool’s antics, attempts at the impossible, ethnogenetic explanations), illustrating the genre’s progression from sacred myth to quotidian narrative. These motifs exemplify the dynamic interplay between mythological preservation and folkloric adaptation in Evenki oral tradition. The study is grounded in the theoretical frameworks of V. Y. Propp, M. M. Bakhtin and E. M. Meletinsky, with particular emphasis on local specificities within the Evenki material. The primary source material consists of nimngakan (heroic epic) recordings from the Olyokma Evenki, published in the anthology Folklore of the Olyokma Evenki (2021). These previously unpublished texts represent short narrative cycles preserved exclusively among the Tyanya Evenki subgroup, indicating their distinct regional provenance. Our analysis identified three defining characteristics of this Evenki narrative tradition: the persistence of mythological foundations alongside increasingly prominent comedic elements; significant local variation in narrative performance; a unique synthesis of culture-hero and trickster attributes within Chinanay’s characterization. The examined Chinanay motifs reveal archetypal narrative patterns characteristic of Siberian mythological and epic traditions. These motifs epitomize the classic trickster paradigm – a boundary-crossing figure whose transgressive acts generate unexpected consequences ranging from comic to tragic. The Chinanay cycle constitutes a significant case study in folklore dynamics, demonstrating how epic narratives adapt to evolving cultural contexts while maintaining continuity with archaic roots. Contemporary research on Evenki folklore necessitates a multidimensional approach that examines both intrinsic genre development and cross-cultural interactions. Of particular scholarly interest is the transformational process whereby heroic narratives gradually shed their sacred dimensions while acquiring new expressive features.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the spatial picture of the olonkho by N. D. Prokopyev “Kindely Khatyas”. The relevance of the study of this problem is associated with the prospects of studying the spatial picture of olonkho in line with the structural-semantic approach. The main goal of the article is to identify the features of the semantics and structure of the spatial picture of the olonkho “Kindely Khatyas”. Research methods: the leading research method is structural-semantic analysis, and semiotic analysis, the method of description and generalization are also used. The material for the analysis is extracted by the method of continuous sampling from the text of the olonkho “Kindely Khatyas”. In the course of the conducted research, the spatial structure of the olonkho under consideration was determined, deduced from the eventful development of the plot, set by the spatial movement of the hero-bogatyr, who is correlated with the sequence of locus: “the beginning of the creation of the world”, “native land”, “world tree”, “dwelling”, “aartyk ‘passage’” and “lower world”, microlocus “alaas”, “serge”. These epic loci as the subject of research are subjected to structural-semiotic analysis in our study. The study shows that the epic space is organized with the help of a set of semantic binary oppositions “own/foreign”, “center/periphery”, “up/down”, “near/far”, “east/west”, “white/black”, “male/female”. These binary oppositions go back to the archaic ideas of the Yakuts about space and the universe, which became, in particular, the basis for dividing space in olonkho. The study notes the presence of images associated with the fauna and natural landscape of the native territory of the Olonkho-teller N. D. Prokopyev (Olyokminsky district), which create a special background of epic loci and act as certain markers for positive or negative connotative meanings. The author comes to the conclusion that the locus implements vertical and horizontal variants of space. When analyzing spatial locus, the national originality of the perception of the world and modeling of the Universe, the ethnic specificity of sacred meanings transmitted through the objective world and sacred numerals, which are of an ideological nature, are manifested.

The present article is devoted to the study of Mongolic borrowings in the language of the Yakut heroic epic olonkho, with a particular focus on lexicon related to inanimate nature (15 items): names of landscape features (8) and atmospheric and natural phenomena (7). As a central element of the Yakut oral tradition, olonkho serves not only as a major source of folklore but also as valuable evidence of linguistic and cultural contact that took place over the centuries. The material for the study consists of olonkho texts recorded by authors from various dialectal regions, which allows for an assessment of the geographic distribution of Mongolic borrowings across the territory of Yakutia. The methodological foundation of the study is based on an ethnolinguistic approach, according to which the vocabulary of olonkho is viewed as a reflection of the traditional cultural and mythopoetic worldview of the Sakha people. In the empirical part of the research, methods of comparative-historical, etymological, and contextual analysis are applied, along with elements of cognitive linguistics that facilitate the reconstruction of conceptual models underlying the functioning of Mongolic loanwords in the epic text. Special attention is given to folkloric-semantic analysis, aimed at identifying culturally conditioned meanings of lexical items and their role in structuring the epic worldview of olonkho. The results of the study indicate an even distribution of Mongolic elements across all dialect zones, confirming long-standing and intensive contact between the ancestors of the Sakha and Mongolic-speaking peoples. Furthermore, many of the examined borrowings demonstrate a high degree of integration into the Yakut language and are scarcely perceived by native speakers as foreign elements. This points to the deep adaptation of Mongolic lexicon and its organic incorporation into the Yakut linguistic system. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of linguistic interaction and the ethnogenetic processes of the Sakha people, while also offering new prospects for further research in the fields of historical linguistics and folklore studies. The article may be of interest to folklorists, epic scholars, linguists, students of the humanities, and all those interested in the structure and semantics of the olonkho language as a reflection of the cultural memory of the Sakha people.