National cultural specificity of the concepts "Center" and "Periphery" in the Yakut Language

Abstract

The article describes the national cultural specificity of the system of length measures in the Yakut language, both physical and figurative. The issue under study is transformation of the imaginary space model and its evolution in the national worldview. On the basis of mythological and folklore sources, historical and cultural ideas and linguistic material of the Sakha people peculiarities of defining close and far worlds, short vs. long distances involved in the representations of the concepts “center” and “periphery” are discussed.

The object of the study was the two segments of the Yakut world: the close (familiar) space of tyelbe (it is mastered, explored and exploited), embracing the topological reality of the tiergen ‘yard’ (house’s, yurta’s, urasa’s), hay fields, hunting grounds, on one hand, and undeveloped Yakut alien distant world, a dark forest, sandy deserts, marshlands, cemeteries, abandoned houses, gorges, caves, on the other. These two segments represent their completely different characteristics as well as different ways of measuring space and time, length or distance. Special attention is paid to the specificity of their cultural and linguistic modifications, reflecting the complex history of relations between man and the world mastered by him. These illustrate the evolution of human landscape consciousness, its development from natural geographic realities to socio-cultural ones, including sacral space objects. In addition to the actual geographic reality, in terms of this study, the concepts of surreal space are considered – Etүgen terde, Nyүken tygege, Olүү cherkechyeh, mythological images of the distant dark periphery - mainly denoting demonic territories.

The purpose of the study being to propose a new approach to describing man -- world relationship, predetermines the interdisciplinary nature of the article, which clearly outlines a wide range of issues of modern Yakut scholar ethno-linguistics, geo-poetics, ethno-cognitive science, folk culture, etc.

Keywords: Yakut language, geo-poetics, lexis, center / periphery, friend / stranger, in-group/out-group opposition, physical vs. sacred geography.