On the classification of names of mythological characters in the Komi-Permyak language

The article deals with the names of mythological creatures in the Komi-Permyak language. We identified and analyzed almost 300 names of mythological beings gathered from various sources such as field notes, archival materials, articles, and publications. The vocabulary analyzed in the article is not homogenous. We divided it into groups in accordance with the source language; words formed in the Komi-Permyak language were further classified into subgroups according to the motivation. Substantial part of the lexis comes from the Russian language. These borrowed words are used to denominate creatures that have analogues in Russian folklore (домовй, баннй бес, водянй, дошлй, лешй, нечистй, колдун/ковдун, колдуння/ковдуння, суседко/суседку). In some cases, semantic changes are observed, new meanings are acquired. The second group of the lexis is comprised of the names of Komi-Permyak origin with the following meanings: “place of habitat” (ва олiсь ‘dweller of the water’, джоджулiсь ‘dweller of the underground’, баня чуд ‘banya spirit’, кузнеча чуд ‘spirit of a smithy’, шымс чуд ‘spirit living in a well’, врись ‘spirit of the forest’, врись дядь / врдядь ‘forest uncle’); “appearance” (кузь дядя ‘tall uncle’, ыджыт дядя ‘big tall uncle’, ыджыт морт ‘big tall man’, чочком морт ‘white man’, кспель ‘having dry ears’), “time of appearing before others” (луншрика/вуншрика ‘midday spirit of fields and meadows’, лун/вун ‘day’, шр ‘mid’); “action” (ворожитчись ‘diviner’, лечитчись ‘healer’, ‘witch doctor’, шопкись ‘whispering’, тдiсь ‘knowing’, тшыктчись/тшыктiсь ‘spoiling’). The third group of words includes nonderivatives or/and names with 'obscure' etymology (абач ‘domestic goblin’, боболь ‘spirit for frightening the children’, калян ‘demon’, куль ‘devil, evil spirit’). The presence of this group is largely due to the deetymologization process in the modern language. These being the key points, we observe heterogeneity of the names of Komi-Permyak mythological beings, reflecting the history of interactions between Russian and Komi-Permyak people.