Nomination of Russian folk instruments in light of Sanskrit etymology

Discussing the Sanskrit etymology of Russian folk instrument designations fills a gap in the domestic etymological tradition, whose representatives are reluctant to involve data from Indian languages in the analysis. The subject of the study is the conditions under which the etymological transitions could take place. The analysis takes into account various wordformation models. The author regards some factors influencing the shift in the morphemic composition of Sanskrit words. These are adding Russian suffixes, the transfer of articulation of the final i of Sanskrit verbal endings to the zone of the thematic vowel, the elision of individual sounds and syllables in the root, as well as in prefixes, and the addition of individual sounds. The author analyzes the Russian nouns скоморох, пляска, the semantic group including the lexemes баять, байка, баян, балакать, балалайка, волынка. He suggests the Sanskrit etymology of the names of Russian folk instruments – скрипка, домра, гусли, свирель, дудука, рожок, колокол and clarifies the etymology of the terms тон и лад, as well as individual verbs петь, звенеть/звонить, гласить/голосить. Based on the results of the research, the author concludes that in most of the cases considered, it is the Sanskrit etymology that takes place. Some of the proposed etymologies can be considered as a hypothesis.