“Speech endings” in East Slavic etiological legends: constructive and semantic functions

A special role in any etiological plot is assigned to the final episode, summing up the process of creation or transformation of a natural or cultural object. Accordingly, the endings exactly become significant in the structure of etiological texts. The function of endings is to present the result of the creative process as vividly, convincingly and argumentatively as possible, answer the question about the properties, qualities or purpose of any element of the surrounding reality and fix the “fact of etiology”. This article presents an analysis of the structure and functions of “speech endings” (i.e. final episodes expressed by direct speech of characters) in etiological texts. The material will be the legends of the Eastern Slavs recorded in the 19th - 21st centuries and extracted from published and archival sources. In the structure of the etiological plot, “speech ending” sums up the plot (fixes the creation or transformation of an object) and at the same time marks the beginning of the next stage of the object's existence in its new quality (with new properties). The final replica unfolds the future “program” of being and indicates the circumstances of the relationship of the transformed object with the surrounding world, as well contains moral and evaluative maxims.