Semantics of causing harm in oath formulas (a study of traditional Russian culture)

The study underscores the importance of examining the worldview of the Russian peasantry for the preservation of ethnocultural identity. The primary aim of the article is to analyze oaths that feature, as a common component, lexical units with the semantics of causing harm. The work uses some elements of the ethnolinguistic approach, particularly the methods of semantic reconstruction, which enable to recreate the worldview features and value orientations of the bearers of traditional culture. The material corpus for the study comprises oath formulas from published materials of the archival collection of the “Ethnographic Bureau” of Prince Vyacheslav Tenishev and the manuscript collection of S. M. Ponomarev stored in the Archives of the Russian Geographical Society, as well as from folklore and ethnographic collections and dictionaries. The study identifies and analyzes the primary semantic models associated with causing harm, which could be combined during ritual practices. It is observed that lexemes and fixed expressions “responsible” for causing harm often carry figurative meaning. The findings suggest that the most important values for peasants included life, a “proper” death, favorable posthumous fate, health, family ties, the ability to preserve and continue the family line, and a spiritual connection with God. In contrast, material property interests were on the periphery of the value system.