STEREOTYPES OF THE ALTAI SPEAKERS THAT ARE REALIZED THROUGH THE MEANINGS OF THE LEXEME ALTAI

Abstract

The paper highlights meanings of the word Altai in the Altai language and stereotypes that produced these meanings. It is noted that the lexeme Altai is not only used in the meaning of a place-name, but can regularly realize the meaning ‘a motherland’. The lexeme in this meaning retains no further reference to the Altai mountainous area. The main part of the material is presented by noun phrases with the word Altai being its head: Ene Altai ‘mother Altai’, Ada Altai ‘father Altai’, kin Altai ‘native Altai’, ‘Altai as the navel of the earth’, kabai altai ‘cradle-motherland’, bailu Altai ‘sacred Altai’, ol Altai ‘after world’, ‘otherworld’ ‘land of the dead’. The authors mention a number of theonyms, which have the word Altai as their integral part. The work provides some material that both the Altai Mountains and other objects of the natural world are perceived by the representatives of the Altai culture through the idea about their spirits.