Obrzędowość a słownictwo w warunkach pogranicza
Folk rituals and lexis in the border region

Summary/Abstract: The present article analyses the features of a language occurring in the border. The results were achieved by using the ethno-linguistic method, which is based on the systematic analysis of the ritual structure and vocabulary. The object of the analysis was a little fragment of the spiritual culture – the winter period of the ritual year. The structure of the ritual was established according to the methodology as well as the terminology of rituals, which includes several lexical-semantic microfields, was analyzed. The research was carried out nearby Vilnius (region of Vilnius, partly Širvintai and Molėtai) and also in the regions close to Byelorussia (Šalčininkai and Švenčionys). The results achieved were compared to the appropriate Polish, Lithuanian and Byelorussian data. The findings show that the influence of various cultures is obvious in the formation of the rituals near to the border. These cultures as if layers affect each other and are originated from the different periods of the existence of a cultural community in the given territory. Similarly to the stratification of languages, the particular elements of the ritual system co-exist: the Lithuanian substratum rituals, Byelorussian old and new rituals, as well as Polish church and secular traditions are well preserved.

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