ИЗВЕСТИЯ СОИГСИ

The article is devoted to the works of Vasily Ivanovich Abaev, linguist, folklorist, specialist in Narts’ studies, regarding the question of the historicity of the heroic Narts’ epos. The author notes, that in the Humanities there are two main approaches to the interpretation of this issue. Some researchers do not recognize the historicity of the Narts’ epic. In his time, this proposition was developed by E. Krupnov, who considered the epic non-historical in its very nature. However, with further investigation held and new knowledge gained, the views evolved towards recognizing the historical value of the epic. Nevertheless, the above-mentioned point of view even today finds its supporters among the researchers in the Humanities, especially among folklorists, mythologists. Most historians, archaeologists, linguists (among them B. Skytsky, L. Semenov, V. Kuznetsov, Yu. Gagloity, T. Guriev, P. Kozaev, Romanov, etc.) adhered to a different view on the Narts’ epic and regard it as an important source carrying information about ancient and medieval history of the Ossetian people. The author of the article emphasizes the special contribution to the substantiation of this position by V.I. Abayev, highlighting the scientific reasonableness of the judgments of the scientist, whose research activities were based on the comparative historical method. The article analyzes his scientific publications on the topic. It is noted that in the images of Satan, Soslan and Batraz V.I.Abayev saw the real historical characters of ancient and medieval Ossetia – Princess Satinik, David-Soslan, OS-Bagatar. They were those personalities in the Ossetian history, in whose biographies folk memory found especially fertile material for epic memorization. The analyses of the works of Abaev lead the author to the conclusion that the historical narrative parallels advanced by the scientist confirm that Nart epos is deeply rooted in ancient and medieval history of Scythian-Sarmatian-Alan tribes, being their artistic autobiography.

Keywords: the Ossetian Narts’ epic, the historicity of the Narts’ epos, epos as a historical source, Narts, Sarmatians, Abaev.

The article advances a proposition to add a third feudal stage to the two traditionally distinguished stages of the historical development of the Narts’ epic, suggesting that alongside with the tribal and military-democratic stages of its evolution it goes through the feudal one as well. From a point of view of general folklore, these will correspond to the following three phases: scattered legends – cycles formed around the main characters – hypercyclization / complete epics. As a result, not only the plots and motifs of the epic, the characters represented in it, but also its general content are reconsidered, its pragmatics, i. e., its place and role in traditional culture as a whole are seen in a different light. The basis for the review of the generally accepted theory is a passage from the so-called “Chronograph” (Georgian “Zhamtaagmcereli”), or the “Hundred Year Anniversary” of the XIV century. The identification of the Alanian ruling dynasty with the epic military lineage of Axsærtæggatæ the mentioned work contains makes it possible to consider the Nart epic as a kind of “Book of Kings”. From this point of view, Nart Čelæxsærtæg should be regarded as a hero, in whose image the traits of mythological and historical kin are interwoven. On the one hand, his name recognizes the link with the ancestor of the military family Axsærtæg, representing the mythological era. On the other hand, he holds the title of the historical medieval ruler As-Tarxan. Thanks to the name of his daughter (Bedukha), which can be considered as a vernacular version of the name Burdukhan, he can be identified as Khuddan, the Alanian king of the XIIth c. In this case, the epic itself could be considered as a means of legitimizing the Alan ruling, that is, historical dynasty of power, which thus provided its continuity with the mythological epoch, giving it the necessary ideological basis for the dominant position in the society.

Keywords: Narts’ epic, stages of development, Alanian ruling dynasty, feudal stage, historical prototype, main content, legitimization.

The threefold task the author had in mind implies the following. First, to assess informative value of the 18th century European sketches on the Caucasus as a source of the appropriate knowledge. Second, to redirect scholarly attention towards searching for distinct lines between murky facts and their interpretation, oftentimes arbitrary, uncritical, and even openly biased. It would help to reveal what might be called a scientific trend in Western “historiography” on the region`s past. Third, to expose the role of the incoming political and ideological factors determined by geostrategic interests of the concerned States on the one hand and by its largely prejudiced, as it were, orientalistic perception of the East on the other. While the author found his general approach promising he hesitates to claim that all of his conclusions are flawless. Some of them need further arguments either pro or contra to deservedly place the subject in question in a wider context of history.

Keywords: scientific Caucasian studies, "image of the other", European writings.

The article, based primarily on Turkish archival sources, discusses the peculiarities of the settlement and adaptation process of North Caucasian immigrants in the Uzunyаylа plateau located in Central Anatolia (now Рınаrbаşı district, Kаysеri province). This vast and sparsely populated area became one of the first Ottoman regions opened by the Porte for migrant colonization. Despite the controversial legal status of this territory and claims to it by the local nomadic Аfshаr tribe, during the years 1860–1862 and later the authorities sent there a significant number of immigrant groups, resulting in the formation of approximately 15,000-strong Сirсаssiаn (mainly Аdyghе-Аbаzin) ethnic enclave, which included several dozens of newly created villages. In contrast to the usual colonization practice of the Ottoman administration in Anatolia, within the framework of this project a compact settlement of immigrants was admitted in line with the “tribal” principle, which contributed to their more successful social and economic adaptation to the new conditions. The organization of state material assistance to the settlers there also seems to be more effective than in other regions. In its turn, the massive deployment of North Caucasians in Uzunyаylа greatly facilitated the Ottoman leadership’s task of ousting from there and subsequent forced sedentariation of the Аfshаrs. In the conflicts between immigrants and nomads the authorities consistently supported the Сirсаssiаns, and after the completion of соlоnizаtiоn they detached the region into a separate district, which drew its managerial personnel mainly from its own milieu. The comparative economic well-being and the actual sociocultural autonomy of the Сirсаssiаns of Uzunyаylа in the Ottoman period made them not only the most numerous, but also the most viable Caucasian community in the country.

Keywords: Ottoman Empire, Uzunyаylа plateau, North Caucasian immigrants, соlоnizаtiоn, adaptation, Аfshаrs.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the work of a prominent public figure and publicist of pre-revolutionary Ossetia, educator G. V. (Gappo) Baev "National food in the Terek region". This work is one of the best in his heritage in economic journalism and solves an important problem – the need for establishing new economic culture in the region. Part of this problem was the organization of the food system in the Terek region, taking into account the climate in the region, its economy, the mentality of its people. The author examines the history of the food issue in Russia, the development of food legislation, the main models of food supply in the Russian village, formed by the beginning of the twentieth century. Absence of insurance grain stocks of all the peoples in the region (except for Cossacks) is stated. Taking into account these circumstances, G. V. Baev offers a model of food supply in the region, based on his own economic experience – the formation of a grain-storage system in the Ossetian village of Оlginskoye. This model could become the basis of the mixed natural-monetary system of the national food in the region. The publicist considers the bread-and-butter system as a natural credit institution capable of bringing income to the rural population, and becoming the basis of self-financing and self-investment of the mountain village. The idea of saving and accumulation should lie in the preamble of the new economic culture; as well as the formation of public funds and capital, which are the bases for the prosperity of the leading economies of Europe of that time. The author came to the conclusion that the reviewed article is a vivid example of the problem of reforming traditional economic culture, modernizing the economy and forming a modern economic mentality in the public consciousness of the mountain peoples of the North Caucasus.

Keywords: North Caucasus, Terek region, food security, rural grain-storage system, economic culture.

2018 marks the 70th anniversary of the novel “Ossetians” by Ezetkhan Uruymagova – of the first book of a two-volume epic novel, which later was published more than once and became famous under the name “Towards Life”. The article deals with the history of creation of the work, traces its main stages – from conceiving the idea to its artistic implementation. Participation of famous Soviet writers N. Tikhonov and Y. Libedinsky in the creative destiny of E. Uruymagova is noted, as well as their professional support in the period of writing of the manuscript and in preparing it for publication. The book was published at the end of 1948 and became an event for the national literatures of the North Caucasus not only through resonating readers’ response, but also as the first novel by Ossetian authoress written in the Russian language. Over the past decades, many ideological postulates that were part of the author’s worldview lost their relevance. But one fact remains indisputable: in Ossetian culture E.Uruymagova’s book is deservedly recognized as one of the outstanding examples of the historical and revolutionary novel of Ossetian Soviet literature and as the phenomenon of artistic tradition. Untimely death prevented the writer from finishing this trilogy. However, even today, the novel in its unfinished form is perceived as big epic work, which represents the events of the revolutionary era in close connection with the socio-psychological portrait of the Ossetian people and with the historical and cultural context of the time. The article is based on the correspondence of E.Uruymagova. Her letters have been extracted from the funds of the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, the Scientific Archives of North Ossetian Institute for Humanitarian and Social Studies, the Archive of the Museum of Ossetian Literature and are thematically related to the work on the manuscript and on the publication of the book.

Keywords: “Ossetians”, “Towards Life”, Yezetkhan Uruymagova, history of Ossetian Soviet literature, Russian-language Ossetian literature, history in letters.

The history of bibliography is a scientific discipline that studies the processes of emergence and development of bibliography as a special field of activity, as well as the evolution of its forms and types, genres, relationships with other areas of knowledge. The history of bibliography, like history of each social phenomenon, is intended to establish the time and causes of various phenomena in the field of bibliography, to show the course of their development, to evaluate the current situation in the field of bibliography, to determine its role and place among other areas of knowledge, to determine its influence on the development of society. The bibliography is not only a set of indexes of literature, reference lists, reviews, although they are its elements, but also an integral part of culture. Various forms of bibliographic literature created in the process of historical evolution, reflect indirectly the spiritual messages of society, the dominants of different cultural stages, their psychological atmosphere. They provide rich material for judgments about public interests and tastes. The bibliographic text is a significant historical source, which is the object of study not only for bibliographers, but also for sociologists, bibliologists, etc. Local-history bibliography, which was developed in the process of discovering, describing, recording and systematizing historical literature and published sources, as well as publications with summarizing bibliographical works and manuals on local history, eventually became an independent area of scientific bibliographic activity, as a result of which reference bibliographic works and manuals were compiled as well as meta-bibliographic indexes to them. This article discusses the main stages of the formation and development of the second-degree bibliography of Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia and Adygea, which so far has not been the subject of research.

Keywords: bibliography, second-degree bibliography, metabibliography, bibliography, Caucasian study indexes, regional bibliography.

Language plays important role in the history and culture of any nation. Nationality is largely identified with the idea of language. What affects the life of the language? Why do some of them disappear, while others expand their distribution areas? How can language be regarded as historically given phenomenon and to what extent as a construct, the result of "social engineering" and ideological work? Throughout the world, the multiculturalism of society is growing, and the problem of preserving the ethno-cultural identity of the population, transferring the traditions of its fathers and grandfathers to the younger generation is becoming more urgent in these conditions. Preparing young people for life in a multilingual and multicultural society, it is important to find a balance between ethnic and cultural needs of a citizen of the country and population consolidation tasks in the interests of a united state. The report will focus on school education in national languages, and the problem of their preservation and study in Russia's regions.

Keywords: state language, native language, cultural diversity, identity, education, regions of Russia, republic.

The present article discusses the semantic correspondences of substantive vocabulary in dialectal forms of the Ossetian language with the full or partial independence of their formal grammatical presentation. On the basis of the folklore language material, denotative correspondences and connotative discrepancies of dialect synonyms are analyzed, most of which retain frozen semantics that transmit conceptually significant representations of the national culture of being and reflexive levels. The method of synchronous analysis of semantic content and etymological transformation of lexical units of dialectal forms of the Ossetian language revealed the most current metaphorical guidelines preferred in the formation and functioning of separate lexemes. The conditional thematic classification of lexemes made it possible to trace the interaction of synonymous pairs with other lexemes of the same group and to discover the potential possibilities of different semantic groups in entering one conceptual field. At the same time, cases of convergence into a single conceptual field of the reflexive level of lexemes, representing different groups of the existing content plan, are the most attractive, as is the case with lexemes naming parts of the human body and household goods, which, due to their integrity, reflect the cultural and historical realities may act as representatives of the concept of "measure". Defining and analyzing semantic differences of dialectal synonyms of the Ossetian language the main reasons for these discrepancies are established, namely, the fact that they had been loaned from different source-languages, from geographically different adjacent languages. As a result of the semantic reviewing, the denotations of borrowings are transformed, but they are reflected in the cultural ideas of the people, acquiring some distinctive shades, based on which, in its turn, the formation of substantives and complex nominatives using intralinguistic resources takes place.

Keywords: Ossetian language, dialect, vocabulary, semantics, archaisms, synonyms, conceptual field.

The ancient Iranian language epoch covers the period from the VII–VIth to the IV–IIIth centuries BC, the Middle Iranian from the IV–IIIrd centuries BC to the VIII–IXth centuries AD, while the New Iranian epoch begins from the VIII–IXth centuries AD and continues to our time. The ancient Iranian languages are Avestan, Ancient Persian, Median and Scythian. The modern Ossetian belongs to the modern Iranian languages. Alanian is considered its immediate ancestor. Considerable data enable to state Iranian nature of the language of the Alans. The lack of the necessary number of written sources that would reflect the state of the Ossetian language after the ancient Iranian period significantly complicates the investigation of its features. Its distinctive features are considered to be the influence of the Caucasian substrate. Ossetian is considered one of the well-studied modern Iranian languages. According to ancient Greek and Chinese sources, all ancient Iranian languages were very close creating no language barrier for speakers of them. Ancient authors fixed a large number of Scythian words. The scientific analysis of these words leaves little doubt about the Iranian ancestry of the Scythians. Bearing in mind the significant affinity of the Scythian with other ancient Iranian languages, it is possible to assert the proximity of the inflections of these languages. The processes of separation between the Iranian languages began from the Ist millennium BC. Ossetian inflections have for long been the object of research by scholars, according to whom a part of the case system of the Ossetian directly goes back to the ancient Iranian cases, while others were formed from their own Iranian elements, primarily postpositions. Unlike other Iranian languages, the Ossetian retained a number of reflexes of the ancient Iranian system of declensions. Among the Iranian languages, the most similar to the Ossetian declension is observed in the Khotan-Saka, Sogdian and Khorezmian languages of the Middle Iranian period. The case system of the Caucasian languages, with the exception of Georgian, is significantly different from the case system of Ossetian.

Keywords: Iranian languages, the Scythian language, the Alanian language, the Ossetian language, inflectional-agglutinative system, declension types, Iranian elements.

In linguistics the participle is commonly referred to a nonfinite form of the verb denoting the sign of a name, related to action and performs an attributive function. Thus, the participle combines the features of a verb and an adjective. “Verbal” nature of participial forms is confirmed by a set of characteristic features of the verb shared: categories of tense, of voice and of aspect. Such features of participle as category of gender (in some languages), singular and plural forms, category of case bring it closer to an adjective, as well as capability to function as an attribute and be part of a compound-nominal predicate. The dual nature of a participle gives ground to different opinions about its semantic and grammatical status. Though most of linguists in Russian studies, Ossetian studies and Iranian studies refer participle to verbal forms, there also exist differing opinions about its categorization. The choice of the theme of the articleis due, firstly, to the fact that participle is the least extensively described morphological form in all three languages (Persian, Russian and Ossetian); secondly, qualification and analysis of indicated morphological form in one (namely, Indo-European) language family is of scientific interest, as two of them Ossetian and Persian represent one linguistic group, thirdly, we have reason to believe that morphology of Ossetian, in particular, the category of a verb retained its original Indo-European features that comparative analysis of Ossetian participle with Russian and Persian confirms. The comparison of participles in these three languages gives us opportunities to identify less studied aspects of the verbal form and define the ways and methods of the further study.

Keywords: nonfinite verb form, Russian, Persian, Ossetian, passive participles, passive constructions, transposition of participles.

Morphological features of the English word leman contradict to its etymological interpretation, which categorizes it as a compound native word. Its semantic and phonetic similarity with the Ossetic word лымæн / lymæn give solid ground for classifying it as a direct loan from the Iranian language. The geographical proximity of the Sarmatians-Alans and the Teutons on the continent, the union of the speakers of Iranian and Germanic languages for numerous military campaigns and expeditions could not but lead to a multi-level mutual influence of these languages in the period of antiquity and the early Middle Ages. This accounts for the fact, that some phenomena should be viewed not in the context of the genetic relatedness of these Indo-European languages, but in the light of their later language contacts. The phonetic and semantic similarities between the Ossetian лымæн / lymæn and the English lexeme leman in the absence of parallels in other Indo-European languages prompt to regard this fact as separate borrowing. The greater age of the Ossetian lexeme, its wider semantic volume, historical data on the time and forms of the contacts between the ancestors of the speakers of both languages indicate the possibility of borrowing by the English language of the word leman from the Sarmatian, Alanian. Moreover, a serious argument in favor of the borrowed character of the English word leman is a violation of the usual morphological rules for words with the word-formation element -man and the development of the regular plural form: lemans. This fact contradicts with the traditional interpretation of the word leman as a result of the composition of two roots in the early Middle English period.

Keywords: loans, etymology, language contacts, semantics, archaizing.

The article is devoted to the consideration of linguistic relics of ancient language communities in the toponymy of North Ossetia. The concept the research is based on presumes: in toponyms only elements of the geographical landscape essential for social spheres and economic activities are expressed; the toponyms fossilized the tribal languages, borrowings are imprints of those ethnic groups that once resided in these landscapes or migrated to other territories. The purpose of the article is to detect the linguistic layer of the ancient population in the toponymy of North Ossetia, restoring its territory and outlining the boundaries of its distribution. The emergence and formation of toponyms is due to geographic landscapes, long-term internal and external migrations, the ways of orientation of the speakers of these languages. In the “reading” of the semantics of etymological vocabulary with physical and geographic realities and natural conditions, the author of the article proceeded from the fact that it is due to the peculiarities of the relief, vegetation cover, hydrography, toponymical positivity surrounding the geographical niche; it is based on historical data and also on the fact, that any ethnic area is variable in time, has no continuous boundaries; that in the study of geographical names equally important is taking into account both the ethno-linguistic composition of the population and the influence of the geographic environment on the emergence of a toponym. An integrated approach has been applied to the study of the toponyms. The lingo-, historical, geographical, and sociocultural factors underlying the study of toponymy are motivated by the interdisciplinary nature of science. The analysis of the material revealed the descriptiveness of toponyms, their connection with the physical and geographic features of the area, and also the fact that toponyms were “created” in that distant time as a method of memorization, as a peculiar landmark  serving as an equivalent of a geographical map in reality.

Keywords: the Ossetian language, toponym, Pro-Sarmatian, Indo-European, area, geographical landscape, hydronym, relict.

In the article for the first time the influence of the traditions of Russian educational, scientific and fiction literature is analyzed, namely, the works of V.V. Bianki, on the formation of Ossetian children's literature, on the development of genres of literary tales, natural stories, popular science novels. On the basis of the works of Ossetian authors, the cognitive aspect is considered as one of the most important component of children's literature. The works of K. Dzesov, V. Gagloyev, M. Kupeev, Ch. Aylarova, M. Dzasokhova, G. Chedzhemova, and others advocate knowledge about nature, society, man and his activities, expand the child's horizons. In many ways, modern Ossetic naturalistic literature is a continuation and development of traditions of archaic animal epic. Its heroes are endowed with dual signs – human and animal. They are a kind of way to an adult conversation with your child about the vital things that can not be explained in the language of abstraction. The parallels made it possible to identify the borders of continuity in the thematic, moral, ethical and aesthetic quest of the Ossetian authors. Based on the comparative analysis of works by V.V. Bianki and Ossetian children’s writers the main trends and characteristics of the development of Ossetian cognitive and natural history literature of the 20th century are traced, namely: the synthesis of scientific knowledge and folk traditions (images system, anthropomorphism, transparent morality of stories and fairy tales, which is undoubtedly connected with the folk tradition, etc.). The combination of various aspects of children's literature, such as cognitive, entertaining, artistic, corresponds to the specifics of children's perception and contributes to the implementation of the main function of natural history literature: the environmental education of the younger generation.

Keywords: Ossetian children's literature, cognitive literature, V.V. Bianki, traditions of Russian natural science literature, popular science literature, folklore anthropomorphism.

The article is devoted to one of the cycles of the Narts’ epic of the Ossetians – Soslan / Sozyryko cycle. The subject-motive composition of the cycle of Soslan is diverse and multivariate. Some plots can be considered typical: the birth of a hero made of stone, hardening, being raised in the underwater kingdom, the struggle with giants, winning a wife, a journey into the underworld. However, some motifs are found only in Soslan cycle. For example, many heroes were hardened by the celestial blacksmith Kurdalagon, but only Soslan was tempered in wolf’s milk. The main narrative material in Soslan cycle reflects the following motifs and plots: the birth of Soslan from the stone fertilized by either Wastirdji, Sainag-aldar or a shepherd on the bank of a river; hardening of Soslan in wolf's milk, gifts of the celestials to Soslan and Narts; rescuing Uruzmag; Soslan is looking for the strongest; Soslan's marriage; Soslan suffers defeat and a strip of skin is cut off from his back; Soslan makes Narta's daughters-in-law sew him a fur coat from the scalps and the whiskers of the husbands killed by him; Soslan captures the fortress of Gori / Hyz; Soslan takes the herds of the Narts to graze them on the lands of the sons of Tara, whom he overcomes by cunning; Soslan pretends to be dead in order to mislead the enemy; he visits the kingdom of the dead. In some plots Soslan acts as a cultural hero, in others - performs social functions (leader in campaigns), the third group of plots reflect initiation myths in which Soslan is the subject of initiation.

Keywords: Narts’ epic, mythology, plot, motive, Soslan, initiation, cultural hero.

In the submitted data the development of primary school in Ossetia in the second half of the XIX – early XXth century is being discussed. A church school for a long time remained the main form of primary education here. Having many shortcomings (both in the pedagogical aspect and in staffing), the church school in Ossetia was, nevertheless, practically the only form of primary education available to the mountain peasants. The evolution of the institute of the church school was fully correlated with the change of attitudes and orientations in the state educational policy and reflected the general state of the lowest educational level in the Russian Empire. However, the tasks of the socio-economic development of Ossetia urgently demanded to reform the entire primary education system and to remove it from the control of the clerical department. Staying true to its missionary purpose, the church school in Ossetia at the beginning of the 20th century lost its leading position, because the program it offered ceased to satisfy the increased educational needs of the local population and did not meet the challenges of the era. The change of political regime in Russia in March 1917 provoked a revival in the teaching circles of Ossetia, where the idea of establishing the All-Ossetian Teacher's Congress arose. In its work, the most acute problems of the Ossetian school were discussed and the questions of its reorganization and nationalization based on the native language were raised. The published minutes of the meetings of the First All-Ossetian Teacher’s Congress, held in July 1917, provide an exhaustive picture of the main directions of the desired development of the Ossetian school, the system of school, pre-school and post-secondary education and upbringing, curricula and programs that include a wide range of Ossetian studies disciplines.

Keywords: Ossetia, primary school, the Russian language, the Ossetian language, First All-Ossetian Teachers' Congress, nationalization of the school.