Magpie in Lithuanian and Slavic Ethnic Culture

The article, based on a variety of ethnolinguistic material, especially folklore texts, aims to reveal the main similarities and differences in the interpretation of the image of the magpie in the ethnic culture of Lithuanians and Slavs. This bird in two traditions, in Lithuanian and in Slavonic, is...

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Autor principal: Birutė Jasiūnaitė
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
LT
RU
Publicado: Vilnius University Press 2021
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:a5fb7eccb53c4d6687f9881863162bc82021-11-18T09:30:44ZMagpie in Lithuanian and Slavic Ethnic Culture10.15388/SlavViln.2021.66(1).612351-68952424-6115https://doaj.org/article/a5fb7eccb53c4d6687f9881863162bc82021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.zurnalai.vu.lt/slavistica-vilnensis/article/view/24116https://doaj.org/toc/2351-6895https://doaj.org/toc/2424-6115The article, based on a variety of ethnolinguistic material, especially folklore texts, aims to reveal the main similarities and differences in the interpretation of the image of the magpie in the ethnic culture of Lithuanians and Slavs. This bird in two traditions, in Lithuanian and in Slavonic, is treated ambivalently, more often negatively. This is due to the peculiarities of the bird’s appearance, and in particular the variegation of its plumage. This characteristic feature in the ethnic culture of many peoples is traditionally associated with evil spirits. Too talkative people, most often women, are compared with this bird. Common is the motive of the thief magpie. The name of the bird in all the languages is feminine, therefore, in both Lithuanian and Slavic mythopoetic texts, the social roles of a peasant woman are attributed to it: a daughter-in-law, a mother, a hostess, a cook, a nanny. Another common feature is the image of a magpie as a sorceress, herald of good or evil news and future events. These functions are associated with the tendency to depict witches and other mythical characters in the form of a magpie. The most striking differences in the interpretation of the magpie are the following ones: it is unusual for Lithuanians to associate the idea of procreation with it, and some Slavs (for example, the Czechs) believe that magpies bring children into the house. Lithuanians are also unaware of some features of the “working” behavior of a magpie, for example, the threshing motive. In their turn, Lithuanians attribute such crafts as shoemaking, brewing, and agriculture to magpies. Birutė JasiūnaitėVilnius University Pressarticleethnic culturefolklorephraseologyethnolinguisticsthe image of a magpieLithuanian languageSlavic languages. Baltic languages. Albanian languagesPG1-9665ENLTRUSlavistica Vilnensis, Vol 66, Iss 1 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
LT
RU
topic ethnic culture
folklore
phraseology
ethnolinguistics
the image of a magpie
Lithuanian language
Slavic languages. Baltic languages. Albanian languages
PG1-9665
spellingShingle ethnic culture
folklore
phraseology
ethnolinguistics
the image of a magpie
Lithuanian language
Slavic languages. Baltic languages. Albanian languages
PG1-9665
Birutė Jasiūnaitė
Magpie in Lithuanian and Slavic Ethnic Culture
description The article, based on a variety of ethnolinguistic material, especially folklore texts, aims to reveal the main similarities and differences in the interpretation of the image of the magpie in the ethnic culture of Lithuanians and Slavs. This bird in two traditions, in Lithuanian and in Slavonic, is treated ambivalently, more often negatively. This is due to the peculiarities of the bird’s appearance, and in particular the variegation of its plumage. This characteristic feature in the ethnic culture of many peoples is traditionally associated with evil spirits. Too talkative people, most often women, are compared with this bird. Common is the motive of the thief magpie. The name of the bird in all the languages is feminine, therefore, in both Lithuanian and Slavic mythopoetic texts, the social roles of a peasant woman are attributed to it: a daughter-in-law, a mother, a hostess, a cook, a nanny. Another common feature is the image of a magpie as a sorceress, herald of good or evil news and future events. These functions are associated with the tendency to depict witches and other mythical characters in the form of a magpie. The most striking differences in the interpretation of the magpie are the following ones: it is unusual for Lithuanians to associate the idea of procreation with it, and some Slavs (for example, the Czechs) believe that magpies bring children into the house. Lithuanians are also unaware of some features of the “working” behavior of a magpie, for example, the threshing motive. In their turn, Lithuanians attribute such crafts as shoemaking, brewing, and agriculture to magpies.
format article
author Birutė Jasiūnaitė
author_facet Birutė Jasiūnaitė
author_sort Birutė Jasiūnaitė
title Magpie in Lithuanian and Slavic Ethnic Culture
title_short Magpie in Lithuanian and Slavic Ethnic Culture
title_full Magpie in Lithuanian and Slavic Ethnic Culture
title_fullStr Magpie in Lithuanian and Slavic Ethnic Culture
title_full_unstemmed Magpie in Lithuanian and Slavic Ethnic Culture
title_sort magpie in lithuanian and slavic ethnic culture
publisher Vilnius University Press
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/a5fb7eccb53c4d6687f9881863162bc8
work_keys_str_mv AT birutejasiunaite magpieinlithuanianandslavicethnicculture
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