EUPHEMISMS, NAMES OF THE ANIMAL WORLD, IN THE SPHERE OF RELIGIOUS CULT

Abstract

This article deals with the problem of euphemization in the sphere of religious cult. In many nations euphemisms were names of animals, birds, reptiles and insects. The study of different etymological dictionaries shows that euphemisms replace words naming the animal world. People tabooed names of domestic animals (a sheep, a bull, an ox, a cow, a goat) to protect them from evil forces. People tabooed names of wild animals (a mouse, a hedgehog, a deer, a wolf, a squirrel, a hare, a fox) to protect themselves from failure in hunting and to avoid attacks from wild animals. The etymological analysis of birds names (an eagle, a falcon, a hawk, a magpie, a swan, a swallow) shows that their names could also be euphemisms replacing taboo words. People tabooed names of reptiles (a frog, a toad, and especially a serpent) as well as names of insects (a spider, a bee). The author describes secondary euphemisms for names of animals represented quantitatively uneven in different nations and states that they have different internal form often associated with external or functional characteristic. The study shows that euphemisms used for replacing taboo names of animals and birds, reptiles and insects are fixed in ethnographic
descriptions and etymological dictionaries.