Think pieces:

Substrate lexis of Kildin Sami interpreted through languages belonging to the Western branch of the Ainu-Minoan stock: some notes on the language of Paja ul deˀŋ

Alexander Akulov

In Kildin Sami there are about 30 words which have no convincing Finno-Ugric/Uralic (or any other) etymologies. 8 of them can be interpreted through languages belonging to the western branch of Ainu-Minoan stock: čacke “to throw” correlates with Proto-West Caucasian *ʒ́V; čad’z’ “water” correlates with Ket śaś, Arin sat “river; k’ed’d’k “stone” correlates with Arin kes; kut’t’k “heart” correlates with Proto-Yenisseian *koqtV (~g-) “inside”; murr “tree” correlates with Proto-West Caucasian maźV “pines-tree”; piŋŋk “wind” correlates with Proto-Yenisseian *bej and with Hattic pezil, pizel, pizil; sejjd – “deity”correlates with Hattic šail – “lord”; vuntas “sand” correlates with Arin finńaŋ, Pumpokol pínniŋ, Ket hʌnǝŋ5, and with Yug: fʌnɨŋ5. These words are supposed to have originated from the language of so-called Paja ul deˀŋ. Thus, it is possible to say that within the Western branch of Ainu-Minoan stock the language of Paja ul deˀŋ is the juncture of Yeniseian family with Hattic/West Caucasian.

Akulov_substrate_in_Sami

Keywords: Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate; Paja ul deˀŋ ; Yeniseian languages; Hattic; Ainu-Minoan stock

What we know about beliefs of Paja ul deˀŋ?

Alexander Akulov

Paja ul deˀŋ [padʒaul’deˀŋ] “People of big water” is a conventional name of Neolithic inhabitants of the territories of Saint Petersburg and Leningrad oblast in their hypothetical reconstructed language. They spoke a language that was a juncture between Yeniseian family and Hattic. It is possible reconstruct some aspects of their beliefs. Paja ul deˀŋ most probably had no notions about supreme deities, but definitely had notions about tutelaries (spirits/deities of rivers, forests, and sea). One of the appeals to the deities could be the word *sheyd/*sheyl/*sheyr [shejd]/[shejl]/[shejɾ]. This word has been reconstructed from Kildin Sami word sejjd [sejd] – “spirit”, “tutelary”, “a stone of unusual shape”. This word has no Uralic etymology, but is much alike Hattic word ʃail “master”, “lord”. It is possible to say that the cult of stones widely spread in the Northwest of Russia originated from Paja ul deˀŋ.

Keywords: Neolithic religion; Paja ul deˀŋ; cult of stones

Akulov_PaUrDe_beliefs

The cultural production of gendered space

Natacha Kennedy

Drawing on the different ways that different societies have constructed transgender people in the past, with particular reference to the Ainu people of Northern Japan, this paper argues that different ways of understanding trans people in different societies evidenced through remaining cultural material today demonstrate a greater sophistication in terms of including trans people than in European-based societies historically as well as at present. Although these named groups represent the categories of trans people accepted in other cultures, it is argued that this probably conceals more gender diversity in these societies than it reveals, the diversity that was erased by colonial oppression. Consequently, it is argued that trans people need to be fully engaged in defining and encouraging the many different possibilities for gendered existence.

Keywords: Identification; colonialism; transgender; epistemic injustice

Kennedy_gendered_space

Some notes on regionalism and ethnic separatism in modern Russia

Yelena Kolesnikova

In the last decade we can see a notable rise of ethnic separatist and regionalist movements in Russia. These movements can be conventionally subdivided into two types: ethnic separatist movements and regionalist movements. These movements have the following characteristic features: 1) negative attitude toward Russian culture 2) ignoring facts of history/ethnology/linguistics and inventing an ideal history of an ethnic group/a region, 3) adherence to Nazi like ideologies. Such movements aren’t well organized yet; most often they are just clubs of interest, and also such movements have little impact on the current cultural, social landscapes. However, the existence and fairly widespread distribution of such movements is a sign of a deep economic, social and ideological crisis that exists in Russian society. To solve this problem, a set of measures is required. I suppose that the anthropological community could watch the situation and could come up with some recommendations.

Keywords: regionalism; ethnic separatism; right-winged ideologies; anthropology of contemporaneity; Russia

Kolesnikova_separatism_regionalism

How to estimate the degree of resemblance of different concepts

Tresi Nonno

If we are going to estimate the degree of resemblance of two concepts, then, first of all, concepts should be represented in forms which can be compared. Any concept can be represented as a set of statements describing its characteristic features. Set of statements describing a certain concept can be formed by answering a questionnaire; in each comparison a local questionnaire can be used. And now if we want to compare a pair of concepts we should find intersection of corresponding sets of statements, i.e.: to find congruent answer, and then take the ratio of number of statements belonging to the intersection to the total number of standard statements, the received fraction is the degree of resemblance of compared concepts.

Keywords: comparing of concepts; semiotics; mathematical semiotics

Nonno_concepts