The ethnobotanical character of the Polish Dictionary of Folk Stereotypes and Symbols

Abstract

Background: The aim of the article is to present the ethnolinguistic methodology used by a team of Lublin-based ethnolinguists centered around Jerzy Bartmiński, the originator and editor of Słownik stereotypów i symboli ludowych [Dictionary of Folk Stereotypes and Symbols], which has been published since the 1980s, and to demonstrate the ethnobotanic character of the second volume of the Lublin ethnolinguistic dictionary. By outlining the areas common to ethnobotany and ethnolinguistics, the article hopes to pave a way for a satisfactory cooperation between the representatives of both fields.Methods: Using the methodology applied in the abovementioned ethnolinguistic dictionary, in particular the cognitive definition method, the author reconstructs the dictionary entry mirt 'myrtle' (Myrtus communis). On the basis of the collected source material (lexicographic, folklore and ethnographic data), the following semantic subcategories in the cognitive definition of the myrtle are distinguished: complexes, collections and equivalents; appearance and properties; location; cultivation and care; practical, ritualistic, magical and medicinal applications;prophecies; fortune-telling and symbolism, which follow the analysis of names and ways of categorising plants, according to the postulate of the subjective reconstruction of the linguistic worldview. Results:The author presents a tabular compilation of selected semantic subcategories, which are used in Słownik stereotypów i symboli ludowych to describe plants and explains how they are understood. As a result, the proposed facets can inspire other similar research in Europe or worldwide. Conclusion:On the basis of the conducted analyses, the author comes to the conclusion that the issues described in particular facets, which constitute the ethnolinguistic narrative about plants largely coincide with the area of interest of ethnobotany. The commonalities between both disciplines include: the object of research, the relations between the plant world and the human world described in both disciplines, the appreciation of the role of language and the subjective view of the world. The reflections presented in this article indicate the possibility of future interdisciplinary research, bringing together linguists and botanists.

From the name to the popular image of the plant: the Polish names for the black elder (Sambucus nigra)

“…The individual facets that make up the cognitive definitions of plants include issues related to the plant’s naming, cultivation, location; its practical, ritual, magical and medicinal use; the plant’s role in annual and family customs and rituals; its symbolism (e.g. a cognitive definition of myrtle ( Myrtus communis ) reconstructed using the cognitive definition method, see [ 21 ].…”

“…Issues concerning the perception, naming, classification and use of plants, their interaction with other species, their harvesting, processing and use, as well as aspects concerning cultural knowledge of plants fall not only within the research field of ethnobotany [ 20 ], but also that of ethnolinguistics [ 21 ]. Ethnolinguists, similarly to ethnobotanists, are fascinated by the world of plants, in particular they are interested in studying the relationships holding between the plant world and humans.…”

“…Ethnolinguists, similarly to ethnobotanists, are fascinated by the world of plants, in particular they are interested in studying the relationships holding between the plant world and humans. Both ethnolinguistics and ethnobotany focus on the exploration of popular thinking; both disciplines also share a special treatment of language, which, as it turns out, is not only natural for linguists who, upon constructing descriptions of plants, reach for hard “linguistic evidence” that allows them to verify many of the hypotheses they put forward, but also for ethnobotanists, whose research often prioritises aspects of knowledge encoded in language [ 21 ].…”

“I Climbed a Fig Tree, on an Apple Bashing Spree, Only Pears Fell Free”: Economic, Symbolic and Intrinsic Values of Plants Occurring in Slovenian Folk Songs Collected by K. Štrekelj (1895–1912)

“…The sprinkling of the dead with (usually evergreen) plant shoots at funerals has its origins in antiquity and has survived as part of the Christian burial tradition. Various plants, usually evergreens, were used in burial rituals, such as myrtle, basil, olive tree, spruce, juniper, rosemary, box, and others [ 33 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. In reports from some countries (e.g., Iraq), the evergreen habit is said to preserve the soul and is referred to as evergreen life force [ 42 ].…”

The linguocultural image of raspberries (Rubus idaeus) in Polish

“…Ethnolinguists and ethnobotanists are also linked by the special treatment of language and the emic perspective adopted in research, i.e. the study of a culture from the perspective of its users, which I described in an article devoted to the ethnobotanic character of the second volume of Słownik stereotypów i symboli ludowych [Dictionary of Folk Stereotypes and Symbols] published in Lublin (Kielak 2020).…”