The concept tau ‘mountain’ in the traditional culture of the Karachay-Balkars: word-forms, ideas, social regulation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2026.1.8Keywords:
concept, tau, Karachays, Balkars, concept of culture, concept-as-idea, social regulationAbstract
The article analyzes the concept of tau ‘mountain’ in Karachay-Balkar ethnic culture. The study is based on an approach to the conceptualization of ethnoculture that presupposes examining the concept in three aspects: as a word-form, as an idea, and as a form of social regulation.
Accordingly, the concept tau is considered, first, from a linguistic perspective. Definitions of the word tau and its derivatives are analyzed, and verbal units correlated with the geomorphological feature of the mountain, which reflects the general notion of a mountain, are identified and systematized, along with linguistic means that represent mountain forms. The aspect of the concept-as-idea is examined through the specific features of the reflection of the mountain in culture in various contexts: mythological, religious, and spiritual.
These meanings with which the Karachays and Balkars endowed mountains, as well as their attitude toward them, determined specific forms of economic, ritual, and social life of mountain people. Social regulation of the concept was expressed overall in the formation of a moral and ethical code of conduct for members of the ethnic group.
The study shows that the mountain occupies a priority place in the life of the Karachay-Balkar people and constitutes a multifaceted geographical object correlated with a system of views, values, and traditions of the ethnos, which condition the regulation of social relations under harsh natural and climatic conditions.
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Bashieva S. K. The concept tau ‘mountain’ in the traditional culture of the Karachay-Balkars: word-forms, ideas, social regulation. New Research of Tuva, 2026, no. 1, pp. 151-165 (In Russ.). DOI: https://doi.org/10.25178/nit.2026.1.8
Author Biography
-
Svetlana K. Bashieva Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after Kh. M. Berbekov
Doctor of Philology, Professor, Head, Department of Russian Language and General Linguistics, Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after Kh. M. Berbekov.
Postal address: 173 Chernyshevskogo St., 360004, Nalchik, Russian Federation.
E-mail: bfo-pdo@mail.ru
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