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HEADWEAR AS AN ELEMENT OF THE MORDVIN NATIONAL COSTUME: COMPARISON OF LINGUISTIC DATA WITH THE RESULTS OF ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDIES

E. Devyatkina

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the names for headwear as a part of the national costume of the Mordvins. The name of one headdress can be surely reconstructed to Proto-Mordvin. There is a large number of Turkic and Russian borrowings as well as its own derivatives in the Mordvin (Erz’a and Moksha languages). Thus, at the Proto-Mordvin level we can securely reconstruct two types of headdresses: pa?go ’women’s headdress’ and the early Turkic borrowing pat’s’a ‘headscarf’. There are several separate Turkic borrowings in the Mordvin languages tak’ja ‘hat’ < Tat òàêûÿ ‘women’s hat’; carcav ‘curtain’, before: ‘the big white embroidered headscarf’ < Tat ÷àðøàó ‘curtain’. The widespread borrowing of the names and forms of headwear from the Russians shows close relationships with the Russian population. The Erz’a and Moksha borrowed more convenient and concise headdresses from their neighbors and excepted of the widespread using of heavy national headwear. Despite disappearing from a daily using of Erz’a and Moksha pa?go, pa?ga, the significance of this headdress in ceremonies, as evidenced by the names of its derivatives. It is noteworthy that the old headwear on a solid base are applied to a headgear of a married women. The most common headgear of the girls were ribbons and head bands, embroidered or trimmed with ornaments in the form of beads, etc. The wreath of artificial flowers and beads, hat-type hat or scarf were borrowed from the Russians with the nomination and the form. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the younger generation more easily accept new things. Along with a common features in the presence of headwear on a solid basis, the late Turkic and Russian borrowing each nation had its own peculiarities in the coloration of the headdress, the details of ornaments, character ornaments and wearing, etc. Headdresses of Erz’a and Moksha were differed originality, as evidenced by the presence of a large number of its own derivatives. Each type and form of headwear Erz’a and Moksha are manifested their specific features which are characteristic to a particular locality.

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