The lexeme kalmu / kalma / kalm in the linguistic picture of the world of the Karelian peoples

Introduction: in the presented scientific research, the author turns to the consideration of the functioning of the thanatic archetype in the linguistic picture of the world of the Karelian peoples. As a nuclear lexeme, presented in the dialects of the Karelian language by three phonetic variants was chosen kalmu, kalma (Livvi dialect, proper Karelian dialect), kalm (Ludik dialect). Based on the material, the article provides the comparative analysis of the linguistic and cultural contacts of the Karelian people with the Vepsians and Finns (ethnic groups closely related to the Karelians), as a result of which linguacultural connections were revealed. Objective: to determine the role of the lexeme kalmu / kalma / kalm in the formation of the linguistic picture of the Karelian world. Research materials: dictionaries of the Karelian language (dialect and toponymic), samples of Karelian speech, folklore texts. Results and novelty of the research: the scientific novelty of this study is determined by the first comprehensive analysis of the polysemantic name kalmu / kalma / kalm in the linguistic picture of the Karelian world. In total, more than 50 dialectisms are considered. As a result, it was revealed that the primary unmotivated meaning of the name in question, ‘grave’, is widespread in all Baltic-Finnic languages and widely functions in the formation of complex two-part and denominal lexemes. Dialectal variants of the name in question – kalma, kalmoi – with the semantics of ‘cemetery’ are composites of a number of complex and denominal names nominating terms associated with the actual funeral rite. In the semantics of the analyzed lemma, ‘a disease that was believed to stick from a deceased person or a cemetery; a fatal disease’, the personification of an affliction was revealed. This name is a composite of two-component lexemes denoting various diseases which, according to the mythological ideas and beliefs of the Karelians, were sent to a person by the forces of death, and is also used to nominate these forces. The scientific significance of the study is seen in expanding the understanding and knowledge of the lexical structure of the Karelian language and the linguistic picture of the world of the Karelians. The practical significance is determined by the possibility of applying the obtained results in studies devoted to lexicology, ethnolinguistics, cognitive linguistics and linguacultural studies, as well as in lecture and practical courses on the Karelian language