Key images of the Buddhist pantheon in the Kalmyk-Mongolian theonymicon: etymology of deity names and Sanskrit-Tibetan parallels
https://doi.org/10.53315/2782-3377-2025-5-3-78-92
Abstract
The article presents the results of the study of personal names of deities in the context of the Buddhist tradition. In the process of working on the etymological dictionary of Buddhist vocabulary, an urgent need arose to study the origin of the names of deities in the Mongolian languages. Theonyms are of great interest from the point of view of their representation in the languages serving the Buddhist culture (Kalmyk and Mongolian). In the development and enrichment of the vocabulary of the Mongolian languages, an important place is given to borrowings, a large layer of which is Buddhist vocabulary. Buddhist terms came into the Mongolian languages through Uyghur from Sogdian, Sanskrit, and then directly from the Tibetan language due to the translations of Buddhist works into the old written Mongolian and Oirat languages. This article is devoted to the etymology, structure and semantics of borrowed foreign-language Buddhist terms, taking into account their textual functioning. The example of the corpus of prayerful, artistic and epic texts (the epic “Dzhangar”) reveals key theonyms that occupy a special place in the onomastic space of Mongolian languages. It is shown that this class of onymic vocabulary deserves a systematic description taking into account Sanskrit-Tibetan parallels. In terms of structure, the author identifies three groups of Buddhist theonyms: the first consists of single-base lexemes, the second — complex theonyms (two-component composites), the third — compound nominations consisting of two or more words. The study includes a brief description and classification of the Buddhist pantheon of deities, as well as a linguocultural description of some of the most significant Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
About the Author
E. U. Omakaeva
Kalmyk State University named after B.B. Gorodovikov
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Ellara U. Omakaeva, Ph.D, Associate Professor
Elista
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For citations:
Omakaeva E.U. Key images of the Buddhist pantheon in the Kalmyk-Mongolian theonymicon: etymology of deity names and Sanskrit-Tibetan parallels. Nomadic civilization: historical research. 2025;5(3):78-92. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.53315/2782-3377-2025-5-3-78-92
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