Theonyms of the Highest Pantheon in Folklore Texts of the Altaians

Abstract

This article reveals the semantics and origin of theonyms of the highest pantheon of the pagan tradition of the Altaians (Teleuts, Telengits, Altai-Kizhi, Chalkans, Tubalars, and Kumandins) on the basis of folklore material. The relevance of the study is associated with an increased interest in Tengrian religion among the modern peoples of the Altaic language family. The innovative character of the research lies in the application of the ethnolinguistic onomastic approach to the study of theonyms of the Altaians. The main research method is a descriptive method based on the contextual and semantic analysis of theonyms. Particular attention is paid to the internal form and origin of theonyms. The author concludes that the highest pantheon among the Altaians was formed on the basis of the cult of the sky and represents the personification of the heavenly elements, which is akin to many developed mythological systems of antiquity. Teheri ‘Sky’ stands out as the Supreme God belonging to the Upper world. The subject of deification in Altai folklore was the idea of natural elements and cosmic phenomena, which are a kind of force that can affect a person’s life. The personification of various qualities and parts of the sky was reflected in various names of celestial deities, the constituent parts of which contain the lexeme Teheri ‘Sky’. Some theonyms appeared because of the personification of celestial phenomena: thunder, lightning, and hail. The author notes that the process of identifying various deities embodying various attributive qualities and characteristics of the supreme god seems to be a historically later stage in the development of polytheism than the time of the appearance of the idea of the one god Teheri ‘Sky’. With the adoption of the ideas of other world religions (Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity) and shamanism with its polytheism in the culture of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples, the status of the deities of the Upper World was ranked, including the status of the supreme god Teheri ‘Sky’, which was replaced by other theonyms.