BULLETIN OF THE KALMYK SCIENTIFIC CENTER OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

4

Authors: Marjorie M. Balzer

This essay identifi es descriptions of sacred lands within the Sakha (Yakut) olonkho, and compares them to mythopoetic honoring of sacred mountains among the Tlingit of Alaska and the Mapuche of Chile and Argentina. The olonkho of Niurgun Bootur, Kulun Kullustuur, Kyys Di϶b϶liye, and Эr Sogotokh are featured. Sacred site depictions in olonkho range from the fantastic and metaphorical to the more realistically descriptive and named. Given that many epics were composed before Uraangkhai Sakha ancestors arrived in territories of the Far North, it is diffi cult to identify specifi c sites with known current geography, although some Sakha scholars have tried. The Sakha olonkho depicts a well-known cosmology describing three worlds — Upper, Middle, and Lower. But what more specifi cally constitutes sacred geography? Natural criteria (mountains, lakes, rivers, meadows and trees), as well as characteristics of beauty within the Middle World, are revealed in olonkho. Rituals such as summer solstice ceremonies, yђyakh, and spirit offerings made with blessing prayers, algys, are associated with sacred sites. It is signifi cant that many olonkho end with grand fi nales depicting these special places and rituals. I argue that “sacred land” ritual spaces of other indigenous peoples may be comparable to sacred spirit offering groves and special yђyakh sites, and that efforts to preserve sacred lands for contemporary rituals are part of ongoing cultural revitalization projects tied to ecological and spiritual consciousness in places with signifi cant shamanic legacies.

6

Authors: Bayrta B. Nuskhaeva

The article considers the distribution of family units of the Republic of Kalmykia according to the results of the all-Russian population census — 2010. The analysis of family structure and the distribution of children within the family units based on the results of the 2010 Population Census shows the predominance of small families in the Republic of Kalmykia and in Russia as a whole. Most families of the Russian Federation have one child (68 %), the proportion of large families is negligible (6 %). In Kalmykia, the situation is more favorable. However, the overall growth of families having one or two children is also typical for the region. One of the major problems of the Republic is a high proportion of single parenting among young families. According to the 2010 Population Census, more than a third of families (39,3 %), where parents are under 35 years, raise their children without a spouse. That is why a single-parent family has diffi culties in carrying out its specifi c functions, one of which is reproductive. In most singleparent families there is only one child (73,7 %). The comparison of distribution of children among urban and rural families shows minor differences in family structure of Kalmykia. At the same time the spread of families having one or two children in the Republic is gaining momentum.

6

Authors: Maria P. Dyakonova

Myths take a signifi cant place in the folklore tradition of the Evenks and the Evens. Among them the texts of the myths stand out that are united by the theme of the world’s creation. Moreover, in the culture of these people among the stories of the creation of the world particularly the creation myths of the earth are presented. The article describes the antipodes Hargi (the Evenks) and Aringka (the Evens), acting as creator’s assistant Seveki and Hevki in the creation of the world. In the myths of the creation the Hargi’s image evolves from the “inept” wannabe — co-creator to the evil antipode — demiurge. Everything that Hargi created on the outlooks of the Evenks is harmful for the person and all worlds around. According to the materials, the Hargi’s image is presented only in the Evenk mythology of the creation, neither in the epic, nor in other folklore works. The Even’s Aringki, acting as a co-creator of the earth, is the antipode of the deity Hevki. In the myths of creation, this hero acts as a personalized character having its own name. According to the materials of the Even’s folklore, unlike the Evenk Hargi, the character Aringka went beyond the myths of the creation and became the hero of various folklore genres. In heroic legends he often acts as the main negative character, opposing the main hero or heroine. The analysis of the etymology revealed that the name of the Evenk co-creator is associated with the evil ghost, reviving again and again through the devilry. The author defi nes the general conclusion that the antipodes of the creators in the myths of creation the Evenks and the Evens keep community and also have its own specifi cs.

6

Authors: Svetlana G. Batyreva

The article is devoted to the cultural analysis of the tradition in the study of fi ne arts of Buddhism. The subject of the research are Buddhist artifacts from the collection of the Kiev Museum of Western and Oriental Art named after B. and B. Khanenko which are considered as a cultural heritage of Kalmykia. It was formed during the interaction of tradition and innovation. The art shows historical destiny of the iconographic canon in the artistic culture of Northern Buddhism. Traditional psychogenetic particular worldview, ceremonial culture and folklore are projected in the iconography, defi ning “local” nature of art. The analysis of the Kalmyk artistic tradition revealed visible local features of graphic images of iconographic interpretation. Selectivity of pantheon deities observed in particular images of Kiev collection is explained by the history of the people who lived beyond the bounds of their ethnic homeland. It is a local variant of the Central Asian pantheon, where archaic traces of nomadic mythology preserved in a different cultural environment can be found. Inscriptions in Old Kalmyk todo bichig script (usually on the left border of the painting) and in Cyrillic script with yat on the lower edge of the images of Amitābha Buddha, Green Tārā Bodhisattva and Bhaisajyaguru Buddha are the specifi c features of the described religious paintings. Vertical ligatured todo bichig script (Kalmyk: Амидава, Отчи бурхн, Ноhан дəрк) written in ink faded to pale brown is the indisputable defi ning feature of Kalmyk painting. Kalmyk art developed gradually both in separate formal details of paintings and in general aesthetic interpretation of images. Canonization of deities involves introduction of border scenes, symbolic attributes and accented symmetrical front compositions into the painting. On the whole, concise symmetrical scenes with unelaborated plot which tend to emphasize main image’s personifi cation that is the center of a religious painting and believers’ direct object of worship prevail in Old Kalmyk art.

7

Authors: Abusupyan T. Akamov, Agaragim M. Sultanmuradov

The article considers the issue associated with the concept of development of the language situation in Dagestan on the eve of the October Revolution on the basis of the analysis of the article “The language problem” written by well- known Kumyk writer-enlightener Abusufyan Akaev. Being a thorough, argumentative scientifi c work on the language problem which was actively discussed and debated in the Kumyk press in 1917 it has become of great interest to other outstanding literary and public fi gures of Dagestan as well. The author emphasizes that a solution of language problems in society acquires great signifi cance at the period, when some kind of epochal events as a change of the political system take place. A. Akaev proves extremely productive idea of the impossibility in the modern world by one or the other ethnic group to achieve leading positions both in science and education, without losing the differences between learning language and spoken language. The fact of the publication of the article with similar content demonstrates not only the high level of scientifi c erudition of its author, but, above all, the suffi cient degree of development by that time of the Kumyk literary language itself. Abusufyan Akayev differed from many of his contemporaries not only by proclaiming the idea of raising the status of the native language but by the way of explaining his vision of how to achieve it in simple phrase, accessible to the average reader. Judging by the form of his speech presentation, the focus on a mass audience, the reasoning of judgments, the use of the method of persuasion and others, the author distinguishes the national character of his works, convinces us that he had always been a true people’s enlightener, loved his people passionately, worried about it and wanted to improve its life, devoting himself to his people.

7

Authors: Vladimir T. Tepkeev

The article is devoted to the migration of a part of Zunghars (Dzungar people) from Central Asia to the borders of South Russia in the late 17 century, which still remains insuffi ciently explored in the historiography. The further fate of this group of Kalmyks requires more serious and detailed studies. It is known that the Dzungarian ulus of Danzin Tyuri who moved from Ayuka for some reason and joined Tsagan- Batur, was soon divided between two brothers Tsagan-Batur and Baakhan-Manzhi. Baakhan together with the part of his men settled at Taganrog, where he happened to have a personal meeting with the Russian Tsar Peter I. After that meeting, he together with his ulus people took the decision to baptize under the name of Moisey Alekseev. The other part of Zunghars settled among the Don Cossacks, where they subsequently founded the village — Zuyngarskaya. The fate of the taisha Tsagan-Batur is, unfortunately, not yet known, but the research in this section is still ongoing. Thus, on the basis of newly received archival information we can present one of the least known chapters in the history of the Oirats of the 17 century. Besides, the circumstances and the exact time of the fi rst appearance of Zunghars on the banks of the Volga and the Don as well as written evidence of the main participants of those events are now known. In the future, we are going to have a more thorough study of the archival material that could shed light on the fate of this group of Kalmyks. Of great interest for us are also the letters, written by Dzungar taishas.

7

Authors: Elena V. Aiyzhy, Shenne B. Mainy

The article discusses the symbolic nature of traditional games of Tuvan youth festival “Oytulaash”. The author concludes that being a relic of the initiation rites and chaotic group marriage, these games were aimed at evoking the fruitful forces of nature and a man. One of the objectives of the article is to show the wealth of the Tuvan folklore. It should be noted that the youth festival “Oytulaash” had existed long before the formation period of the Tuvan People’s Republic. Later it became obsolete in Tuvan society as an alien element. Traditional holiday “Oytulaash” was aimed at provoking reproductive forces of nature and man. Scientifi c studies show that “Oytulaash” as a phenomenon of culture of the people, had its positive and negative points. The positive effects can be attributed to the fact that during these public festivals, the young people had a rest from everyday work, were happy to live through cold winter and all spring work was behind. The analysis of folk games in traditional festivals allows identifying with the layers of later development an archaic gaming culture, dating back to the early forms of traditional worldview and culture of the Tuvan people. It should be noted that cultural links with the Tuvan peoples of China and Mongolia had an infl uence on the formation and structure of the traditional games. Youth games including pet games symbolized fertility and conveyed the idea of well-being and prosperity of the whole clan. The traditional festive culture of the Tuvan people was associated with the transformation into a different creature; something that was unacceptable became acceptable, thus, contributing to the successful functioning of the society’s life activity.

7

Authors: Madina M. Pashtova

The article is dedicated to the history of one of the most popular with the young Circassian diaspora dancing genres — the shcheshchen. The author of the article tries to study the ways of correlation between the local exhibitions of the dancing genre and its trivial terms, local folk tunes, social taboos and the precepts of a defi nite diaspora society using the shcheshchen as an example. The purpose of the study is the synchronous description of the genre features of the endemically formed choreographic phenomenon called “adyghe shcheshchen” (the Circassian shcheshchen), tracking of the universal analogues (the terminological, musical, choreographic ones), detection of its social and semantic functions in the defi nite local culture. The subject of the study is the discursive practices about public merrymaking traditions, and also the context relations between the archival explorative texts and the historical sources which give the narrative description of the choreographic phenomena of the “metropolis” — the Caucasus — analogous with the shcheshchen. The object of the study is a verbal (oral) and non-verbal text (collected in the folklore fi eld of Turkey and in the Internet) which actualize the information about the dance called shcheshchen. The fi eld methods: the participant observation and informal conversation, the method of memory boosting established by the author of the article, the online poll. The methods of analytical processing of the materials: structural/functional, pragmatic analyses, discourse analyses. The shcheshchen acts as a cultural complex which equalizes people according to the rules of a public merrymaking and maintains the civilizational identity of Anatolia Circassians at the same time. The author of the article explains the reasons of some inconsistency of the deliberations about the ‘little prestige” of the shcheshchen and its popularity simultaneously. These conclusions would be useful for theoretical researches of the history of folklore genres, the culture of Circassian diaspora, and also for applied purposes: the ethnographical information collected by the author of the article and the complex theoretical observations data about the forms of the folk dances included in the article are published for the fi rst time and would be interesting for specialists engaged in searching of the traditional ethno-choreographical styles and stage performances.

8

Authors: Bair Z. Nanzatov

The article presents versions and the hypothesis of early Barga — Buryat ethnogenesis and further branching of ethnic history. The study is based on ethnonym materials, as well as the latest research in the fi eld of the history of these peoples. By the time of the disintegration of the Mongolian Empire the territory of Bargujin-Tokum was a part of the Yuan state. However, after ascent of the new Ming dynasty the northern territories remained out of control of Ming China. The ethnic history of this region was practically never refl ected in written sources prior to the coming of Russians from the northwest and Manchu from southeast in the early 17th century. The ethnic history of Northern Mongolia, Baikal region and Cis-Hovsgol area in the Ming epoch has practically never been a subject of research. The majority of modern scholars consider this period a “dark age” of history. Historical ethnonymics forms the basis of this research paper. The key terms for the study are “Bargu” and “Buryat”. By the 17th century Buryat ethnonym almost lost its meaning in the local environment due to long usage in the nomadic-community stage of development in the peaceful period when various ethnoterritorial entities became dominant, such as the Bulagats on the Angara, Ekhirits on the Upper Lena, Ikinats on the Angara and Oka, Ashibagats on the Uda and Oka, Gotols on the Ida, Batulins on the Upper Kuda and so on. In this period the ethnonym Buryat lost its political signifi cance among the carriers, but it was widely used by the neighboring peoples from whom the Russians fi rst learnt about the “Brats”. In the stem of the brat/bratskii term apparently lied a Turkic (Khakass or Altaic) exoethnonym pyrat-purat in which the radical pyra-pura was a phonetic variant of the word “wolf”. A return to the common ethnonym was characteristic of the consolidation processes. Another characteristic feature was a new phase on the development of the ethnogenetic legends and myths in which Buryadai became the father of Ekhirit and Bulgadai and a brother to Horidoi. All these myths are based on the real historical events when the local population went through a long period of ethnic contacts as a result of which a unity with the single Mongolian proto-Buryat language was formed. The Buryat ethnonym evolved from its medieval spreading only on the Mongolian-speaking population groups and became common for all population groups in Cisbaikalia who, in their turn, already switched to Mongolian (Buryat) language.

8

Authors: Darima D. Amogolonova, Marina M. Sodnompilova

The paper discusses the problem of religious revival and interaction in the Republic of Buryatia. The religious revival is proposed to consider in the context of desecularization process that implies return of religion from the periphery to the center of social and cultural practices. This in its turn means rapprochement between religious institutions and state, the clergy’s participation in political and educational activities, and resolute rejection of atheism in favor of religiosity. Buryatia is the territory where different religious traditions have coexisted for centuries: Buddhism, Orthodox Christianity, shamanism and the Old Belief. Albeit in the popular consciousness Orthodoxy and Old Belief mark the Russian cultural space and Buddhism and shamanism the Buryat one, still the long interaction of ethnic cultures has developed in the religious syncretism and mutual tolerance. The most obvious evidence of intercultural reciprocality manifests in the participation of different ethnic groups in the religious festivals, visiting temples, and observance of religious customs. But such interactions have also deeper worldview basis due to the peculiarities of world-perception in terms of ethnic and cultural diversity that is built on the inevitability of mutual economical and everyday aid in the harsh natural environment. Initially the rapprochement took place from the side of Buryats who entered the russifi cation processes more actively than other Siberian ethnic groups. However, on the part of Russians, the steps toward rapprochement with the Buryats were also signifi cant. In the world outlook sense, the Russians learned the ideas about spirits of locality and necessity to propitiate them thus adopting the shamanic animistic ideas. When Russians visit the Buddhist clergy this has less to do with religious faith but mainly with the credibility of the lamas in the matters of Tibetan medicine, astrology and worldly wisdom. Based on the latest methodological approaches, the authors analyze the variety of religious practices in the multiethnic and multicultural society, in which regardless of religious ascription the people possess peculiar understanding of the special world of Buryatia where the tradition of cultural interaction has continued since old times to the present.

8

Authors: Konstantin N. Maksimov

Implementing national policy, the Soviet power provided many peoples of Russia, including the Kalmyk people, with national statehood. In spite of great diffi culties and costs, it was creating the necessary conditions for overcoming economic and educational backwardness and was doing much in improving their well-being and training personnel. Thus, much was done for implementing the nation-building policy. Being based on the documentary materials from the Soviet higher authorities, the article considers the evolution and objectives of the national policy of the Bolsheviks before and after the October revolution, its implementation in the fi rst years of the Soviet power. The author concludes that Soviet national policy since the fi rst years of the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat became a program of involvement of the peoples of Russia in socialist construction with the elements of federalism in a unitary state. It is specifi cally noted that, in addition to the principles of Unitarianism, this state is distinguished by the fact that the organization and activity of bodies of the ruling party, built on the principles of democratic centralism, were solid enough to save centralized and ideologically-based system of governance, which played an important role in ensuring the unity and indivisibility of the Federal state.

8

Authors: Tatyana V. Klubkova

This article examines a brochure “Idea et desiderata” (1773) by H. L. Ch. Bacmeister which includes parallel texts in Russian, German, French and Latin. The text is essentially an instruction to the collection of linguistic material that has not been previously any content analysis. We analyze the relationship of this text with “Russian grammar” by Schlözer and the concept of “different languages” which underlies the language differentiation in the Pallas dictionary. The brochure consists of three parts: the instruction, the questionnaire and the example. The instruction contains information about transcription and data which are to be collected. The questionnaire is not a list of words but sentences containing basic vocabulary and grammar. The example is a translation of a Bible quotation. The article contains a page of translation from Russian into Arabic. The article suggests a place for Bacmeister’s composition in the history of linguistics: Bacmeister’s recommendations for collectors of linguistic material may be considered as a fi rst guide to fi eld linguistics, fi rst in Russia.

9

Authors: Anastasia G. Lyulina

The article is devoted to the history of the relationship between spiritual leader of Geluk school the Dalai Lama V (Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, 1617–1682), and the Manchu Emperor Shunzhi (1644– 1661). Their meeting in Beijing in 1642 showed Ethical Aspects of the relationship, and helped to restore the union of Tibetan hierarchy and the Chinese Emperor on the “Mentor — Patron” principle. The event was tested in the context of ethics and, as a result, showed the unique point of view of each side on this union, as well as on the “Mentor — Patron” principle. Manchu Emperor, by means of special ceremonies and titles granted for the Dalai Lama, clarifi ed new status of Tibet and its hierarch. Therefore, offi cial correspondence of monarchs, describing the ceremony of meeting, sharing of titles and diplomas, submitted in Chinese sources, are involved. Ethics of the relationship between the Dalai Lama and the Emperor of China’s Qing dynasty on the principle “mentor — patron” had undergone signifi cant changes since entering into the religious-political alliance with the Sakya school and the Mongol Khan. A new utilitarian view on the relationship between the Lama and the Emperor emerged after the fi rst meeting of the Manchu Emperor — Shunzhi and the Dalai Lama V and existed until the collapse of the Empire. In order to legitimize the power and to maintain peace in the state, the Qing emperors had to support all religions. Despite the fact that the Qing rulers paid great attention to the communication with Tibetan lamas directly, political interests took precedence over the religious ones, and the relationship between “student” and “teacher” over time, began to weaken.

9

Authors: Eugene V. Sartikova

The article is devoted to the activity of trade unions of Kalmykia on managing the work of primary organizations of a society of inventors and rationalizers (VOIR). The article is based on the documents of the National Archive of the Republic of Kalmykia. The analysis of an extensive documentary material has shown that there was a gradual increase in the number of innovators and inventors, in the number of rationalization proposals applied in industry and their economic effi ciency in the researched period. However, the activities of trade unions in guiding the work of the society of innovators and inventors were not perfect. The workersinnovators did not reach their full creative potential; membership involvement was poor. The facts of red tape in registration of rationalized proposals and payment of the royalties were also observed. Sometimes economically favourable offers remained without attention, the duly calculation of the received savings achieved from the implemented proposals was not conducted. Economically advantageous offers were sometimes ignored, savings achieved from the implemented proposals were not counted timely and many of the suggested ones were not implemented. The proposals which required a radical restructuring of the technological process were not popular since their introduction could put the company at risk of exceeding the allotted time for the plan which was fraught with serious consequences. Unfortunately, many enterprises could not give much attention to the development of mass technical creativity. The work in agricultural enterprises, enterprises of local industry, public utility companies was poorly organized due to the lack of engineers and technicians involved in the working process as well as the lack of broad assets; the released funds for the development of technical creativity were not fully utilized for various reasons. The analysis of an extensive documentary material has shown that there was a gradual increase in the number of innovators and inventors as well as in the number of rationalization proposals applied in industry and their economic effi ciency in the researched period. Despite some shortcomings the tradeunions had to overcome, rationalization activity as well as invention were successfully developed in Kalmykia.

9

Authors: Salimaa S. Khovalyg

The article aims to study the characteristics of the formation and evolution of the Tannu-Tuvan bureaucracy, in the era of the domination of the Qing Empire (1757–1912). Based on archival sources, the author researched and systematised the hierarchy of ranks and degrees of difference in Tuvan traditional society. After the establishment of the domination of the Manchu Qing dynasty on the territory of the Tuvan tribes administrative and territorial reforms were held, new military ranks were introduced, and titles of nobility, insignia began gradually displace the old titles and ranks. The main problem in functioning of the administrative apparatus established in Tuva became the combining and duplication of some functions, which greatly complicated the work of the offi cials. Having introduced a new administrative division of the Tuva tribes on the territorial principle, the Manchu Qing dynasty replaced the former ranks, titles and positions with the new ones, without achieving fundamental changes in management. As a result, new ranks and titles began to overlap with the previous titles and completely failed to displace them. The main principle of the innovation of the Manchu-Chinese administration became the division of offi cers of all ranks into military and civilian, with further clarifi cation of their functional duties, but in Tuva local traditions and customs were also taken into account. The main merit of the current administrative staff machinery was its role in the creation of a sovereign state. During the hard period of choosing the historical development ways from 1912 to 1921, outstanding representatives of the offi cialdom of the traditional Tuvan society became the key fi gures who maintained the order and tried to fi nd their own way for further development. The article analyzes the hierarchy of ranks and degrees of difference in Tuvan society during the domination of the Manchu Qing dynasty Dynasty. The study of archival documents and ethnographic sources, found that Tannu Tuva formed patrimonial offi cialdom, including not only the former nobility (the heads of clans and tribes), but also those who distinguished meritorious service to the Manchurian-Mongolian authorities.

10

Authors: Victoria V. Kukanova, Valery M. Trofimov

On the material of the Kalmyk language with reference to the Khalkha Mongolian, the Buryat languages and old Mongolian script, the article considers a thematic group of fl oral vocabulary to identify the Turkic-Mongolian parallels. The names of trees and shrubs both wild and cultivated, the names of melons and gourds as well as truck crops, cereals and herbs were taken for the analysis. To prove the fact that the Turkic parallel was of the Turkic nature, the authors referred to the Ancient Turkic Dictionary and the dictionaries of the Kazakh, Nogai, Bashkir languages (the languages of Kalmyks’ nearest neighbors who had contacted with them). In addition to the comparative material from the Mongolian and Turkic languages these terms were also accompanied by comparativehistorical as well as etymological analyses which revealed the Turkic origin of the Turkic Mongolian parallels in the composition of the fl oral vocabulary of the Kalmyk language. Some of the given terms, as it was revealed, along with the Kalmyk language, exist also in the Khalkha Mongolian and Buryat languages and were even recorded in the old Mongolian script. It suggests that these terms have been stored in the Kalmyk language since the time of the ancestors of Kalmyks — Oirats, who lived in the steppes of Central Asia with the Mongols and had contact with the ancient Turks, from whom they borrowed the terms. Many of the fl oristic terms are presented only in the Kalmyk language and coincide with those of the Kazakh, Nogai, Tatar and Bashkir languages, which had been borrowed by the Kalmyks from these languages as a result of later contacts.

10

Authors: Saglara E. Bachaeva

The article describes the interpretation system of the lexical units denoting the color coat of the horse in the Kalmyk language. It contains a table of lexical units denoting the color coat of horses with their interpretation, translations, synonyms, depending on the type of dictionary. It should be noted that in the Kalmyk language, some words denote color in general, and serve to denote the color of an animal (khar ‘black, (dark-)chestnut, black’), others call only the color coat (zeerd ‘chestnut’, ker ‘ bay’, saarl ‘ashen, mouse-coloured, dun’). Besides, the adjectives that are used to represent the coat color at the same time can act as an animal nicknames. As the format of the dictionary is explanatory, all the entries are given without translation in comparison with the existing dictionaries of the Kalmyk language. Though the descriptive method of the dictionary is the main one, in some cases, the descriptive-synonymous method is also used as they are both the best ones in interpreting the meanings of words, fully and accurately discovering the meanings of entry words. In square brackets the source of the word usage is indicated, which gives the name of the version of the epic “Jangar” in abbreviated form (see list of abbreviations), through a colon comes a song number — in Roman numerals, as in [EO: V], [MB: I], [BC: II]. The given vocabulary entries of the language of the Kalmyk heroic epic “Jangar” are the one way to test them. The results of the research provide a basis for improving practices of adequate interpretation and further developing clichés-interpretations for the other groups from the Explanatory dictionary of the language of the Kalmyk heroic epic “Jangar”.

13

Authors: Nina M. Mulaeva

The article considers the system of interpretations of entry words, which are the kinship and properties terms included in the Glossary of the Explanatory dictionary of the language of the Kalmyk heroic epic “Jangar”. Besides, the number of dictionary entries with the entry words of the listed above thematic groups has been tested. The electronic version of the Explanatory dictionary of the language of the Kalmyk heroic epos “Jangar” will contain the dictionary entries including the list of all word usages of the meaning of this or that entry word (with the reference to the source). The paper version of the Explanatory dictionary because of the large amount of illustrative material will contain only the most representative examples deliberately restricted by fi ve. Particular attention is drawn to the fact that in interpreting kinship terms this or that semantic valency does not receive any syntactic expression. Dictionary entries should have relational and absolutive use of terms of kinship, because similar kind of interpretations create a false impression of the sameness of semantic and syntactic potential. The analysis revealed the following: kinship terms that are not specifi ed in the literature are recorded in the epic; some kinship terms are used in the position of address, in the interpretation of polysemantic words and homonyms the knowledge of the macro-context is required.