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

4

Authors: A. Chernykh

The article examines the social processes taking place in today’s regional labor market. It describes the basic structure of the current migration trends and also its main quality characteristics. The author investigated the social and cultural expectations of migrants and described some aspects of the possible social tensions. The article analyzes the impact of labor migration with special quality characteristics on the labor market regions, considers possible development of labor migration. The author evaluates the prospects of small and mediumsized businesses development in terms of particular qualitative characteristics of labor migration as well as offers a suggestion about the impact of migration on social trends among indigenous population. The article contains an estimation of the prospects of socio-cultural assimilation of migrants among the indigenous people.

5

Authors: B. Borlykova

The article attempts to give a classifi cation of Kalmyk fairy tales from the repertoire of the storyteller Sandzhi Butaev according to the «Comparative index of plots» compiled by L. G. Barag, I. P. Berezovsky, K.P. Kabashnikov, N. V. Novikov. The given index summarizes the results of previous works in the fi eld of systematization of Russian, Ukrainian and Byelorussian fabulous material. Comparing plots of Kalmyk fairy tales with those of the Index, the author found out some correlation between the plot types of Kalmyk fairy tales and those of the East Slavic fairy tales: «The Miraculous enemy» (300–399), «The Miraculous spouse (wife or other relative)» (400–459), «The Magic task» (460–499), «The magical helper» (500–559), «The Magic object» (560–649), «Magical power and knowledge» (skill) (650–699), «Other magic motifs» (700–749). Of special scientifi c value are the texts of tales recorded by the researchers of the Kalmyk Research Institute of Language, Literature, and History (KNIIaLI) such as E. Ch. Bardaev (1967), N. D. Muchkinova (February 1971), N. Ts. Bitkeev, B. B. Okonov (September 1974) and B. E. Mutlyaeva (June 1978). After transcribing tape recorded fairy tales, the researcher published the book «Buutan Sanjin tuul’s» («Sandzhi Butaev’s Tales») in 2008. As a result of the analysis, the author revealed some specifi c features of the interpretation of plot types within the Kalmyk fairy tale and their differentiating elements associated with the originality of the artistic traditions of the Kalmyk people.

5

Authors: V. Rassadin, S. Trofimova

The article reviews a group of terms for wild prey and fur-bearing animal nominalization with the aim to identify their Turkic roots. The investigation is based on the materials of the Khalkha-Mongolian, Buryat, Kalmyk and Old Mongolian languages. For more convincing evidences of the fact that the given Turkic parallel does have a Turkic character the material was taken from «the Ancient Turkic language». The authenticity of the Turkic character is confi rmed by initial forms and etymology of Turkic parallels. The Mongolian languages have a signifi cant number of common Turkic-Mongolian terms for wild prey and fur animals. The analysis showed that in many cases these Turkic-Mongolian terms are of Turkic origin due to their Turkic etymology. This issue requires a special research. As the article notes, some words came to the Mongol language during the pan-Mongolian period of development, others – after these languages began to develop independently having their own contacts with the Turkic tribes. The presence of numerous correspondences with the Mongolian terms is an evidence of contacts between the ancient Mongols with Turks and later contacts of individual Mongolian people with specifi c Turkic tribes.

5

Authors: E. Klyshev, P. Koltsov

The article investigates Mesolithic monuments in Western Kazakhstan. A mesolithic monument Ustyurt is represented by the monuments of Aydabolskaya group: Aydabol 6-7, 9-12, 14-16, 20-23, 25; Aktaylak 1 (layer 1), Aktobe 2, Tchuruk 2 (layers 1 and 2), Tchuruk 3 (layer 2), etc. The Mangystau Region is known for its Kyzylsu 1 and Shahbagatta 2 sites. Stone tools of the sites listed above are featured by a plate technique and such items as end scrapers, draw knives, asymmetrical and less symmetrical trapezoids, mini tool bits, tool bits, end-beveled barbs and plates with a straight truncated end. Items listed above are similar to those found in the sites of the Eastern Caspian Sea region and Southern Ural – the materials of Bilshoy Bugodak 4, Surtanda 6, Murat and Mys Bezymyanny. The similarity consists in vicinity of the trapezoids, ratio of plates and microplates with a blunt edge and end scrapers. Mesolithic of Volga and Ural interfl uve of Western Kazakhstan is presented by such sites as Sar-Aydin 1-3, Mindali 1, 3, etc. They are located in the neighboring regions of Kamysh-Samar lakes. Lithic industry is platy. Stone tools include end scrapers, angular tool bits, incised drawknives, plates with beveled and straight truncated end. Among geometric fi gures a series of segments with unilateral and bilateral retouch is the most expressive. Less common are symmetrical trapezoid, including the “cornute” as well as parallelograms. The above materials demonstrate the cultural unity with Seroglazovka culture of the Northern Caspian. Summing up, it can be noted that in the West Kazakhstan region there are two Mesolithic sites. The fi rst is located in the Ustyur which is culturally close to the Mesolithic Eastern Caspian and Southern Ural, and the second – in the neighboring Kamysh-Samar lakes which demonstrates the cultural unity with the Mesolithic Northern Caspian.

5

Authors: S. Batyreva

Museum reconstruction of traditional Kalmyk culture contributed to the creation of an exhibition which brought together religious objects and artworks. The KIH RAS Buddhist collection has a form of museum publication: its character is refl ected in approaches and features of Kalmykia’s cultural heritage exhibiting. By museum’s funds time and space of traditional culture were structured in qualitatively new exhibition content. The latter opens the possibilities for analyzing the traditions of art. Cultural concept of Buddhism art expresses the evolution of ethnic culture which is clearly demonstrated in collection’s exhibits. Expressive means of icon-painting and sculpture as a whole unit of diverse exhibits recreate a symbolic worldview. Having a mythopoeic archetype of tradition, works of late XIX – early XX century according to the canon reproduce a vertical structure of universe image. The synthesis of plastic arts (painting and sculpture) hierarchically identifi es a number of characters in plane and volumetric expressiveness of altar composition. A diverse pantheon of scientists led by Shakyamuni Buddha is a Buddhist model of universe as a spiritual center of life of the Kalmyk ethnic group. The structural and functional analysis of religious works that illustrate principal ideas of the doctrine, the studies of Tibetan iconography are of particular importance being fundamentally signifi cant for the Buddhist art perception by the Mongolian people. The experience of scientifi c museum collections cataloging and Northern Buddhism pantheon systematizing in the works of domestic and foreign researchers is equally important in this respect. Art is a way to set the laws of the historical process in the analysis and reconstruction of artistic image formed by such functions of traditions that contribute to ethnic differentiation and integration. Culture and art are interdependent in their historical development as traditions promote the continuity of cultural heritage.

5

Authors: T. Pitkieva

The article deals with the issue of using modern communication technologies for education process. It considers the practical use of communication facilities of the National Program „the Gymnasium Union of Russia“ on the example of the activities of the Municipal Budgetary Educational Institution "Elista Lyceum" and other educational organizations of the Republic of Kalmykia. Being based on the ideology of open learning and education, such form of network interaction of participants as a network resource is the most promising mechanism of communication technologies in the context of network interaction of educational institutions of the Russian Federation. The author notes that the use of the resources of other network participants of the program expands the boundaries of the communication between students and society providing additional opportunities for their development and self-fulfi lling let alone teachers who can test and implement some innovative education models, management of the education system and experience of using modern educational technologies due to which educational organizations can dynamically develop. As a result there appears a shared semantic communication fi eld for all the participants of the network interaction. Thus, communication technologies of education by means of communication facilities of the all-Russian national program „the Gymnasium Union of Russia“ taken from the practice of educational institutions of Kalmykia contribute to substantial enrichment of the educational environment for development of student's personality, improvement of a professional competence of a teacher and his willingness to implement innovative educational technologies.

6

Authors: E. Muchiryaeva

The article deals with the development of planning and statistics offi ces during the period of imminent threat of war which revealed the need to restructure the entire system of government bodies and institutions. Thus, in December 1939 local public authorities were created in Kalmykia. These elections marked the fi nal stage in the creation of all public authorities under the Constitution of the Kalmyk ASSR and the 1937 RSFSR Constitution. As a result, 13 district (ulus) councils, 1 town, 3 village and 121 rural councils of Workers Deputies were elected. The main responsibility of the state and local planning commission was drafting plans for the development of national and local economy and the verifi cation of compliance with these plans. The State Planning Commission of the KASSR was organized as follows: a chairman was to be appointed by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Kalmyk ASSR, a deputy chairman and other members were to be appointed by the Council of Ministers of the Kalmyk ASSR. They provided a guidance and monitored the activity of State Planning Committee departments as well as organized procedures in accordance with the approved provision of the Council of Ministers of the Kalmyk ASSR concerning the State Planning Committee. During 1930–1940s the Regional Planning Commission was not only a planning agency but the entity engaged in government statistics and accounting on the territory of the region. With the aim to carry out these functions two sections were created Planning and Economic Section and Statistics Section which consisted of the following groups: Exchange and Industry Statistics, Agricultural Statistics as well as Labour and Social Statistics.

6

Authors: M. Ochir-Gorjaeva, E. Burataev

Scythian and Syberian animal style is a specifi c peculiarity of archeological culture in the Scythian era. The distinctive manner for animal representation is widely used in cultures of the late Bronze and early Iron Age. A special set of poses and images is the main feature of the Scythian style. At the moment the following groups of animal imaging have been defi ned: hoofed mammals, predators, birds and mythic animals. The given article investigates and describes a set of objects designed in animal style and used for bridle decoration, e.g. metal plates found in Adryg burial excavations in Oktyabrsky Region of Kalmyk ASSR in 1978. The article gives a full description of the burial as well as compares the fi ndings with similar bridle sets from the burial near Khosheutovo settlement. The authors came to conclusion that the analyzed sets (from burials Adryg, Khosheutovo and Novoprivolnoye) are totally identical. It should be noted that the sets of objects from Khosheutovo burial are the most numerous on the territory of Kalmyk Republic.

6

Authors: S. Mirzaeva

The given article investigates four tales of fabulous folklore of Western Mongolian peoples taken from “Essays of Northwestern Mongolia” by G. N. Potanin (1835–1920) and “Examples of Mongolian Folk Literature” by B.Y. Vladimirtsov (1884–1931). Plots of the analyzed tales originate from Tibetan collected Buddhist Jatakas „Sutra of Wisdom and Foolishness“ („Dzanlundo“). It was a widely recognized monument in the literary tradition of the Mongolian peoples. At present there are fi ve translations of the work to the Mongolian and Oirat languages which are analyzed in the book “Tibetan and Mongolian Narrative Literature of XVII–XVIII centuries” by D. N. Muzraeva. Plots of the essay gained popularity in folklore traditions of the Mongolian people as well. Referring to the comments provided by G. N. Potanin and B. Y. Vladimirtsov for their works concerning the connection between the plots of collected tales and “Dzanlundo” stories we investigated plots of the four tales and made an attempt to fi nd original plot lines in Tibetan literature. These are the tales “Burkhn-bakshi” (version d), “Burkhn-bakshi” (version i) collected by G. N. Potanin and «Muhr modn kebtā hān köwün» «Caһān bös orāksn okn» collected by B. Y. Vladimirtsov. The article describes the similarities and differences in the plots of the original text and the folklore example. Tales collected B. Y. Vladimirtsov differ from fairy tales presented in the G. N. Potanin collection and are featured by greater adherence to Tibetan texts and the presence of small differences in the narration. Plots of Potanin’s fairy tales sometimes signifi cantly differ from the Tibetan original. We also made an attempt to fi nd similar stories in the Kalmyk folklore. We have discovered a legend «In honour of Buddha’s victory” (version 1) which is a shortened version of «Chapter Thirteen. About confounded six teachers from “Dzanlundo».

7

Authors: B. Nuskhaeva

Due to the high mortality rate of the population and its laboring part the problem of infant mortality in Russia is given inadequate attention. The study of infant mortality is complicated by the lack of comprehensive statistic data. This is a topical issue for the Republic of Kalmykia as well. The article analyzes the statistical data of infant mortality for the 2002–2013 period published in annual abstracts of statistics, on the offi cial website of the Territorial Department of the Federal State Statistics Service for the Republic of Kalmykia provided to the author by the agency. Mortality rates indicate a favorable tendency – a reduction of mortality among children under the age of 17 years between 2002 and 2013. Considering the structure of mortalityб it is possible to point out one of the main reasons – «external causes of death». It is also possible to talk about the predominance of the following causes of death: diseases of the nervous system and respiratory diseases. The analysis of age-specifi c mortality rates in different age groups suggests a high level of mortality among children under 1 year and children aged 15–19. The main causes of infant mortality can be infectious and parasitic diseases, diseases of the nervous system, respiratory diseases, congenital abnormalities, conditions originating in the perinatal period, accidents, poisonings and traumas. The latter group is one of the leading causes of death among children under 1 year. The study of infant mortality in Kalmykia allows to outline positive and negative tendencies. The former include infant and child mortality rate reduction in general. The negative tendencies are characterized by a high mortality rate among children aged 15–19 and high ratio of mortality from external causes.

7

Authors: D. Muzraeva

The author analyzes the works of the famous «The Sea of Parables» essay translated from Tibetan and recorded on «Oirat clear script» by a Kalmyk Buddhist priest Tugmyud-gavdzhi (O. M. Dordzhiev) as well as provides a list of chapters (garchak) to each of the four notebooks of the manuscript. Garchak publication shows that the author’s intention was not simply to arrange the text of the translation properly but also to systematize an extensive material. There is no doubt that Tugmyud gavdzhi was preparing his translation for the reading by the general public and not only for representatives of the scientifi c circles.

7

Authors: L. Namrueva

As a result of 1990s and 2000s reforms rural areas have dramatically changed in quantitative and qualitative terms. The given article analyzes statistical indicators that characterize the life of rural inhabitants of the Republic of Kalmykia. The data reveals the ageing of rural population: agricultural sector employs mainly people over 50. Young people leave rural areas settling outside Kalmykia. The main causes of migration are low income, lack of jobs and a lack of social infrastructure. Rural population decrease on the territory of Kalmyk Republic in 2010s is uneven and varies on a village and social and demographic group size. Gender disparity as an object of investigation of the article (in a village there are more working-age men than women) exacerbates not only demographic processes but also various social problems associated with deviant behavior (alcoholism, crime). The number of unmarried male village inhabitants is prevalent that female of the same group. The author raises urgent issues with an acute social orientation as their solution will have an impact both on rural inhabitants and ethnic group as a whole.

7

Authors: E. Omakaeva

The article is devoted to the study of the key issue connected with the conceptualization of the semantic structure (semanteme) of a polysemantic verb as a system of sememes of the polysemant in general aimed at developing an algorithm for fi nding out word’s initial meaning and methods of its model description. The issue raised in the article is rather important not only for lexicography of the Mongolian but also for the Altaic languages. Theoretical and typological aspects of the article are also valuable for general linguistics. By analyzing the corpus of electronic texts of the Kalmyk heroic epic “Jangar” the researcher reviews polysemantic verbs of directed movement such as irh ‘to come’, odh ‘to go away’, orh ‘to enter’, gharh ‘to go out’. Various lexical-semantic variants (LSV) of the given verbs are included into lexical-semantic groups (LSG). The author examines their main and derived meanings. The article uses a systematic approach to analyzing “verbs of directed movement” by investigating lexical and semantic variants of a polysemantic word (entry word) within certain lexical and semantic groups (LSG).

8

Authors: E. Badmaeva

The article is aimed to analyze the organizational, legal and administrative decisions of the central authorities of the Soviet State and methods of their implementation on the territory of a certain region of the country as well as their impact on the historiography of the collectivization process during its years. The sources used for the analysis were based on the historiographical works published in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods written by the historians of the national republics, who discovered the regional and national specifi cs of socio-economic transformations in rural areas in 1928–1940. As a result of the research the author gives her own interpretation of the collectivization process in the autonomous Republic of Kalmykia. During that period, agriculture and peasantry of Kalmykia were evolving in line with socio-economic and political processes taking place in the country and they were not ready to move to a collective farming due to the lack of both economic and socio-psychological prerequisites. The «Continuous collectivization» of the national autonomy was not conceived as a voluntary and mass infl ux of peasants into collective farms. It was imposed on the peasantry from above, and for its implementation the government took various administrative decisions, used different methods, mainly, tight administrative control of agriculture. Despite the effi ciency of individual farm labor, farms were completely eradicated and their owners were expelled from their homes or sent to prison. The collective farms were seen as the only feasible way for the agricultural recovery and improvement of peasants’ lives. Dispossession of kulaks, arm-twisting, administrative pressure became the most important constituent parts of the process of collectivization. Thus, the author concludes that the agrarian transformation of 1930s in the Kalmyk Autonomous Region was an act of forced collectivization and dekulakization. And the only alternative to the forced collectivization could be the intensifi cation of market relations in agriculture by supporting small rural producers and providing them with greater autonomy, as well as introducing the elements of commodity-money relations, self-suffi ciency etc. under the condition of a gradual, voluntary, industrial co-operation of the owners.

9

Authors: K. Maksimov

On the eve of the XX century one of the fastest growing districts of the Don Cossack Host province appeared to be Salskiy district which was rather young in comparison with others. It consisted of 12 villages, including 9 Kalmyk villages with a population of nearly 30 thousand people, i.e. about 50% of the district’s population. Kalmyks living in the district complied with corresponding Cossacks rights and obligations. The majority professed Buddhism and a small part – Orthodoxy. Despite diverse ethnic environment and changes in social status Kalmyks preserved their self-identity. The basis of the economic well-being of Kalmyks of Salkiy district who switched to a steady economic still was livestock breeding, mainly horse breeding. The Kalmyk people were actively developing farming as well. Kalmyk children also went to schools and colleges of stanitsas (villages inside a Cossack Host).

10

Authors: E. Bakaeva

The article reviews the semantics of women's costume of the Oirat and Kalmyk people. According to the scientists this type of clothing is included into South Siberian group of clothing which is usually associated with economic and cultural tradition of nomadic herders. A similar type of women’s clothing was also typical of the Siberian people, especially among the Buryats and the Derbets, Bait, Zakhchin, Torguts, Uriankhaian people of Oirat origin. The specifi c style of sleeveless jacket “tsegdg” could be found among Mongols (“uuzh”), Southern Altai people (“chegedek”), the Tuvans (“chegedek”), the Khakas people (“sigidek”) and other ethnic groups. The author analyzes the main hypotheses proposed by Russian and foreign scientists.