AlexandraIsrael

TuvanEthnopoetics

TalesFromBeforetheLong,LongAgo:AStudyofTuvanEthnopoetics1 AlexandraIsrael SwarthmoreCollege

1Iwouldliketothankmythesisadvisor,K.DavidHarrison,andmystudentreader CalvinHofortheircontributionstothisthesis,withoutwhichitwouldbeashadow ofitscurrentself.IwouldalsoliketothankSibelanForresterforalwaysproviding advicewhenIneededitmost,andmyfriendsandfamilyfortheirconstant encouragement.Inparticular,IwouldliketothankKenIsrael,withoutwhomthis thesiswouldhaveconsiderablymoretypos.Andlastbutnotleast,Iwouldliketo thankAndrewZimmermanforbeingthereforallthelatenights;noneofthis researchwouldexistwithouthisextraordinaryteamakingskills. 1

AlexandraIsrael Abstract

TuvanEthnopoetics

Tuvanoralepicsareasourceoffascinatingpoeticdevicesanduniquefolk motifs,andthepopularepicBoktuKirish,BoraSheeleiisnoexception.Thefirstpart ofthispaperexploresthefolkmotifsboththosecommontootherculturesand thoseuniquetoTuvanepicsthatappearinBoktuKirish.Proppsworkonthe structureoffolktalesandThompsonsMotifIndexofFolkLiteratureprovevaluable inthiswork,withProppsanalysisdefiningthestructureofthetaleandThompsons exhaustivecatalogueoffolkmotifsidentifyinguniquelyTuvanmotifs. ThesecondsectionexploresTuvanpoeticstructuresusingworkdoneby HymesinhisstudiesofNativeAmericanethnopoetics.Hisframeworkisusedto identifypoeticdevicesandconnectthemtomeaningsinthetext.Thetwoprimary areasoffocusaresoundsymbolismandthestructuraluseoftheemphaticsuffix [daa].Thefinalsectionofthispapersuggeststhattheconnectionbetweensound andmeaninginTuvancouldhaveapplicationstothecognitivestudyoforality. Myhopeisthattheanalysisinthispaperwilldemonstratenotonlythe artisticvalueofTuvantales,butalsotheimportanceofanalyzingthefolkloreof lessstudiedlanguages.Withoutknowledgeofsimilartraditions,thestudyoforal literaturewouldbelimitedindeed. 1.0 Introduction Thestudyoffolkloreisgenerallyconsideredtobefirmlyintheterritoryof

eitherliteratureoranthropology;veryfewlinguistsmakeapointoflookingata culturesfolkloreexceptasamediumforstudyingsyntacticorphonological structures.However,thisviewoffolktraditionsisrathershortsighted,asfolk literaturesarefulloffascinatinglinguisticphenomenathat,Iargue,canonlybetruly studiedbyanalyzingfolkliteraturesusingatraditional,formalistfolkloricapproach, inadditiontoarigorouslinguisticanalysis. Inthispaper,Iaimtodemonstratetheefficacyofsuchanapproachbyusing

bothfolkloricandlinguistictoolstoanalyzethepoeticdevicesofTuvanfolklore, specificallyastheyappearintheTuvanoralepicBoktuKirish,BoraSheelei (hereafterreferredtoasBoktuKirish).Thistaletellsthestoryoftwosiblings,the elderbrotherBoktuKirishandhisyoungersisterBoraSheelei.Inthetale,Boktu

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Kirishdiesfallingoffhishorse,andhissisterisforcedtoenteracontesttowinthe sorceressprincessAngyrChechenasawife,asonlyAngyrChechenisapowerful enoughmagiciantobringBoktuKirishbackfromthedead.ThisgoalinvolvesBora Sheeleidisguisingherselfasherelderbrotherandenteringaseriesofcontests posedbytheprincessfather,ShangKhan,whowantsonlythebravest,strongest mantotakehisdaughterasawife:anarcherycontest,awrestlingcontest,anda horserace.BoraSheeleihastodisguiseherselfasBoktuKirishbecausethemagical princesswillonlybringamanbacktolifeifshebelievesthatheisherhusband,and because,althoughitisneverexplicitlystated,itappearsthatonlymencanenterthe competition. Alongtheway,BoraSheeleisquestisthreatenedbyShangKhans

treacherousspy,whocontinuallyattemptstoexposehertruegenderbysuggesting modificationofthecompetitiontotheKhan,suchastheforcingthecontestantsto wrestleshirtlessandenterthehorseracenaked.BoraSheeleiishelpedinherquest byhertalkinghorse,AjanKulaa,whoaidsherindisguisinghergenderbycovering herchestwithbearfurandcreatingfakegenitalsfromtheheadofagoose.Ajan KulaawasformerlyBoktuKirishshorse,anditwashisfallthatcausedtheaccident thatkilledBoktuKirish,whichhelpsexplainthehorsesgriefathismastersdeath, andhispersistenceinthequesttobringBoktuKirishbacktolife. BoktuKirishisanoralepicfromTuva,asemiindependentrepublicfoundin

southernRussia,justwestofMongolia.TuvanitselfisaTurkiclanguagethathas beenheavilyinfluencedbyMongolianand,morerecently,Russian.TheRepublicof TuvawasofficiallyannexedbytheSovietUnionin1944;priortothat,theRepublic

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hadbeenanautonomoussatellitestatedominatedbytheSovietUnion.Theuseof theTuvanlanguagehasdroppedintheyearssincetheannexationduetoSoviet languagepoliciesthataimedtodiscouragetheuseofindigenouslanguagesand promoteRussianintheirplace.However,feelingsabouttheTuvanlanguageremain strong;the1989Sovietcensusrecordedthat99.2percentofTuvansconsider Tuvan,notRussian,tobetheirmothertongue.Despitethesestrongfeelings,almost allTuvansspeakRussian,andwhilesomearebilingual,someareentirely monolingual2. TraditionalTuvansocietyisnomadic,likethatofmostcentralAsianpeoples,

andmanyoftheindigenouspeoplesofTuvaandthesurroundingareastilllivea nomadiclifestyle,survivingbyherdingyakandreindeer3.Tuvansocietyis traditionallyBuddhist,withagooddealofshamanismandanimisticworship integratedwithmoretraditionalBuddhistpractices.However,whenTuvawasfirst dominatedbytheSovietgovernmentinthe1930s,evenpriortoannexationbythe SovietUnion,thesepracticeswereliquidatedinfavorofSovietatheism(Levin16). WhiletheindependentTuvangovernmentofthe1920shadstronglysupported Buddhism,bytheearly1930sallBuddhistmonkshadbeenstrippedoftherightto vote,andallbutonepreviouslyexistingBuddhistmonasteryhadbeendestroyed.In recentyears,however,duetomoreliberalpoliciesonthepartoftheRussian

2Levin,Theodore.WhereRiversandMountainsSing:Sound,Music,andNomadismin TuvaandBeyond.BloomingtonandIndianapolis:IndianaUniversityPress,2006. Print. 3Ballis,William.SovietRussiasAsiaticFrontierTechnique:TanaTuva.Pacific Affairs.14.1(1941).Print. 4

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government,Buddhism,likeotherTuvanculturaltraditions,hasexperienceda resurgence4. Today,TuvaismostwidelyknownbecauseofthepracticeofTuvanthroat

singing,amusicalstyleinwhichasinglevocalistcansimultaneouslyproducetwo distinctpitchesbyselectivelyamplifyingharmonicsnaturallypresentinthevoice (Levinxi).ArtistssuchasthegroupsHuunHuurTuandAlash,aswellasindividuals suchasKongarolOndar,havepopularizedtheartformintheWest,touringand producingrecordingsthatareenjoyedbyaudiencestheworldover.Traditional TuvanverbalartssuchasBoktuKirish,however,havenotenjoyedthesamekindof success,andarelargelyunknowntoaudiencesoutsideofTuva,withtheexception ofcertainacademics. BoktuKirishisaverypopulartaleinTuvaandhasappearedinmany

versions,severalofwhichhavebeenwrittendownandstudiedbylinguistsand folkloristsovertheyears.Thetwomostnotableversionswerebothpublishedby Russianfolklorescholars,andwerecollectedbyXunan-Kara5 and V.Sh. Cham'yan6. Chamyans version is the longest telling of the tale that has been collected, measuring 9440 lines, and it is not a single telling of the tale, but rather sections from different versions that have been combined into a single text. TheversionwithwhichIwillbe workingisaveryshorttellingofthetaleonly381linestoldtoK.DavidHarrison bytheTuvanstorytellerShojdakoolXovalg,whichwaspublishedin2005. 4Alalatu,Toomas.Tuva:AStateReawakens.SovietStudies.44.5(1992).Print. 5-. -, -. : , 1997. Print. 6, .. -, - . : , 1995. Print. 5

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Iwillbeginmyexplorationofthistalewithaverystrictformalistanalysis,

usingthemethodsdevelopedbyVladimirProppandStithThompsontobreakthe taledownintoitsbasicstructuresandmotifs,whichIwillthencomparetoWestern folklore,includingfairytalesinparticulartheRussiantalesthatProppusedto createhisformaliststructureandoralepicssuchastheIliadandtheOdyssey.This sectionwilldemonstratetheusefulnessofatraditionalfolkloricapproachin describingboththecommonandtheextremelyunusualthemesandmotifsfoundin BoktuKirish. Inthesecondsectionofthepaper,Iwillanalyzethetaleintermsofthe

poeticdevicesused,inparticulartheuseofformulaicnames,formulaicspeech, alliteration,andemphaticsuffixes.Thisdiscussionwillonceagaindrawconnections betweenBoktuKirishandother,morewidelyknownfolktalesandoralepics.In addition,thephonologicalanalysisofthesepoeticfeatureswillpavethewayforthe applicationoflinguistictheoryinsectionthree. Thethirdsectionofthepaperwillapplylinguistictheoryspecificallythe

theoryofsoundsymbolismandDellHymestheoryofthestructureduseofaffixes tothepoeticstructuresdiscussedintheprevioussection.Thissectionwill demonstratetheimportanceofthestudyoffolkloreinlinguistics,asIbelievethe instancesofsoundsymbolismthatappearaspartofthepoeticdevicesinBoktu KirishhavenotbeenpreviouslydocumentedintheliteratureonTuvan.Inaddition, theconnectionbetweensoundandmeaningasexemplifiedbyTuvansound symbolismisanunderstudiedareainlinguistics,largelybecauseofSaussures widelyacceptedformulationofthearbitraryrelationshipbetweensignand

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meaning.However,thesoundsymbolismapparentinBoktuKirisharguesthatthere issomeconnectionbetweensoundandmeaning,andcontributesgreatlytothe limitedexistingliteratureonsoundsymbolism.Theextremelystrongconnection betweensoundandmeaningfoundinTuvanisunique,butalsoapplicabletothe studyofsoundsymbolismcrosslinguistically.Byshowingtheincrediblerichnessof Tuvansoundsymbolism,andthecrosslinguisticapplicationsofitsstudy,Ihopeto demonstratetheimportanceoflinguisticanalysisoffolkliterature,inwhich patternsofthistypearequitecommon. TheothertheoreticalareaonwhichIfocusistheconnectionbetween

emphaticsuffixesandthetalesoverallstructure.Apatternofexpressiveprefixesin talesfromtheTakelmatribewasanalyzedbyHymestodemonstratethatthese prefixesareusedtoindicateandintensifycertainstructuralmomentsinthetales.I willarguethatasimilarphenomenonoccurswiththeTuvanemphaticsuffix[daa], whichoccursmanytimesinthetalebuthasnot,asofyet,beenshowntooccurin anysortofstructuredway.Whilethepatternedappearanceofthisparticularaffixis amuchmorespecificexampleoftheoverlapbetweenphonologyandmeaningthan thepresenceofsoundsymbolism,itisstillanimportantone.Theexistenceofthis sortofpatternedaffixationintheTuvantalesupportstheconclusionreachedby HymesinhisdiscussionofTakelmatalesanddemonstratesthatthesesortsof patternsmightbecrosslinguisticallyrelevant,giventheirpresenceinthesetwo verydifferentfolklorictraditions. Thefinalsectionofthepaperwillsuggestpossibleimplicationsofthe

previouslydiscussedlinguistictheorytothestudyofcognitivescience,particularly

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thatofmemory.IwillworkwithRubinstheoryoffolkliteratureandmemoryto demonstratethatthewayinwhichalliterativepatternsinteractwithmeaningvia soundsymbolism,andthewaythattheemphaticsuffix[daa]delineatesthe structureofthetale,canmaketheworkeasiertomemorizeandtransmit,aswellas easierforthelistenertofollow.Theseconnectionswillpavethewayforfurther researchintotheinteractionsbetweenpoeticdevices,meaningandmemory,an areathathasbeengenerallyunderstudied,largelybecauseofpreviousassumptions thatstudiesoffolklorearenottheworkoftrainedlinguists,butrathertheprovince ofanthropologistsorliteraryscholars. 1.1 ReviewofLiterature Whenwritingaboutoralepics,thenaturalplacetostartreadingisAlbert

LordsseminalworkTheSingerofTales7.Thisbookastudyoforalepicsas informedbyLordsworkwiththeSouthSlavicguslars,epicstorytellersfrom easternEuropewasthefirstworktotreatoralepicsaslegitimatetexts,with poeticstructures,motifs,andeverythingelsethatbeingaworkof(oral)literature entails.Lordwasalsothefirstresearchertohypothesizethatsomeoftheseminal worksoftheWesterncanon,suchastheHomericepicsandBeowulf,wereoriginally oralinnature.Usinghisobservationsofthepoeticstructuresutilizedbytheguslars, LorddrewparallelsbetweentheseepicsandtheaforementionedWesternepics,and indoingsorevolutionizedthestudyoforality.However,forthepurposeofthis paper,Lordsworkisnotparticularlyrelevant.Inrestrictinghimselfpurelytothe traditionalWesternepicsandthoseoftheguslars,Lordcreatedaformulaicmodel 7Lord,AlbertB.TheSingerofTales.Cambridge,MA:HarvardUniversityPress,2000. Print. 8

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oforalepicthat,whilefascinatingandrevolutionaryatthetime,isnotapplicableto theepicsofmanynonWesterntraditions,suchasTuvan,duetoaheavyfocuson devicessuchasrhymeandmeterthataresimplynotpresentinTuvanoralepics. Becauseofthisdiscrepancy,IwillnotbeusingLordsmodeltoanalyzeBoktuKirish, butIdonotwanttoignoretheimportanceofthisseminalworkinthestudyof folklore. AnotherinterestingbackgroundworkisFoleysHowtoReadanOralPoem8.

Foleysdiscussionsofthecharacteristicsofanoralworkareusefultomyanalysisof poetics,despitenotbeingastrictlylinguisticanalysis.Foleysbookcontainsa chapteronethnopoetics,therealcenterofthispaper,whichprovidesuseful descriptionsofsome(thoughnotnearlyall)frequentlyemployedpoeticdevicesin thecontextoforalepics,specificallyBeowulf.WhileFoleysdiscussionof ethnopoeticsiscursoryatbest,hedoesacknowledgetheexistenceofmanydifferent formsofpoetics,andexaminessomedevicescommonlyusedinoralepics.In addition,hisanalysisofthepoeticsofBeowulf,whileratherspeculative,isauseful demonstrationofthepracticeofanalysisofthespokencharacteristicsoforaltexts encounteredprimarilythroughwriting.Thisanalysiswillproveusefulbecause, althoughIdohaveaccesstoarecordingofBoktuKirish,duetomylimited knowledgeofTuvanmuchofmyanalysiswillbeperformedusingonlyatextual version.

8Foley,JohnMiles.HowtoReadanOralPoem.UrbanaandChicago:Universityof IllinoisPress,2002.Print. 9

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Theformalist,contentbasedanalysisofTuvanoralworkswillbeperformed

withintheframeworkofProppsstructuralanalyses9andThompsonsmotifdriven analyses10.BothProppandThompsonprovideindispensibletoolsforbreaking downthecontentoffolkliteratureintomanageablechunks,whichcanthenbe connectedtocertainphonologicalphenomena.However,bothanalysesarerather imperfectlysuitedtotheanalysisoftheTuvanoraltradition.Proppinparticular dealsexclusivelywithfolkandfairytalesfromtheWesterntradition,andhis analysisisnotpreparedfortheverydifferentandsometimesbizarreoccurrences andplottwistsofBoktuKirish.ThompsonsMotifIndexofFolkLiteratureisalso somewhatweightedtowardtheWesterntradition,andthusdoesnotcontain certainmotifsthatappearinTuvanoralliterature.Thesetwoworks,however,are veryusefulwhenanalyzingthestructureandcontentoffolkliterature,andIconsult bothsources,inspiteoftheirfewdeficiencies. Forthispaper,themostimportantworkonoraltraditionsisDellHymes

folkloricstudy,InVainITriedtoTellYou,11anditsfollowup,NowIOnlyKnowSo Far12.Inthiswork,Hymesaimstobridgethegapbetweenstructurallinguistics,on theonehand,andliteratureandanthropology,ontheother.Hymesstatesinhis introduction,Whenonelooksatlinguisticelementsfromthestandpointoftheir integrationintoahigherlevelofdiscourseintheserviceofahigherfunction,new 9Propp,Vladimir.MorphologyoftheFolktale.Trans.LaurenceScott.Austin: UniversityofTexasPress,2005.Print. 10Thompson,Stith.MotifIndexofFolkLiterature.Bloomingtonand Indianapolis:IndianaUniversityPress,1989.Print. 11Hymes,Dell.InVainITriedtoTellYou:EssaysinNativeAmericanEthnopoetics. LincolnandLondon:UniversityofNebraskaPress,2004.Print. 12Hymes,Dell.NowIOnlyKnowSoFar:EssaysinEthnopoetics.LincolnandLondon: UniversityofNebraskaPress,2003.Print. 10

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relationshipscometolightthatarecontributionstolinguisticsitself(Hymes8);in otherwords,lookingatthelinguisticallygroundedpoeticdevicesinthecontextof thenarrativeandthemotifsusedtherein,wecandiscoverpreviouslyunknownuses andmeaningsofthesedevices.Forexample,inNowIOnlyKnowSoFarHymes arguesthatthestrictversestructureoftheKathlametSalmonsMythis determinedbyananalogueinthegrammarofthelanguage: Somedistinctionsarewithinunits[ofthemorphemes thatmakeuptheverb].Thuswithinthepositionsof subject(ergativeagent),object,andindirectobject, therearepositionaldistinctionsinvolvedinthemarking ofnumber,agencyandreflexiveness.Thelatter differentiationsareanalogoustotheamplificationofthe versepositionsinthethirdstanza[ofSalmonsMyth]. Theycohereasaunitinrelationtotherestofthe structure(Hymes146). Hymessanalysesrangefromextremelybroad,languagewidepatternslikethe connectionbetweenversestructureandverbstructurementionedabove,tomore talespecificpatterns,suchasthepatternofstructuralaffixationinTakelmatales, whichisdiscussedindetailinalatersection.Inthispaper,IwillfollowHymes philosophyinanattempttoshedlightoncertainintriguingphonologicalpatterns foundinTuvanoralepicssomespecifictothetaleortheoraltradition,andsome morewiderangingandrelevanttothegrammarofthelanguageasawholeand thusdrawaconnectionbetweenthepoeticsoftheseepicsandthecontentofthe narratives.

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Anothersourcethatwillaidinforgingconnectionsbetweensoundpatterns

andmeaningisTsursbookWhatMakesSoundPatternsExpressive?13LikeHymes, Tsuranalyzesspecificsoundpatternsinparticular,theacousticqualitiesofvowels andconsonantsthathebelievescontributeadditionallayersofmeaningtospeech. Tsuralsospendsagooddealoftimeanalyzingspatialandtactilemetaphors conveyedusingsoundpatterns,aphenomenonwhichisextremelyprevalentin Tuvan,andwhichIwilldiscussingreaterdetaillaterinthepaper.Tsurswork,like Hymes,willproveusefulbydemonstratingthataconnectionbetweenphonological patternsandmeaningdoesexist,andbygivingexamplesofthisconnection.These exampleswillprovidesomeusefulguidelinesasIlookformeaningfulsound patternsinTuvanoralepics. TwoothersourcesthatIwilldiscusswhendealingwithsoundsymbolism

areHelenVendlersTheArtofShakespearesSonnets14andHinton,Nicholsand OhalasSoundSymbolism15.Vendlerswork,despitedealingwiththedecidedlyun folkloricShakespeareansonnets,isawealthofinformationaboutsoundsymbolism patternsinShakespeare,manyofwhichareconsistentwithsoundsymbolic patternsfoundinBoktuKirish.Hintonetal.,ontheotherhand,providesan overviewofsoundsymbolisminlanguagesaroundtheworld,rangingfromwell knownsoundsymbolicpatternsinEnglishforexample,aninterestingdiscussion byRhodesofauralimageryandsoundsymbolism(Hintonetal.,276292)thatis 13Tsur,Reuven.WhatMakesSoundPatternsExpressive:ThePoeticModeofSpeech Perception.DurhamandLondon:DukeUniversityPress,1992.Print. 14Vendler,Helen.TheArtofShakespearesSonnets.CambridgeandLondon:Harvard UniversityPress,1997.Print. 15Hinton,Leanne,JoannaNichols,andJohnJ.Ohala,eds.SoundSymbolism.New York:CambridgeUniversityPress,1994.Print. 12

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similartothepatternsdemonstratedbyHarrisontolesserknownpatternsfound inAmericanIndian,AustralianandAfricanlanguages.Theseworkswillallowmeto demonstratepossiblecrosslinguisticapplicationsofthestudyofTuvansound symbolism. SomeexamplesofHymesandTsursconnectionsbetweenphonologyand

meaninginthecontextofTuvancanbefoundinHarrisonsSouthSiberianSound Symbolism16.Inthispaper,Harrisondocumentsanddiscussesarich,productive systemofreduplicativesoundsymbolismfoundinTuvan.Harrisonsanalysisfound thatusingdifferentvowelsinareduplicativeformaddsdifferentshadesofmeaning tothereduplicatedphrase,andthatthesemeaningsareremarkablyconsistent,no matterthewordbeingreduplicated.Inaddition,Harrisonfindsstrongsound symbolicpatternsinconsonants,patternswhichareapplicabletomyanalysisof soundsymbolisminBoktuKirish.IhopetouseHarrisonsanalysisofthelayersof meaningprovidedbythedifferentvowelsoundstoinformmyownphonological analysisofTuvanoralliterature.Becausethisbriefpaperismyonlysourcethat actuallydealswithTuvanphonology,itwillproveextremelyusefulinapplying HymesphonologicalanalyseswhichdealonlywithNativeAmericanlanguages toTuvan. Inadditiontosimplydrawingaconnectionbetweenphonologicalpatterns,I

alsointendtoshowthecognitiveimportanceofpoeticdevices.InhisbookMemory

16Harrison,K.David.SouthSiberianSoundSymbolism.Languagesandprehistory ofcentralSiberia.Ed.EdwardJ.Vajda.Amsterdam:JohnBenjaminsPublishing Company,2004.Print. 13

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inOralTraditions17,Rubinsdetailsthewaysinwhichpoeticdevicesaidinthe memorizationofepics.ThequestionofhowBoktuKirishs400lines,nottomention oralepicssuchasthe25,000lineIliad,12,000lineOdyssey,andthe500,000line KyrgyzManas,couldpossiblybecommittedtomemoryisonethathaslongbaffled literaryscholarsandcognitivescientistsalike.Inhisbook,RubinsadaptsLords formulaictheoryofHomericepicbygeneralizingitintoabroadertheory,onethat cantakeintoaccounttheconstraintsinherentindifferentpoetictraditions.The formulaictheoryinitsoriginalformisuselessinthediscussionofTuvanepics,asit dealsonlywiththeHomericconstraintsofmeterandtheme.Rubinsadapted theory,however,allowsustomakeuseofotherprevalentTuvandevicessuchas soundsymbolismandalliterationandignoredevicesthatarenotpresentinTuvan oralepics,suchasrhyme. Whenstudiedincombinationwithfolkmotifsandpoeticdevices,Rubins

theoryofthecognitivepsychologyofmemorycouldshowushoworalpoets performsuchimpressivefeatsofmemorization.Cognitivepoeticsisarelativelynew fieldofstudy,andnosuchstudyhaseverdealtwiththeepicsofSouthSiberia.This cognitiveanalysisofpoeticscouldhelpunravelthecognitiveeffectsthatunderlie thememorizationoforalepics,whichcouldinturntellusagreatdealabouttheway humanmemoryworks.

17Rubin,DavidC.MemoryinOralTraditions:TheCognitivePsychologyofEpic, Ballads,andCountingoutRhymes.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1995.Print. 14

AlexandraIsrael 2.0 FormalistAnalysis

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Theformalistanalysisportionofthispaperwillbecarriedoutaccordingtwo

frameworks:themorphologicalframeworksetoutbyValdimirProppinhisseminal workTheMorphologyoftheFairytale,andthefolkmotifframeworkdetailedinStith ThompsonsMotifIndexofFolkLiterature.Proppsanalysisisusedtoanalyzethe plotstructureofBoktuKirish,whileThompsonsanalysisallowsforananalysisof thefolkmotifsthatappearintheTuvanepic.Bothframeworksareusefulinthat theyallowforcomparisonsbetweenTuvanepicsandtheWesternfolktradition; however,aheavyfocusonWesterntalesmakesProppandThompsonanimperfect analyticaltool. 2.1 ProppsMorphologicalAnalysis Proppswork,whichwasoriginallypublishedin1928,analyzestheplot

structureandcharactersofafolktaleasarchetypicalpersonsandevents,thebasics ofwhichareremarkablyconsistentacrossmanydifferentfolklorictraditions. AccordingtoPropp,hisanalysiscanbeappliedtoanyfairytale;twoofthebasic tenetsofhisworkareThesequenceoffunctions[actions]arealwaysidenticaland Allfairytalesareofonetypeaccordingtotheirstructure(Propp2223).Thus, accordingtoPropp,thecharactersandeventsofBoktuKirishshouldfollowthe samearchetypicalstructureastheRussianfairytalesexploredinTheMorphologyof theFolktale. Ofcourse,itiscompletelylegitimatetoaskwhyIconsiderBoktuKirishtobe

afairytale,asIveintroduceditinthispaperasanoralepic.Whilethestoryofthe TuvanheroBoktuKirishandhis(arguablymore)heroicsisterBoraSheeleiis

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consideredtobeanoralepic,theversionwithwhichIamworkingislessthanfour hundredlineslong,muchshorterthanotherexamplesofthegenre,suchasthe Homericepics.Proppsdefinitionofafairytaleisnotparticularlyhelpfulhere,asit issomewhatcircular;hedeclaresthatafairytaleisastorybuiltupontheproper alternationoftheabovecitedfunctionsinvariousforms,withsomeofthemabsent fromeachstoryandwithothersrepeated(Propp99).Inotherwords,Proppis decidingwhichtalescanbeevaluatedusinghisframeworkbyevaluatingthemto seehowwelltheyfithisframework. However,IhaveseveralreasonstoclassifyBoktuKirishasafairytale.For

onething,althoughitdoesnotfitperfectlyintoProppsstructure,itcontainsmany ofthemorphologicalfeaturesdescribedbyPropp.Forexample,thefirsteventofthe talefollowingthedescriptionofwhatProppcallstheinitialsituationisthe departureofBoktuKirishtogohunting.ThiscorrespondstoProppsfirstfunction, absentation.IdescribetheotherProppianfunctionsthatappearinBoktuKirish later,duringtheactualanalysispartofthissection.AfulllistofPropps morphologicalfunctionsandtheirdefinitionscanbefoundinAppendixA. InadditiontothepresenceofmanyofProppsfunctionsinBoktuKirish,I

choosetoanalyzethistaleasafairytalebecauseofthemanynonProppiantraitsit shareswithWesternfairytaletraditions.Manyofthesetraitsarefolkmotifsthat canbefoundinThompsonsindex,whichIdescribeinthenextsection.However,I willmentionafewexampleshere.MotifR158,sisterrescuesbrother,isan importantmotifinBoktuKirish,aswellasbeingamotifthatissharedbymany othertraditions,includingIcelandicandIndiantales(ThompsonVol.5,284).

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Anotherexamplecomesintworelatedmotifs,bothofwhichappearinIrishand Jewishfolktraditions:Z292,deathofhero,andZ293,returnofthehero(Thompson Vol.5,565).ThesetwomotifsappearasbookendsofthetaleofBoktuKirish;the mainconflictofthetaleissetinmotionwithhisdeath,andthatconflictisresolved whenhereturns(isbroughtbacktolife)bythemagicalprincessAngyrChechen. Inaddition,certainstructuralaspectsofBoktuKirishcorrespondveryclosely

tothoseoffairytalesfromtheWesterntradition,suchasBoraSheeleisneedto completethreetasksinordertowinthehandofAngyrChechen,themagical princess,andtheeverpopularmotifofthetalkinganimalhelper,whichisfamiliarto usfrommanytraditionalfairytales(nottomentiontheirDisneyadaptations).Both ofthesemotifscanbefoundinthetraditionalRussianfairytalePrinceIvan,the Firebird,andtheGreyWolf18:PrinceIvanmustperformthreetaskskidnapping PrincessElena,stealingthehorsewiththegoldenmane,andfinallystealingthe FirebirdandheishelpedinallhistasksbytheGreyWolf.Theoverlapbetweenthe structureofBoktuKirishandthatofPrinceIvandemonstratesthevalidityof analyzingtheTuvantaleaccordingtotheProppianframework. AnotherfactorthathasinfluencedmychoicetoanalyzeBoktuKirishusing

theProppianframeworkisthatthisframeworkcontainsmanyfunctionsthat appearinotheroralepics.Forexample,thearrivalofOdysseusinIthacainThe OdysseyistheepitomeoffunctionsXXIIIXXVII(unrecognizedarrivalthrough recognition);thedisguiseofOdysseusasabeggar,thepresentationofhisbow,his abilitytostringthebowandshootitandhisrecognitionbyPenelopefitPropps 18Afanasev,Alexander.RussianFairyTales.Trans.NorbertGuterman.NewYork: Pantheon,1945.Print. 17

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structuralanalysisjustaswell,ifnotbetter,thantheeventsofmanymore traditionalfairytales.ThepresenceofsuchaclearexampleofProppsfunctionsin anotherepictaleprovidesastrongprecedentfortheanalysisofotherepics accordingtothisformalistsystem. BoktuKirishinmanywaysfollowsthebasicstructureofPropps

morphologicalframework.Thecharactersfitthesevenarchetypalroles(dramatis personae)designatedbyPropp(Propp7980),withsomeinterestingdoubling.The onlycharacterswhoclearlyfitoneroleareShangKhanstreacherousspy,the villain,andBoraSheelei,thehero.ThecharacterlabeledbyProppasthedonor,the providerofamagicalagent,couldbesaidtobeeitherAngyrChechen,themagical princess(whoisalsothemagicalagent)orShangKhan,herfather.However,Angyr ChechenandShangKhanalsoclearlyfilltherolesoftheprincessandherfather. Meanwhile,thetalkinghorseAjanKulaafillstherolesofbothhelperanddispatcher (hesendsBoraSheeleionherquest,andthenhelpsheraccomplishit).This doublingofrolesprovidesforaninterestingpermutationofProppsbasictale structure. Ihavealreadymentionedtheestablishmentoftheinitialsituation,inwhich

thewealth,skillsandgoodfortuneofthesiblingsBoktuKirishandBoraSheeleiare describedatlength,andfunctionI,absentation,inwhichBoktuKirishleavestogo hunting.Thefollowingtwofunctionsinterdictionandviolationarenotpresentin thetale;ratherthanBoktuKirishsdeathoccurringastheresultoftheviolationof aninstruction,itisinsteadpresentedasatragicaccident.FunctionsIVandV, reconnaissanceanddelivery,dooccurinthetale,buttheyoccurmuchlater,while

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BoraSheeleiiscompetingfortheprivilegeofmarryingAngyrChechen. Reconnaissanceanddeliveryoccursimultaneously,whenShangKhansspy,the talesvillain,disclosesthatBoraSheeleiisactuallyawoman. ActionsVIIandVIII(complicityandvillainy)dontoccurinBoktuKirish;

BoraSheeleiisherselfneverdeceivedbythevillaintheKhansspydeceivesthe Khanmultipletimes,butneverourheroineandhenevercausesharmtoheror herfamily.VIIIa(lack),however,definitivelyoccursinthetale;indeed,Bora Sheeleislackofherbrotherbecauseofhisdeathistheoccurrencethatdrivesthe plotofthetale.IX,XandXI(mediation,counteraction,anddeparture)alsoalloccur, andinthecorrectorder:AjanKulaasuggeststhatBoraSheeleimustwinthehand ofAngyrChechen(mediation);BoraSheeleidisguisesherselfasherbrother (counteraction);andsheandAjanKulaaleaveforShangKhanscamp(departure). ThenextsectionofthetaleBoraSheeleisparticipationinShangKhans

threetests,victory,andsubsequentreceiptofAngyrChechenshandinmarriage isbyfarthelongestsection,butissubsumedbyonlythreeofProppsmorphological features:thefirstfunctionofthedonor,theherosreaction,andprovisionorreceiptof amagicalagent(XIIXIV).Itisalsoduringthispartofthestorythatthepreviously mentionedfunctionsofreconnaissanceanddeliveryoccur,whenShangKhansspy attemptstoshowthatBoraSheeleiisreallyawoman. FunctionsXVXVII(spatialtransferencebetweentwokingdoms,struggle,

branding)alsodontoccurinthistale.However,XVIIIXX(victory,liquidationand return)dooccur:victory(whichwouldprobablybebettertermeddefeatofthe villain)whenBoraSheeleiindirectlydefeatsShangKhansspybywinningthe

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competitionandthehandofAngyrChechen;liquidationwhenAngyrChechen bringsBoktuKirishbacktolife;andreturnwhenBoraSheeleibringsAngyr Chechenbacktohercamp.Thelasttwofunctions,interestingenough,are backwardsinthetale;BoraSheeleisreturnhappensbeforetherestorationof BoktuKirish. FunctionsXXIXXIV(pursuit,rescue,unrecognizedarrival,unfoundedclaims)

arealsonotpresentinthistale;however,thenexttwofunctions,difficulttaskand solution(XXVandXXVI)canbesaidtooccurseveraltimes,justnotinthispartofthe story.Iwouldarguethatthisshortcycleisrepeatedthreetimes,witheach repetitioncorrespondingwithoneofthetasksBoraSheeleimustcompletetowin thehandofAngyrChechen.Forthearcherycontest,thedifficulttaskissimply winningthecontest;forthewrestlingcontest,thetaskisappearingtobeahairy chestedman,andthesolutionisachievedthroughtheapplicationofabearskin;and forthefootrace,thedifficulttaskisthenecessityforBoraSheeleitodisguiseher femalegenitals,andthesolutioncomesintheformofhergooseheadpenis.This methodoftreblingaseriesoffunctionsiscompletelyacceptableinPropps schematic:Proppmaintainsthatataleremainsasingletaleintheeventofthe treblingofentiremoves(Propp94). TheendofBoktuKirishfitsnicelyintoProppsstructure.FunctionsXXVII

andXXVIII(recognitionandexposure)arenotapplicable,asthereisnofalseheroin thetale.Thefinalthreefunctions(transfiguration,punishment,wedding)allappear inthestory,althoughpunishmenthappensearlier,whentheKhansspyispunished afterBoraSheeleiwinsthecompetition.TransfigurationisthemomentwhenBora

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SheeleiappearsasherselftogreetherbrotherandAngyrChechen,andwhilethere isnottechnicallyaweddinginthestory,theunionofBoktuKirishandAngyr Chechen,whogoontorulethelandstothenorth,iscloseenoughtocount. Tosummarize,therefollowsalistoftheProppianfunctionsthatappearin

BoktuKirish,intheorderinwhichtheyappearinthetale: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) initialsituation:Thesiblingswealth,goodfortuneandskillare established. absentation(I):BoktuKirishleavesthecamptogohunting. lack(VIIIa):BoktuKirishiskilled. mediation(IX):AjanKulaatellsBoraSheeleithatshecansaveher brotherbywinningthehandofAngyrChechen. counteraction(X):BoraSheeleidisguisesherselfasBoktuKirish. departure(XI):BoraSheeleiandAjanKulaaleavetoparticipateinthe contest. firstfunctionofthedonor(XII):ShangKhanannouncesthatwhoever triumphsinthethreecontestswillmarryhisdaughter. theherosreaction(XIII):BoraSheeleiproceedstocompeteinthe competition. difficulttask(XXV):BoraSheeleimustwinthearcherycompetition.

(10) solution(XXVI):BoraSheeleiwinsthearcherycompetition. (11) reconnaissance(IV)anddelivery(V):ShangKhansspydiscoversthat BoraSheeleiisawoman. (12) difficulttask(XXV):BoraSheeleimustwrestleshirtless,andsomehow disguiseherbreasts. (13) solution((XXVI):BoraSheeleicoversherbreastswithbearskin,and winsthewrestlingcompetition. (14) difficulttask(XXV):BoraSheeleimustracenaked,andsomehow appeartohaveamansgenitals. 21

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(15) solution(XXVI):BoraSheeleimakesfalsegenitalsoutoftheneckand beakofagoose,andwinstherace. (16) provisionorreceiptofamagicalagent(XIV):BoraSheeleiwinsAngyr Chechenshandinmarriage. (17) victory(XVIII):ShangKhansspyisdiscredited. (18) punishment(XXX):ShangKhansspyisbanishedfromthekingdom. (19) return(XX):BoraSheeleibringsAngyrChechenbacktothesiblings camp. (20) liquidation(XIX):AngyrChechenbringsBoktuKirishbacktolife. (21) transfiguration(XXIX):BoraSheeleidropsherdisguise,and reappearsasawoman. (22) wedding(XXXI):BoktuKirishandAngyrChechenareunited,andlive ontorulethelandstotheNorth. Aswecanseefromthislist,many(althoughnotall)ofProppsfunctionsappearin BoktuKirish,demonstratingthat,althoughthistalecomesfromatraditionthatis verydifferentfromthatofWesternfolkandfairytales,itcontainsmanysimilarities totalesthataremorefamiliartoaWesternaudience.ThefactthatsomeofPropps functionsdonotappearinBoktuKirishissimplyaresultofthefactthatPropps frameworkwaswrittenusingaveryspecificfolktraditionthatofRussianfairy talestoinformhisdecisions.Wewouldexpecttofindsimilardeviationsfrom Proppsstrictframeworkinotherfolklorictraditions,suchastheNativeAmerican folkliteratureexploredinHymesanalysis. 2.2 ThompsonsMotifIndexAnalysis TheProppiananalysisofBoktuKirishhelpedbreakdownthestructureofthe

taleintoidentifiablechunks.However,whilethebasicstructureofthetaleisnow

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understood,thecontentofthetalehasnotyetbeenanalyzed.UsingThompsons MotifIndexofFolkLiterature,IlookatsomeofthemotifsthatappearinBoktu Kirish,whichallowsmetocomparetheTuvantaletomorewidelyknownoralepics andtales.Thisanalysiswillalsobreakthecontentofthetaledownintomanageable chunks,aprocesswhichprovesusefulwhen,inthenextsection,Iattempttodraw connectionsbetweenbitsofmeaningandphonologicalpatterns. BeforeIbeginthisanalysis,awordabouttheMotifIndex.Theindex

cataloguesmotifsthatappearinmanydifferentfolktraditionsbycategorizingthem intogroups;forinstance,onegroupdealswithmotifsthatinvolveanimals,another dealswithfamilyrelationships,athirddealswithmagicalhelpers,andsoon.A motifitselfisbasicallyachunkofinformationthatappearsinatale;itcanbea character,aplace,anaction,etc.TheMotifIndexisquitelengthy;itrunstosix volumes,oneofwhichissimplyanindexfortheothers.InthispaperIexamine someofthemoreandlesscommonmotifsfoundinBoktuKirish;someofthese motifsarecommonlyfoundinfolkliteraturefromothertraditions,whileothersare previouslyundocumentedanddonotappearinThompsonsindex. Thefirstmotifthatappearsinthetaleisanextremelycommonone,

identifiedbyThompsonasA1101.1,goldenage:aformerageofperfection.This motifisfoundintraditionsrangingfromancientGreekmythologytonative AmericancreationmythstotheHebrewBible(ThompsonVol.1194);thus,itisnot atallsurprisingtofindthisextremelypopularmotifinBoktuKirish.Thismotif, however,ispresentedwithsomespecificallyTuvantwists(alltextfromBoktu KirishistakenfromHarrison2005):

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(23) 16.OnceuponatimeBoktuKirishandBoraSheelei,17.thesetwo siblingshadmeat(piled)higherthantheirshoulders,18.and livestockreachinghigherthantheirheads. TheseparticulardescriptionsutilizespecificallyTuvanformulations,suchasthe descriptionofmeatpiledhigherthantheirshoulders,todescribetheabundance thatblessesthesiblings. AnotherextremelycommonmotiffoundinBoktuKirishisthatoftheanimal

helper,specificallythatofthehelpfulhorse,classifiedasmotifB401(ThompsonVol. 1432).Thismotif,likethegoldenagemotif,isfoundinahugevarietyoffolk traditions:accordingtoThompson,helpfulhorsesappearinEuropean,Filipinoand Indianmyths,justtonameafew.AjanKulaaistheepitomeofthehelpfulanimal;he tellsBoraSheeleihowtosaveherbrother,hesuggestsshedisguiseherselfasaman, andheknowswhattodowhenhertruegenderisabouttobeexposed.Inaddition tothebasichelpfulhorsemotif,AjanKulaasactionsconformtoseveralother animalhelpermotifs.WhenthereaderfirstencountersAjanKulaaheisweeping overthebodyofBoktuKirish: (24) 43.When[BoraSheelei]hadlaidoutthedivingbones,shesaw(that) 44.herelderbrother,onanorthernslopenamedArzaityintheAla mountains,45.haddied.46.AndhishorseAjanKulaastoodcryingat hisside,soitseemed. ThisdescriptionfitsmotifB301.4.3,faithfulhorsejoinsinkeen[expressionofgrief] atherosdeath(ThompsonVol.1423).Then,whenBoraSheeleidoesnotknow howtobringherbrotherbacktolife,AjanKulaatellsherhowtowinthehandofthe sorceressAngyrChechen,whichconformstomotifB505.2,animaltellsherowhere tofindmagicobject(ThompsonVol.1442).

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BecauseIalreadyperformedaProppiananalysisonthistale,Iwillbelargely

avoidingmotifsthathavealreadybeenanalyzedaccordingtoProppsformalist theory.Whenthesemotifsarediscounted,thethirdextremelycommonmotifto appearinBoktuKirishisthedisguiseofawomanasaman,specificallymotifK1837, thedisguiseofawomaninmansclothes(ThompsonVol.4440).BoraSheeleis willingnesstodisguiseherselfasamanissharedbywomeninGreek,Icelandic, ChineseandIndonesiantraditions,aswellasmanyothers.Inaddition,Bora Sheeleisdisguisefitsintoanothermotif,K1821,disguisebychangingbodily appearance(ThompsonVol.4436),amotiffoundinFrenchCajunfolklore. BoktuKirish,inadditiontocontainingthepreviouslymentionedcommon

motifsnottomentionthemanyothermotifsitshareswithotherfolktraditions alsocontainscertainmotifsthatappearnowhereinThompsonsseemingly exhaustiveindex.Forexample,althoughthemotifofawomandisguisingherselfasa manisextremelycommonamongfolktraditions,therearenomotifsthatspecifya womandisguisingherfemalegenitaliaasmalegenitaliausinganymethod,much lesstheheadandneckofagooseasBoraSheeleidoes: (25) 275.Thenherhorsesaid:276.Asforthat,itsjustfine.277.Wayover thereinastripedmountainforestcalledArzaity,278.onitsnorthern sideinalakeareswimmingalotofwhitegeese.279.Amongthose whitegeese,280.theresawhiteganderwithabigredbilllikeafist. 281.Havingkilledthatwhitegander,282.andpeeledoffitsskin,take thewhitegandersparts,283.andmakefromthemamanstesticles, 284.andtakeitsfistlikebigredbeak,285.togetherwithitsneck,and makefromthemamansgenitals,286.andwhenyouvemagically gluedshutyourwomansgenitalswiththem,287.thatsthat! ThismotifwhichisextremelybizarretoaWesternlistener,butwhichgivesno pausetoanindividualaccustomedtotheTuvanfolktraditionisextremelyunique

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andfoundonlyintheTuvanoralliterature,atleastasfarasisindicatedbyprevious researchonthefolkmotifsfoundinoraltraditions. TheProppianandmotifbasedanalysesofBoktuKirishdemonstratenotonly

thesimilaritiesbetweenthestructureandcontentofthetaleandthatofbetter knownWesterntalesandepics,butalsoshowstheplaceswhereBoktuKirish divergesfromthesebetterknowntales.Thisanalysisisusefulinthatitallowsusto analyzethetalethroughcomparison,usingthetaleswithwhichaWesternreaderis familiartoelucidatethestructureandcontentofatalethat,atfirstglance,might seemveryforeign.ThedivergencesbetweenthestructureoftheTuvantaleandthe structuresofthesebetterknowntalescanbeusedtoaskquestionsaboutthewayin whichTuvancultureinfluencesTuvanoralliterature:forexample,isitsignificant that,inBoktuKirish,lackisbroughtaboutnotthroughtheworkofavillain,but ratherthroughatragicaccident,anaccident,noless,forwhichAjanKulaa,the helper,istoblame?Thisquestions,andothersofitstype,arenotwithinthescopeof thispapertoanswer,buttheycouldcreateinterestingtopicsforfuture anthropologicalresearch. Asfarasthelinguisticscopeofthispaperisconcerned,somemightquestion

thelinguisticvalueofaformalist,decidedlynonlinguisticanalysis.However,I wouldarguethatatruefolkloricanalysiscannotbecompletedwithoutthe completionofsuchaformalistaspect.Inordertobridgethegapbetweenfolklore andlinguistics,ananalysismustincludebothafolkloricandlinguisticcomponent. Thelinguisticcomponentthatofphonologicalpoetics,inparticularanexploration

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ofsoundsymbolismcomesinthenextsection.Alinguisticanalysis,however,is meaninglesswithoutknowledgeofthelargerstructureofthetale.

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PhonologicalAnalysisofPoeticStructures Whenanalyzinganykindofliteraryorpoeticwork,itisimportanttoanalyze

notonlythestructureandcontentofthework,butalsothepoeticdevicesusedby thepoetorteller.PoeticdevicesinTuvanprovideagooddealofmaterialfornew analysis,astheydiffergreatlyfromthetwomostprevalentWesterndevices:rhyme andmeter.Tuvanoralepics,incommonwithmuchotherTuvanfolkliterature,do notuserhyme.Duetothelanguagesextremelyregularcasesystemandverbal conjugationsystem,aswellasanunusuallystrongsystemofvowelharmony,itis remarkablyeasytocreaterhyminglinesinTuvan,andthusrhymingisnot consideredamarkofpoeticskill.Rhymeisoccasionallyusedinmorecontemporary Tuvanpoetry,buttherearealwaysotherpoeticdevicesatwork.Meterisalsorather unimportantinTuvanepics;whileHarrisonbelievesthatBoktuKirishcanbe transcribedusingheptasyllabiclinescansion19,thereisnodistinctmeterwhenthe taleisspoken,anditisuncleariftheaforementionedlinescansionisactuallyinuse inthetale. Intheplaceofrhymeandmeter,BoktuKirishreliesheavilyontheuseof

formulaicnames,formulaicspeech,alliteration,andemphaticsuffixesthatdrawthe listenersattentiontocertainwords.Iwillbeexaminingeachofthesephenomenain thissectionofthepaper;thefollowingsectionwilldealwithtwopoeticdevices alliterationandtheemphaticsuffix[daa]anddemonstratethewaysinwhichthese suffixescontributetothemeaningofthetale. 19Harrison,David.ATuvanHeroTale,withCommentary,MorphemicAnalysis,and Translation.JournaloftheAmericanOrientalSociety125.1(2005).Print. 28

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Aquicknoteaboutorthography:allTuvanexamplesinthistextarewritten

usingasystemoforthographytraditionallyusedbyTurkiclinguistsratherthan I.P.A.Inthissystem,soundsthatdonotappearintheRomanalphabetaremarked withdiacritics,withtheexceptionof//whichrepresentsthesamesoundthatthis symbolrepresentsinI.P.A.,thengfoundintheEnglishsing.Anexampleofa letterthatutilizesadiacriticisthephonemewrittenas//,whichrepresentsthe shsoundfoundintheEnglishash,andthephoneme//,whichrepresentsthe chofchild. Thefirstpoeticdevicethatofaddingaformulaicdescriptionontothename

ofeachcharacterisreasonablywellknowntoanyreaderoftheHomericepics. ThoseofuswhoarefamiliarwithwilyOdysseusandHector,breakerofhorses,will notbesurprisedtolearnthatmanyofthecharactersinBoktuKirisharealways identifiedusingnotonlytheirnames,butalsosomesortofepithetthatdescribes thatcharactersroleinthestory.Mostnotably,BoktuKirishandBoraSheeleis namesareconstantlyaccompaniedbyelderbrotherandyoungersister(fora listingofthemorphosyntactictagsusedinexcerptsfromthetale,seeAppendixB): (26) jaan am boktukiri akz FORM FORM BK elder.brother3 29. AndsoitwasthatelderbrotherBoktuKirish (27) boraeelej ks dmaz BS girl younger.sibling3 33. BoraSheeleihisyoungersister Itisworthnotingthat[bora],asappearsinthenameBoraSheelei,canalsobeused tomeangray.However,inthetale,thisformofgrayonlyappearsinthecontextof

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BoraSheeleisactionswhensherunswiththespeedofagrayhareduringthe footracesectionofthestory: (28) am bora toolajboop xuulup algat now gray hare PROBCV changeCV SBENSSGEN 310. Butwhileshewaschangedintoagrayhare, kiiler=bile arrga taarpas bolganda peoplepl=INScompetePFDATsuitRCPNEG/FbePSTLOC 311. itwasntproperforhertocompetewithpeople. ndaar xuulbajn do.thusPF changeNEGPST 312. So,shedidntactuallychangeintoone, a bora toolajn mankeep apkat but gray hareGEN run3ACCCLOCCVtakeSSGEN 313. butsimplytookontherunningspeedofagrayhare. However,earlierinthetalethetellerreferstograyhorses,andadifferentwordfor grayisused: (29) le bula lglg gray gray horse.herdADJ 20. theherdofgrayhorses. Inthistale,BoraSheeleisnameitselfmightbeanindicationofherpowersof shapeshifting,as[bora]isonlyusedtomeangraywhenitappliestoBoraSheelei, notwhenitappliestograyhorses.Itshouldbenotedthatthesetwoexamplesare theonlyplacesinthetextwhereanywordmeaninggrayisused;however,despite thesmallsamplesize,thepatternhereisclear.BoraSheelei,then,inadditionto beingdescribedbytheepithet[ksdmaz],hisyoungersister,alsohasaname withspecificconnotationsaboutherabilities. Inadditiontoformulaicnames,formulaicspeechpatternsoftenappearin

BoktuKirish.Theclearestexampleofthesespeechpatternscomesatthebeginning

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ofthestory,whenthetellerintroducesthestorywithanextremelyformulaicline thatisakintobutmuchmorecomplexthanthefamiliarWesternformulaonce uponatime: (31) jaanam, ertegini ertezinde, burungunu FORMFORM morningGENearly3LOC long.agoGEN 6. Onceuponatime,intheveryearliestmorningoftime,before murnunda beforeLOC thelong,longago, Thisformulationisacommonone,seeninvariousothertales,eventhoseof differentgenressuchasoriginmythsandscarystories.Inadditiontotheentireline servingasaformulaicbeginningtothestory,thislargechunkofformulaicspeech containsasmaller,evenmoreformulaicpiece;thephrase[jaanam]is,according toHarrison,completelymeaninglessitisglossedsimplyasFORMFORM.However, thephraseispartofthetaleforareason;itisclearlysymbolicofsomethingakinto thetraditionalWesternonceuponatime,whichisthetranslationthatHarrisonuses fortheseenigmaticwords. Thephrase[jaanam]isusedseveralmoretimesinBoktuKirish,inthe

sectionthatProppwouldcalltheinitialsituation.Thisformulaappearsnolessthan fivetimesinthefirstfortylinesofthetale,andeachtimeitbeginsasectionthat describesadifferentaspectoftheinitialsituation.Thefirstuseoftheformula, whichisseeninexample(30)above,beginsthetale,andsimplydescribesthestate oftheworldasitwasduringthetimeofthetale: (32) 6.Onceuponatime,intheveryearliestmorningoftime,beforethe long,longago,7.attheendofthebadtimes,beforethegoodtimes,8. whenthedeeranddoe,thewildelkstagandelkdoeoverflowedfrom

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theirwoods,9.themountaingoat,thehare,andthegrouse overflowedfromtheirforests,10.arich,wonderful,andplentiful goodtimeitwas,sotheysay. Thesecondtwosectionsoftheinitialsituationaresimilartothefirst;thesecond sectiondescribesthephysicalcharacteristicsofBoktuKirish,andthethirdsection tellsofthegreatmaterialwealthofthetwosiblings.Thefourthinitialsituation sectionis,onceagain,similar.Itisanotherdescriptivesection,inwhichthesiblings respectiveskillsetsaredescribed. Thefifth[jaanam]section,however,isslightlydifferent.Initslastusagein

thetale,theformulaisusedtoendthedescriptionoftheinitialsituationandto jumpstarttheactionofthestory: (33) jaanam birle kattapBoktuKiriakz FORMFORM oneEMPH once BK elder.brother3 38. Onceuponatime,herelderbrotherBoktuKirish rga sndan anap orutka forest mountain.ridgeADLhuntCV goPERFSS 39. wenthuntingontheforestedmountainridge, uutla isokide beriptir completelyEMPHtrackNEGdisappearCVINCHPERFPF 40. anddisappearedwithoutatrace. Atthispoint,itisclearthat,whiletheformula[jaanam]is,inoneway,performing thesamefunctionasitdoesinthefourpreviousoccurrencesthatis,toindicatethe startofanewsectionofthetaleitisalsodoingsomethingslightlydifferent.The previousinstancesofthisphrasewereallusedtosetupthebackgroundofthestory. Inthisinstance,however,thephraseisbeingusedtoindicatetheendofone function,theinitialsituation,andtosignalthebeginningofanother,absentation.Itis clear,then,thatthemeaningof[jaanam]isfluid,andcanchangedependingonthe

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contextinwhichitisused.Ishalloffersomesuggestionsastothepossiblemeanings associatedwiththisphraselater,aspartofthediscussionofsoundsymbolism. Anothercommonpoeticdeviceindeed,oneofthemostcommondevices

usedinTuvanisalliteration,whichisheredefinedasapatternofrepeated phonemes,mostcommonlyconsonants,giventherobustpatternsofvowelharmony foundinTuvan.Alliterationcanappearincontiguouswordsinthesameline,orat thebeginningsofdifferentlinesinsomesortofpattern.Forthepurposeofthis study,awithinlinepatternofalliterationcanbeasshortasthreeinstancesofthe samephoneme,whilelineinitialalliterationcanbesaidtooccurwhenthree contiguouslinesallbeginwiththesamevowel.Lestitbesaidthatthreeinstancesof asinglephonemedoesnotconstituteapattern,thereisprecedentforthis argument:Vendler,inanalyzingShakespearessonnet18(ShallIcomparetheetoa summersday?),citesapatternofthreeofthesamephonemeasaninstanceof alliteration(Vendler121): (34) Bychanceornatureschangingcourseuntrimmed

Here,Vendlerdemonstratesaclearpatternformedthethreeinstancesof[t].A similarexampleofwithinlinealliterationintheTuvantalecomesearlyinBoktu Kirish,inthesceneinwhichBoraSheeleihasjustlearnedofherbrothersdeath fromhishorse,AjanKulaa: (35) akzn an ap elder.brother3GEN bitter(ness)3ACC swallowCV 61. [BS]swallowedherbitternessaboutherelderbrother, Itisimportanttonotethat,inthisexample,despitetheappearanceofastriking patternofvowels,thevowelsthemselvesarenotpartofthealliteration.Theiruseis

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dictatedbyTuvansextensivesystemofvowelharmony,andthusisnotas significantasitinitiallyappears.Somevowelpatternscouldbeconsidered alliterative;anypatternthatcontainedmultipleusesof[],theleastcommonvowel inTuvan,wouldbeworthconsidering.Thevowels[a]and[],however,arethetwo mostcommonlyoccurringvowelsinTuvan,afactwhich,whencombinedwiththe knowledgeofvowelharmony,makestheirmultitudeofappearancesintheselines unremarkable.However,evenwhenthesevowelsaredisregarded,thephonetic structureofthelineisclearlyworthdiscussing. Thepatterninexample(35)is,despitetheconventionsdictatedbyvowel

harmony,extremelypoetic.Thethreewordsthatmakeupthelineclearlyhavevery similarstructures,witheachrootwordcontainingtwosyllables,startingwith[a], whichisfollowedbyeither[k]or[],whichcreatesverystrongrepetitionwithin theline.Thesecondtwowords,[an]and[ap]echothesoundpatternfoundin [akz],elderbrother,whichemphasizestheimportanceofelderbrotherintheline, thuscreatingabeautiful,alliterativelinetoexpressBoraSheeleissadnessoverthe lossofherbrother.Ialsoarguelaterinthepaperthattherepeatedphonemeinthis line,[],isstronglysoundsymbolicandlikelyhelpstoemphasizeBoraSheeleis weepingthroughitsassociationswithbothrunningwaterandspeech.Thislineis similarinitspoeticstotheShakespeareanlineelucidatedbyVendler:herexample istensyllableslongandcontainsthreeinstancesofthesamephoneme,whilethe Tuvanline,whichisslightlyshorterateightsyllables,alsocontainsthreeinstances ofonephoneme,whichclearlyconstitutesapoeticpattern.

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Another,moreextensivealliterationpatternisfoundlaterinthestory,when

BoraSheeleiusesherpowersofshapeshiftingtochangeherappearancetolook likeherbrother.Thispassageisanexampleofbothwithinlinealliterationandline initialalliteration,whichcontainssixteeninstancesofthephoneme[k]injustthree lines: (36) 83. krndkkekrdngen krndkke mirrorDAT look.atCAUSPASSPST mirrorDAT shelookedatherselfinthemirror.Whenshelookedatherself

krdnerge beginPST=DEIC inthemirror, 84. 85. kirbej kara saldg, oon kara keegelig short/thin black beardADJ thick black braidADJ shehadathinblackbeardandathickblackbraidofhair, kadr xavaktg kalanbatgajak=degala steep foreheadADJbald headADJtea.bowl=likestriped herforeheadwassteep,herheadwasshavedbaldinfront,and

karaktg eyeADJ hereyeswerestripedandbigasateabowl.

Itisclearthatthereisaverystrongalliterativepatternhere,giventhatnolessthan sixteeninstancesofthephoneme[k]appearinthesethreelines.Ifweincludethe voicedcounterpartof[k],[g],thatnumberrisestoawhoppingtwentyfiveinstances withinthreelines. Itshouldbenotedthat,inthispassage,[g]isalwayspartofagrammatical

morpheme,mostlycaseendingsandadjectivalmarkers,andthesemarkers generallychangeinordertoconformwiththefinalconsonantoftheprevious morpheme.However,evenifwediscounttheappearanceof[g],thesixteen

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instancesof[k]stillprovideastrongexampleofanalliterativepattern.Evenifwe discountinstancesofrepetitionforinstance,thesecondrepetitionofshelookedat herselfinthemirror,therearestilltwelveinstancesof[k]inthisexcerpt,atrue patternbyanymeasure. Astrongexampleofbeginningoflinealliterationonewhichalsohasa

clearerlinktothemeaningofthepassagethaneitherofthetwopreviousexamples canbefoundlaterinthestory,duringthesceneinwhichBoraSheeleihandily dispatchesallheropponentsinthewrestlingcompetition.Inthistwelveline section,eachsetofthreelinesstartswiththesameletter,andeachsetoflines correspondswiththedefeatofoneopponentinthecompetition: (37) 242. dendii rak mge devip keer orta very strongwrestlerperform.eagle.danceCVcomePFwhile Whenaverystrongwrestlercameup,wavinghisarmsinan eagledance

deeldigennidezii=bile degeleeti kiteGEN speed3=INS trip.upSSGEN 243. shetrippedhimwiththespeedofakite, tejin kudu kldr drp top.of.head3ACCdownwardsmakeCAUSPF fallCV 244. anddroppedhimupsidedownontopofhishead. emin orta rak mge ekededipkelir orta very middlestrongwrestler strutCVCLOCPF while 245. Whenanotherverystrongwrestlerstrutteduptoher, ezir kutuerezi=bile eeeenden algati eagle birdGENcourage3=INS heelABL takeSSGEN 246. shetookhisanklewiththecourageofaneagle, etkin ar vadap shoulder3ACC acrossthrow.downCV 247. flunghimoverhershoulder,andthrewhimdown.

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kajgamk rak mge xalp keer orta amazing strongwrestlerrunCV CLOCPF while 248. Whenanamazinglystrongwrestlerranuptoher, xartgankapgaj=bilekattajkakkat falconGENagility3=INS togetherstart.running.toSSGEN 249. sherantowardshimsimultaneouslywiththeagilityofafalcon xajt kldr drp SYMB doCAUSPF make.fall.downCV 250. andmadehimfalldowninaflash. kondugrak mge korgudupkelir orta very strong wrestlerfearCAUSCVcomePFwhile 251. Whenanotherverystrongwrestlerapproached,tryingto frightenher, kojgunnu kapgaj=bilexos de xalaat hareGEN agility3=INSemptyspacethroughrunSSGEN 252. sheslippedbetweenhislegswiththeagilityofahare, kurug erge kuruguldajnkuruldurolurta emptyearthDATtailbone3ACCpainfullysit.downCAUSCV 253. andshemadehimfallverypainfullyonhistailboneonthe bareground. Ascanbeseenfromthisexample,thefirstphonemeofeachlinefollowsavery distinctpattern:ddt,eee,kxx,kkk.Thesesoundsfollownotonlyaspecific phonemicpattern,buttheinitialwordsofeachlinealsofollowapatternwithinthe section.Thispatternisvery,animalname,bodypart.Theonlyoccasionwherethe semanticpatternisviolatedisinthelastlineofthelastsection,inwhichthefinal word,[kurug],isnotthenameofabodypart,butrathermeansemptyorbare.Inthe firstsection,thewordsare[dendii],very,[deeldigenni],kite,and[tejin],topof thehead.Thenextthreesectionsfollowthesamepattern,withtheoneexception mentionedpreviously:[emin],very,[ezir],eagle,[etkkin],shoulder;[kajgamk],

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amazingly,[xartgan],falcon,[xajt],asymbolicwordtranslatedhereasinaflash; and,inthefinalsection,[kondug],very,[kojgunnu],hare,[kurug],empty. Thissectionisaverystrongexampleoflineinitialalliterationasapoetic

device.Thisdeviceservesseveralpurposesinthetale;ithelpskeepthestructure organizedbyclearlydelineatingBoraSheeleisdefeatofeachseparatewrestler;it servesamnemonicdeviceforthepoet;and,Iwillarguelaterinthispaper,the specificphonemesusedtodifferentiatethesectionsbothechoandaddtothe meaningevokedbytheanimalmetaphorsineachsection. ThefourthimportantpoeticdeviceusedinBoktuKirishistherepeateduse

ofemphaticsuffixesthatdrawattentiontocertainimportantwordsandphrases. Forexample,twoemphaticsuffixesappearinthefollowingline: (38) aa, kr erler=daa beletkenile bergen DISC poor malePL=EMPHprepareCVEMPHAUXPST 139. So,eventhepoorestmenbegantoprepareforthecompetition Inthisexample,emphaticsuffixesappearattachedtobothmenandprepare,thus emphasizing(somemightsayoveremphasizing)thateverymanispreparingfor thecompetition.Thisdeviceservestwopurposes:itaddsdramatictensiontothe story,byshowingthatBoraSheeleiwillfacesignificantcompetitioninherattempt towinAngyrChechenforherbrother,anditremovesthetalefromcommon conversationalstyleandmarksitasbeingaformofart. Anotherexampleoftheuseofemphaticsuffixesthistimeincombination

withalliterationcomesearlierinthepoem,whenAjanKulaaisexplainingtoBora Sheeleiwhy,despitethefactthatshehasphysicallychangedintoherbrother,she cannotchangeherbreastsandgenitals:

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(39) senolijiemiini=daa kxindiini=daa youthesetwobreast2ACC=EMPHgirlgenitals2ACC=EMPH 99. Thosetwobreastsofyoursandyourgirlsgenitals, kandaar=daaskertip davas sen do.thusPF=EMPHchangeCAUSCVbe.ableNEG\Fyou 100. youcannotchangeinanyway. ndalza=daajanz=br argalarn nonethelessEMPHdifferentQUANmethodsPLACC 101. However,byusing aglap turgat useVSFCV AUXSSGEN variousmethods, Inthisexample,theemphaticsuffix[daa]isrepeatedfourtimes.Thisrepetition makespossibleanalliterationpatternbuiltaroundthephoneme[d].Thispatternis notasstrongasthealliterativepassagesdiscussedinexamples(35),(36)and(37), featuringonlyeightusagesofthephoneme[d]inthreelines,afigurethatisraised toelevenwhenthephonemesdevoicedcounterpart[t]isincluded.However,this constitutesanalliterativepatternaspertheearlierdefinition,whichonlycallsfor threeinstancesofaparticularphonemeinoneline.Theemphaticsuffix,then,which providesfouroftheeleveninstancesofthealliterativephoneme,istrulywhat makesthepassagealliterative;withoutit,thefrequencyof[d]wouldnotbehigh enoughtodemonstrateaclearpattern. Theemphaticsuffixinthisexample,inadditiontocreatinganalliterative

pattern,alsoemphasizestheimportanceofBoraSheeleisfemininity.Thesuffixis attachedtofourdifferentroots:[emi],breasts;[xindi],genitals(specificallyfemale genitals);[kanda],dothus;and[ndalza],nonetheless.Thefirsttwoinstancesof thesuffixaddemphasistoBoraSheeleisbreastsandgenitals,meaningher

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femininity,whichisaveryimportanttopicthroughoutthestory.Indeed,her inabilitytochangethesetwofeaturesdrivesmuchoftheplotofthetale,andagood dealoftimeisspentdescribinghowshegoesaboutdisguisingherfeminine features.Theseemphaticsuffixes,then,aredrawingattentiontoaveryimportant elementofthetale.Muchthesamefunctionisservedbythethirdemphaticsuffix, whichemphasizesBoraSheeleisinabilitytochangeherfemininecharacteristics intomasculineones. Thefourthuseofthesuffix,however,isslightlydifferent.Ratherthan

drawingthelistenersattentiontoBoraSheeleisinabilitytocompleteherdisguise, itsignalsAjanKulaasabilitytohelphismistressdisguiseherselfcompletely.This suffix,then,signalsachangeinthetopicofAjanKulaasutterance,fromasimple descriptionoftheproblemtosaidproblemssolution.Inthisway,theemphaticis usedtodrawthelistenersattentiontothisshiftintopic,muchinthesamewaythat thespeechformula[jaanam]isusedfirsttomakethelistenerpayattentiontothe descriptionoftheinitialsituation,andthentosignaltheshiftfromthisdescription totheactionofthetale.Thus,inthisexample,theemphaticsuffix[daa]again removesthetalefromthecommonconversationalstyleandaddsdramatictension byfocusingthelistenerontheapparentlyinsurmountablenatureofBoraSheeleis problem;however,italsocontributestothealliterationpresentinthepassage,and workstosignaltheshiftfromdescriptiontoaction. Theuseoftheemphaticsuffix[daa]inthispassageisalsoimportanttoa

structuralpatternthatencompassestheentiretyofBoraSheeleistransformation, andhersubsequentparticipationandvictoryintheKhanscompetition.This

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structurewillbediscussedinmuchmoredetailinthenextsectionofthepaper; sufficeittosaythattheuseoftheemphaticinthispassagesetsthepatternfora patterninwhich[daa]delineatesthestructureofeachofthethreeeventsinthe competition,intermsoftheobstaclesfacedbyBoraSheelei,specificallyinregards tohergenderandthedifficultyofdisguisingit. Thefourpoeticdevicesdiscussedaboveformulaicnames,formulaic

speech,alliterationandtheuseofemphaticsuffixesarefourofthemostcommon poeticdevicesfoundinBoktuKirishandotherTuvanliterature.Ofthesedevices,I willfocusthemostonalliterationandemphaticsuffixesinthefollowingsection, whereIwillattempttoshowthatalliterativepatternsarenotonlyconnectedto,but addtothemeaningofthelinesorsentencesthroughtheuseofsoundsymbolism, andthattheregularuseofpatternedemphaticsuffixesfollowsthestructureofthe taleinameaningfulway.However,itisimportanttonotethatthesedevicesarenot theonlypoeticdevicesusedinTuvanepics,talesandpoems.BoktuKirish,in additiontothepreviouslymentionedpoeticdevices,alsocontainsarchaicformsand aspecialnarrativepastformthatisonlyusedintales,nottomentionthespecial prosodyandintonationusedbythetellerwhenrecitingthetale(Harrison4).While thesefeaturesareextremelyimportanttothetaleasawhole,theyarenotas prevalentasthepreviouslydiscusseddevices,andthushavelessrelevancetothe largerdiscussionoftherolethatsoundsymbolismplaysinaddingtothemeaningof thetale.

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OfthefourimportantTuvanpoeticdevicesmentionedabove,twoofthem

alliterationandtheemphaticsuffix[daa]haveveryclearadditionalmeanings,and makeimportantcontributionstothetaleasawhole.Alliterativepatternsallowfor theuseofsoundsymbolism;Tuvancontainsarangeandprevalenceofsound symbolismfoundinveryfewlanguages,andthealliterationdetailedaboveallows forthissymbolismtocometotheforefrontofthetale.Thefirstpartofthissection willdiscussthepossibleoccurrencesofsoundsymbolisminthealliterativepatterns thatappearinBoktuKirish.Thesecondpartofthissectionwillshowthatthe emphaticsuffix[daa]playsaveryimportantroleinstructuringthetale,inaddition toitsotherfunctions,whichweredescribedintheprevioussection.Thesetwo examplesoftheconcurrentphonologicalandsemanticfunctionsofthesepoetic deviceswilldemonstratetheimportanceofanalyzingthelinguisticpatternsfound infolkliterature,andthepreviouslyunexaminedfunctionsthatthesepoeticdevices mightserveinstudyingoralepics. 4.1 SoundSymbolism Discussingsoundsymbolisminanysortofauthoritativewayisaverytricky

proposition.Afterall,soundsareoften,accordingtoTsur,doubleedged:thatis, theymaybeexpressiveofvastlydifferent,orevenopposing,qualities(Tsur2).As anexampleofthemultipleexpressivepossibilitiesofoneparticularsound,Tsur providesthereaderwithtwoexamplesofsibilantalliterationthatmakeuseofthe phoneme/s/,onetakenfromPoesTheRavenandtheotherfromShakespeares sonnets:

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(40) Andthesilken,sad,uncertainrustlingofeachpurplecurtain (41) Whentothesessionsofsweet,silentthought, Isummonupremembranceofthingspast

Bothoftheseexamplesmakeextensiveusof/s/alliteration,butthisalliteration addscompletelydifferentelementstotheverse:thefirstuses/s/asonomatopoeia toechothesoundoftherustlingcurtains,andtocreateanatmosphereofsorrow anddread,whiletheseconduses/s/toconjureupanimageofaquietand contemplative,buthappystate.Clearly,evenwithinthepoetictraditionofone language,thereisimmensevariationinthesoundsymbolismofthisonephoneme. Evengreatervariationinthemeaningofsoundsymbolismisapparentwhen

wetakeintoaccountsystemsofsoundsymbolisminotherlanguages.Forexample, inhisdiscussionofsoundsymbolisminEnglish,Rhodesnotesthatthehighfront vowel[i]is,atleastinEnglish,oftenindicativeofhighpitchedsounds.Generally theyhaveadiminutivesense.20Someofhisexamplesfollow: (42) a.clink(fromclankorclunk) b.jingle(fromjangle) c.plink(fromplunk)

However,anessayonsoundsymbolismbyDiffloththisonedealingwithBahnar,a memberoftheMonKhmerfamilyspokeninVietnamarguesthat,inthisparticular languageatleast,highvowelssuchas[i]and[u]tendtoindicatelargethings,while lowvowelssuchas[a]implythattheobjectinquestionissmall.Forinstance, Difflothnotesthat,inBahnar,theword[criil]indicatesapairoflargespherical objects,whileitsalmostidenticalcounterpart[crl]meansapairofsmallspiritual 20Rhodes,Richard.AuralImages.SoundSymbolism.Ed.LeanneHinton,Joanna Nichols,JohnJ.Ohala.NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,1994.276292.Print. 43

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objects21.Difflothsarticlecontainsavarietyofotherexamples,whichprovidesolid evidenceinfavorofthepatternforwhichheargues.Fromtheseexamples,wecan seethatdifferentsoundscansymbolizedifferentthingsineverylanguage,notto mentiontheearlierpointthatsoundscanhaveavarietyofmeaningintheliterature ofonelanguage.How,then,isitpossibletodeterminethelayersofmeaningadded toBoktuKirishusingsoundsymbolicdevices? Itturnsoutthat,despitethemanydifficultiesinherentinfindingsound

symbolicpatterns,therearesomeassociationswithcertainsoundsthatappearto beuniversal.Now,theseargumentsmaynotbefullyresearched,anditispossible thattheycanbeprovenwrong;forexample,manylinguists,ledbyEdwardSapir, havearguedthatthereisauniversalcorrelationbetweenhighvowelsandsmall things,andlowvowelsandbigthings.Thisassumptionwasdemonstratedinatleast onelanguagetobefalsebyDiffloth(Diffloth107108).However,thisdoesnotmean thatthereisnotevidenceinfavorof,ifnotauniversalassociation,astrongpattern, anddoesnotruleouttheexistenceofothercrosslinguisticpatterns. Forinstance,thereisevidencethat,whentalkingaboutvowels,thefront

backcontinuumcanbeconceptualized,intermsofmeaning,asbeinganalogoustoa lightdarkcontinuum,withthefrontvowelsseeminglighterandthebackvowels morelikelytosymbolizedarkness.Inaddition,whenplacingthevowelsonaheight continuum,thefrontvowelstendtobeuniversallycharacterizedasbeinghigher; whenaskedifonemovesdownoruptogetfrom/u/to/i/,almosteveryoneagrees that/i/isastepupfrom/u/,despitethefactthat,asfarasvowelheightinthe 21Diffloth,Grard.i:big,a:small.SoundSymbolism.Ed.LeanneHinton,Joanna Nichols,JohnJ.Ohala.NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,1994.107114.Print. 44

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linguisticsenseisconcerned,/i/and/u/arethesameheight.Thisindicates, accordingtoTsur,thatcertainperceptualaspectsoftheacousticsignal,irrelevant inprincipletothespeechmode,doenterconsciousnessinspiteofitall(Tsur20). LaPollasresearchalsosupportsthisargument;whenperformingexperimentsin whichEnglishspeakerswereaskedtochoosethewordthatmeantsmallfroma pairofMandarinorCantoneseantonyms,ofwhichonecontainedarisingtone syllable(ahigherpitchedsound)andtheothercontainedafallingtonesyllable(a lowerpitchedsound).TheEnglishspeakershadasimilarrateofsuccessonthis taskasthenativeMandarinorCantonesespeakers,demonstratingthatthis associationisnotlanguagespecific,butratheratleastsomewhatuniversal,22 althoughDifflothwouldprobablyliketotryasimilarexperimentonBahran speakersandseewhattheirsuccessratewouldbe. Vendleralsoarguesforasimilaruseofvowelheightsoundsymbolism,this

timeinShakespearessonnets.Forexample,inSonnet29(Whenindisgracewith fortuneandmenseyes)Vendlershowsthatthestricthierarchicalstructureofthe poemcorrespondstovowelheight,peakingwithaseriesofwordsincluding/i/to representthespeakersrisingstateinthesonnetshierarchy.Vendlerexplainsthat thedramaofthepoemoccursinthespeakersmovinghimselfoutofthefirst (social)worldandtheintothesecond(natural)one;thepuzzleofthepoemishow hemanagedtopullhimselfupbyhisownbootstraps,miredasheisinthesocial world.Theculminationofthisdramaarrivesinthefinallines,whenthespeaker 22LaPolla,RandyJ.Anexperimentalinvestigationintophoneticsoundsymbolism asitrelatestoMandarinChinese.SoundSymbolism.Ed.LeanneHinton,Joanna Nichols,JohnJ.Ohala.NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress.1994.130147.Print. 45

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reachesthehighestpointhecan,representedbynewpresentparticipleswherethe lettersarearrangedright[i.e.,inthecorrectordertocorrespondwiththekeywork sing]:despising,arising,andthentheverbsingsing,sing,sing!Thepoemfairly carols(Vendler,161163).Therepeateduseof/i/intheselinesisevocativeofthe final,elevatedstateofthespeaker,theclimaxofhisjourneythroughtheranksofthe poemshierarchicalstructure. Theoppositeendofthefront/backspectrumappearsinSonnet51(Thus

canmyloveexcusetheslowoffence),inwhichthephoneme/o/isusedto emphasizetheslowpaceofthespeakersjourney.Vendlerargues,Thelongoofno isreiteratedinthetripleuseofslow,twiceintherhymeposition(slow,no,slow, go),andinthepresenceofmotionandgoing(Vendler251).Thesetwoexamples convincinglysupportthefront/backvowelhypothesis:inthefirst,thehighfront vowel/i/representstheculminationofaclimbthroughthepoemsstrictly hierarchicalstructure,whileinthesecondexamplethemidbackvowel/o/ emphasizestheslowpaceofthespeakersjourney,whichtohimisthegreatest depthofmisery. SimilarsoundsymbolicpatternshavebeensupportedbydatafromSouth

Siberianlanguages,Tuvaninparticular.Harrison,inhisinvestigationofTuvan soundsymbolism,examinedbothreduplicatedwordsandsingle,highlysymbolic words.Thestandard(andhighlyproductive)patternofTuvanreduplication consistsofawordbeingrepeatedtwice,thefirstrepetitionusingitsoriginalvowels andthesecondrepetitionusingadifferentsetofvowelstocreateaphrasemeaning

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[noun]andthelike:forexample,theword[teve],camel,isreduplicatedto[teve tava],camelsandthelike.(Harrison3). ThesecondsoundsymbolicsysteminTuvan,whichisthesystemrelevantto

mydiscussionofalliterativesoundsymbolisminBoktuKirish,consistsof onomatopoeicwordsthatindicatespecificsounds.Harrisonconductedan interestingandhighlyrelevantexperimentusingthesewords,anexperimentwhich showedclearpatternsofsoundsymbolisminbothvowelsandconsonants.Inthis experiment,Harrisontookconsonantcombinationsthatrepresentaspecifictypeof soundforinstance,turbulencesounds,whicharesymbolizedwithacombination of/x/and/l/placeddifferentvowelsinthepredeterminedconsonantpattern, andaskedTuvanspeakerswhatthenovelwordssymbolized. TheresultsthatHarrisoncomesupwitharequitestriking.Ineverycasethat

theconstructionusingthehighfrontvowel/i/isameaningfulconstruction,it symbolizeseitherahighpitchedsound,ahighfrequencysound,orsome combinationofthetwo(allexamplestakenfromHarrison2004): (43) kigirfallingandclangingnoise/smallbellringing (44) xilirfluttering,flappingasaskirtorflaginthewind (45) dildirsoundoffeetshufflingquickly (46) igirsoundofstirrupsjangling

Alltheseexamplesdemonstratethatthereare,atleasttosomeextent,meaningsto thesesoundsthat,inthecontextofTuvan,arefairlyuniversal.Thephenomenaof thehighfrontvowel/i/relatedtohighpitchedorhighfrequencysoundsisalso supportiveofthepreviouslydiscussedassertionthatthereisastrongcross

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linguistictendencyforhighfrontvowelstoindicatesmaller,higherpitched,or higherfrequencyideas. Inadditiontotheclearpatternsofmeaningtothevowels,therearealso

symbolicmeaningsassociatedwithconsonantsinTuvan.Ihavealreadymentioned thatturbulencesoundsareassociatedwith/x/and/l/:inaddition,impactsounds maybesymbolizedwith/k/and//,andspeechandwaterrelatedsoundsare symbolizedwith//and/l/: (47) kogursoundofalargeobjectringing;soundofapileofwoodor rocksfallingtotheground. (48) olursoundofwaterinababblingbrook;tobeablabbermouth

So,itisclearthattheTuvansystemofsoundsymbolismgivesrisetoaphonetic inventorywithclearsymbolicmeanings.This,inturn,allowsauserofthelanguage inparticular,astorytellerwhoisconcernedwithmakinghiswordsnotonly conveythemeaningofastory,butsoundpoeticindoingittoutilizethisarsenalof soundsymbolismtostrengthenthemeaningofhiswords,andpossiblytoadd meaningaswell. ToconnectTuvansoundsymbolismtothecommonTuvanpoeticdevices,we

canlookatthephoneticsofthealliterativeexamplesdiscussedearlier.Forinstance, inexample(34),whichisanexampleofwithinlinealliteration,thephoneme// appearstwice.Thisphonemeisthesameas//ineveryaspectexceptvoicing, suggestingthatitprobablyhassimilarsoundsymbolicproperties.Themain semanticpropertiesassociatedwith//arethoseofspeechandrunningwater;the lineinexample(34)describesBoraSheeleisgriefoverherbrothersdeath, specificallythefactthatsheiscryingafterdiscoveringBoktuKirishsbody.Thisfits 48

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inverynicelywiththesymbolicmeaningsassociatedwith//and,byextension, //,demonstratingthatthereismostlikelysoundsymbolismatplayinthe alliterationthatmakesthislinesopoeticandevocative. Thepatternoflineinitialalliterationfoundinthewrestlingsceneinexample

(37)isalsofullofsoundsymbolicpatterns.Thelineinitialphonemesinthissection followastrictpatternofddt,eee,kxx,kkk,witheachthreelinesegment correspondingtoadifferentwrestlerwhomBoraSheeleimustdefeat.Inaddition, thereisasemanticpatternineachthreelinesegment:theinitialwordofthefirst linemeansvery,thesecondlinestartswithananimal,andthethirdlinestartswith abodypart. Thephonemesthatbeginthesethreelinepatternsareeachsymbolicinsome

waythatcorrespondswiththesemanticmeaningofeachthreelinesegment.In particular,thedifferentconsonantsusedinthefirst,thirdandfourthsegmentshave soundsymbolicmeaningsthatcorrespondcloselytotheactionofthetale.For example,Harrisonnotesthatthe[k]phoneme,whichappearsinthefinalsegmentof thisexcerptandonceinthethirdsegment,isoftenindicativeofimpactsounds,as showninexample(47),aswellasthefollowingexamples(Harrison7): (48) kizirtsoundofwoodbreaking;soundofabonebreaking (49) qazrtsoundoflargerocks(falling,etc.)

Inthewrestlingscene,thephoneme[k]oftenappearsinwordsthatarerelatedto impact,nottomentionthatthisphonemeiswidespreadinapassageinwhichmuch oftheimagerycentersonpeoplefallingorlandingontheground.Forexample,in line253,thephonemeappearsthreetimes,ineachinstanceatthebeginningofa

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wordthatrelatestotheimpactofthewrestlerstailboneontheground:[kurug], whichmeansemptyor,inthiscase,bareasinbareoruncoveredground; [kurguldaj],tailbone;and[kuruldur],painfully.Thesethreewordsareallaboutthe impactofBoraSheeleisopponentstailboneontheground,andtheyallutilizea phonemewithastrongsymbolicmeaningofimpact.The[k]phonemealsoappears inline249,intheevocativeword[kakkat],whichmeansstartrunningtowards. Itisverypossiblethattherepetitionof[k]inthiswordissymbolicoftheimpact soundsmadebyrunningfeet,particularlyinthecontextofthisscene,inwhich symbolismdealingwithimpactsoundsisfoundallovertheplace,andinwhichthe imagerylargelyevokesfallingtotheground. Thephoneme[x]isoftenusedtosymbolizesoundsofturbulence,suchasthe

flappingofwingsortherustlingofcloth(Harrison5): (50) xilirflutteringorflapping,asaskirtorflaginthewind (51) xlrthewhineofapropeller;soundofabatswings

ThisphonemeisusedinthethirdsectionofthesceneinwhichBoraSheeleiis likenedtoafalcon.Indeed,thewordfalconis[xartga],whichbeginswitha phonemethat,inTuvan,oftensymbolizesturbulence,includingtheflappingof wings.Thisisanotherexampleofanextremelyevocativeimage,onethatis renderedmoreimagisticandpoeticbythepresenceofapowerfulsymbolicsound. Thefirstsectionofthispassageutilizesthephonemes[d]and[t],whichcan

symbolizesoundsoffriction,locomotion,andbreaking: (52) dildirsoundoffeetshufflingquickly (53) daldrsoundofsomethingheavilythuddingalong,i.e.ahorse

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Inaddition,onesymbolicexampleusing[d],[dldr],meansthesoundofabigbirds wingsflapping.Inthispartofthepassage,BoraSheeleisspeediscomparedtothat ofakite.Thewordforkiteis[deeldigen],awordthat,similarto[xartga],utilizesa phonemethatisevocativeofthesounditswingsmake.Inaddition,inthefirstline ofthispassageoneofthewrestlersperformstheeagledance;theverbforto performtheeagledanceis[devip],whichagaincontainsthe[d]phoneme, indicatingthatthesymbolicmeaningofbirdswingsflappingisbeingutilizedinthis passage. Thethirdlineofthewrestlingscenecontainssoundsymbolisminalmost

everyword: (54) tejin kudu kldr drp top.of.head3ACCdownwardsmakeCAUSPF fallCV 244. anddroppedhimupsidedownontopofhishead.

Inthisline,the[t]in[tej],topofhead,andthe[d]in[dr],fall,aswellasthe[d]in [kudu],downwards,areallsymbolicofbreakingsounds,oneofsymbolicmeanings of[d],whichaddstothepainfulimageryofthispassage.Inaddition,thisline containstwoinstancesof[k],theaforementioned[kudu]and[kldr],makeor cause(usedinrelationtofall).These[k]soundsaddasymbolicmeaningofimpact tothisline,which,incombinationwiththethreeinstancesof[d]or[t]thatimply breaking,addasoundsymbolicdimensionthatisveryevocative,andthatprobably makesthelistenerwince. Itisalsopossiblethat,inadditiontothealliterativedevicescontaininga

soundsymbolicaspect,someoftheothercommonTuvanpoeticdevicesnamely formulaicnames,formulaicspeech,andemphaticsuffixesalsohaveadditional

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meaningsprovidedbysoundsymbolism.Forexample,theformula[jaanam], whichappearsnolessthanfivetimesinthefirstsectionofthetale,containsthe evocative//soundwhich,aspreviouslymentioned,issymbolicallyconnectedto speech.Thisformulacomesatthebeginningofthetale,andstartsdifferentsections ofdescriptionoftheinitialsituation.Giventhespeechrelatedmeaningassociated withthe//soundindeed,theTuvanworkforspeech,[tugaa],containsthis phonemeitseemsentirelypossiblethatthisformula,startingasitdoeswiththis evocativesound,iscallingonthelistenertopayattentiontothetellersspeech. However,furtherevidenceisneededtodemonstratethatthisisthecase. 4.2 TheEmphaticSuffix[daa] InhisdiscussionofthepoeticdevicesinNativeAmericanethnopoetics,

Hymesilluminatestheuseofseveralmeaningfulprefixesthatappearatthe beginningoflinesofdialoguespokenbyvariouscharactersintraditionalTakelma tales.Theseprefixes,[s]and[L](inHymesorthography,[L]isthevoicelesslateral fricative)wereoriginallyanalyzedbySapir,whoclaimedthattheywerenothing morethanstereotypedmarkingsthatindicatedtheanimalspeciesofthespeaker: [s]cameatthebeginningofallutterancesbyCoyote,and[L]cameatthebeginning ofanylineofdialogueutteredbyabear. Hymes,however,demonstratesthatthisanalysisbearslittleresemblanceto

therealityofthetale.ThroughanindepthanalysisofseveralTakelmatalesthatI willnotrepeathere,Hymesdeterminesthatthatexpressiveprefixeshavea characterizingandintensifyingfunctionthatisinvokedatvariouskeystructural pointsinthestory.AccordingtoHymes,theresultingintensificationsometimes

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servesasinitialframing,sometimesasculmination,sometimesaspervasive characterization,withinwhichafurthermomentofintensificationcanoccurby changeofprefix(Hymes69).Inotherwords,theseprefixes,whichSapirthoughtof assimplyastereotypedformofspeech,similartothewayEnglishliteratureoften portraysalowerclassEnglishmanasspeakingwithanexaggeratedCockneyaccent, isinrealityanimportantcuetothestructureofthetaleandthecharacterizationof thespeaker. Theemphaticsuffix[daa],whichappearsinmanydifferentcontextsin

BoktuKirish,servesasimilarstructuralfunctiontoHymesexpressiveprefixes,with thedifferencethatthatsuffixesintheTuvantaleshowamuchmorerigid connectiontothestructurethandotheTakelmaprefixes.InBoktuKirish,the emphaticsuffixisusedveryspecificallyduringthecontesttodelineatetheactionin termsofthreatstoBoraSheeleisdisguiseasherbrother. Inexample(39)Idiscussedhowtheemphaticsuffixisusedtoemphasizethe

impossibilityoffundamentallyalteringBoraSheeleisgender,aswellasthe possibilityofusingtrickerytodisguisehertruefemininenatureandcarryoutthe taskofwinningthecontestandsavingherbrother.Inparticular,inthisexcerptthe suffix[daa]isusedthreetimestoillustratethatBoraSheeleiremainsafemale,and onetime(thefinalusage)topresentthepossibilitythattrickerywillstillallowher tocompeteintheKhanscontest.Thissectionusesthesuffix[daa]topresenta dichotomybetweenBoraSheeleisinnatefemininityandthemeansbywhichshe cansuccessfullydisguiseherselfasaman.Thisdichotomyiscontinuedbyavery specific,structuraluseofthesuffixduringthesectionofthetalethatdealswiththe

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actualcontest,inwhichtheemphaticsuffixisusedatthreekeymoments:firstto castdoubtonBoraSheeleisabilitytosuccessfullycontinuethedisguise;second,to demonstratethesuccesswithwhichshecarriesoutthedisguise;third,toshowthe advantagesthatcomewiththatsuccess;fourth,tosignalthestartofthe competition. Thispatternisstrongestduringthesecondtwopartsofthecontest,the

wrestlingcompetitionandthehorserace,soIwillshowcasethepatternasit appearsinthosesectionsfirst.Bothsectionsuseverysimilarwordingtoincludethe emphaticsuffix,whichisattachedtothewordkhan[xaan]duringthe announcementthatputsBoraSheeleisdisguiseinjeopardy: (55) xaan=daa arlkt ndrgen khan=EMPH announcementACC go.outCAUSPST 208. So,theKhanputoutanannouncement: (56) dr DEIC

daartauptu xljeokanagaxreiir tomorroweverybodyshirt NEGnakedwrestlePF 209. Everybodywillwrestleshirtlessandnakedtomorrow! 267. 268. xaan=daa arlkt ndrgenne khan=EMPH announcementACC go.outCAUSEMPH SotheKhanmadeanannouncement: daartauptu alda arr tomorroweverybody naked ride.horsePF Tomorroweverybodywillraceonhorsebacknaked!

TheemphaticsuffixappearsagainafterBoraSheeleihasusedAjanKulaastrickery todisguisethefemaleanatomicalfeatureinquestion,andhasarrivedatthesiteof thenextdayscompetition: (57) kuluguru=daa boor daartaxleinuta heroEMPH what PROBCV shirt3ACC take.offCV 226. thenextday,ourpoorherotookoffhisshirt,

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(58) daarta=daa xj erni araznga tomorrow=EMPH many maleGENspace.between3DAT 292. thenextdayamongthenumerousmen,

Unlikeinexamples(55)and(56),theemphatic[daa]ishereattachedtotwo differentwords:heroandtomorrow.However,thesesuffixesappearinthesame contextinbothsectionsofthecompetitionthemomentwhenBoraSheelei,having foundawaytokeepupherdisguise,arrivesforthecompetitionandexposesher falsemalefeaturesforalltoseewhichclearlyconstitutesastructuralpattern. Theemphaticsuffixappearsintwomorestructurallysignificantplacesin

eachrepetitionofthisbasicstructure:whenthemenaregapingatBoraSheeleis strangeanatomy,andwhenthecontestactuallybegins.Iwillonlyincludeone exampleofeachlocation,theexamplefromthesecondrepetitionofthecompetition structure,thewrestlingmatch: (59) bo=daa xajrakandanuktalgan anaa erle this=EMPH bearABL originatePSTjust still 235. Hemuststillhavesomebearancestry, kii xreiir=daa arga ok person wrestlePF=EMPH meansNEG 236. sotheresnowayamancanwrestlewithhim.

(60) xre=daa egeleenne wrestleEMPH beginPSTEMPH 239. Sothewrestlingbegan!

Thisstructuralpatternisrepeatedinaverysimilarwayinthehorseracerepetition oftheconteststructure.Theuseofthesuffixinexample(53)showsthatthemen fallforBoraSheeleisdisguise,andareevenintimidatedbyherextreme masculinity,whileexample(54)contrastswiththeprevioususeofthesuffix(which

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isonlytwolinesawayinthisscene,andwhichisnotseparatedatallinthehorse racescene)bystartingthecompetitionatthemomentwhenthemenaremost frightenedbytheirextremelymasculinecompetitor. Theemphaticsuffix,then,appearsinfourdifferentplacesineachrepetition

ofthecontestcycle:themomentatwhichathreattoBoraSheeleisdisguiseis presented;BoraSheeleisarrivaltothecompetition,wearinghernewandimproved disguise;asectionshowingthereactionsoftheotherparticipants,inwhichthey clearlyfallforherdisguiseandareevenintimidatedbyhermasculinity;andthe startofthecontestitself.Bothoftheserepetitionsusethesuffixnotonlytodraw attentiontotheproblemsinherentinBoraSheeleisdisguisebutthewaysthatthese obstaclescanbeovercome,aprecedentlaidoutinexample(39),justafterBora Sheeleistransformation.Theyalsoservetoclearlydelineatethestructureofthe competitionsequenceandtoshowthattheeventsofthetalehingeonBora Sheeleisabilitytosuccessfullydisguiseherselfasaman. Thisdeviceisalsousedinthefirstrepetitionsequence,buttheorderingof

eventsisslightlydifferent,giventhatthereisnodirectthreattoBoraSheeleis disguiseduringthearcherycompetition.However,thesameelementsarepresent despitethedifferentorder:thebeginningofthecompetition,thethreattoBora Sheeleisdisguise,areaction,andherdemonstrationthatsheismasculineenoughto winthecompetition.Inthisscene,thebeginningofthecontextisthefirstsuffix markedevent: (61) aa mrej=daa egeleen okay competition=EMPH beginPST 156. Okay,thecompetitionhasbegun!

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ThebeginningofthecontestisfollowedbythethreattoBoraSheeleisdisguise,this timenotintheformofanannouncementfromtheKhan,butthetauntsoftheother competitorswhoaccuseBoraSheeleiofbeingawomanbywayofinsultingher refusaltoshoot: (62) aa sen=daa anaa epidej EXCL youEMPH just womanDIM 169. Oh!Yourejustalittlewoman,

Thisaccusationisfollowedbyareaction.Themajordifferenceisthattheearlier reactionswerethereactionsoftheothercompetitorstoBoraSheeleisextreme masculinity,whileinthiscasethereactionisthatofBoraSheeleitothetauntsofthe men: (63) aa epi =daa bolgajla EXCL woman whatEMPH COPCNCLEMPH 171. Well,Icanbeawoman,Icanbewhatever, men I

ItisinterestingtonotetheprogressionofBoraSheeleispowerasshowninthe threerepeatedconteststructures.Notonlydoesherappearancebecomemore masculine,butshealsobecomesmoreconfident;inthis,thefirstchallengeofthe competition,shemustdefendherselffromthetauntsofothers,whileinthesecond andthirdstagesofthecompetitionitistheothercompetitorswhoareafraidof BoraSheelei.Thechangedorderofthe[daa]inflectedplotpointsdrawsattention tothistransformation. Thefinaluseoftheemphaticsuffixinthisrepetitionresolvesthethreatto

BoraSheeleisdisguisebydemonstratinghermasculinity,inthiscasenotthrough thepresentationofherbody,butratherthroughhersuccessinthearcherycontest whereeveryoneelsefailed:

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(64) ndaarga=daa kuluguru kezenip do.thusPFDAT=EMPH hero prepare.to.shootCV 181. Onlyafterthattheherobegantopreparehimself kirip<le>tken INCHPERF<EMPH>CAUSPST forshooting. kr eri=daa boor deerzinkrboktukiri poor maleEMPH whatPROB DISC poor BK 182. Whatcouldthepoorguydo,poorBoktuKirish?

ThisexcerptmarksthebeginningofalongpassagewhichshowsBoraSheeleis superiorarcheryskill,andwhichculminatesinhervictoryinthearchery competition.Itisalsointerestingtonotethattheemphaticsuffixisusedthreetimes previouslyinthepassageoutsidecontextofoneofthesestructurallyimportant moments,whichisnotthecaseintheothertworepetitionsofthecycle.These instancesareasfollows: (65) ags=taa kiini sogunu etpes single=EMPHpersonGEN arrow3 reachNEG\F 159. butnotasinglemansarrowreachedthetargets. (66) 162. atpass=taa klatap turar mndg shootNEG=EMPH walkCV AUXPF thus [BoraSheelei]didnotshoot,butsimplywalkedaroundlike this.

(67) agzn=daa sogunu etpeen single3GEN=EMPH arrow3 reachNEGPST 176. butnotasingleoneoftheirarrowsreachedthetarget.

Theseusesoftheemphaticsuffixmayseemtobeoutsideofthepreviously identifiedpattern,butIarguethattheyactuallyfitwiththepatternperfectly.These disparatelinesareallpartofthedemonstrationofBoraSheeleismasculineskill, andtheadvantagethatshehasovertheothercompetitors.Thesethreelinestwo

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ofwhichshowthatnoneoftheothermencanmaketheshot,andtheotherofwhich demonstratesthatBoraSheeleihasnotyettriedtoshootareallleadinguptothe passagethatbeginswithexample(38),inwhichBoraSheeleiwinsthecompetition. Examples(59)and(61)showthat,incontrasttoBoraSheelei,noneoftheother competitorsareabletomakeevenoneshot,nomatterhowmanytimestheytry, whileexample(60)emphasizesthefactthatBoraSheeleimakeseachshotonher firsttry,ratherthanafteradayofwastingarrowsliketheothermen.These seeminglyunrelatedappearancesofthesuffix[daa],then,areactuallysimplyan extendedpieceofthestructuredetailedabove. Theemphaticsuffix[daa],inadditiontoelevatingthestyleofthetalefrom

theeverydayandemphasizingcertainimportantfactsoractionsinapoeticmanner, isactuallydeeplyconnectedtothestructureofthetale,inparticularthestructureof thecompetition.Thewordsthatareusedwiththeemphaticsuffixalsoemphasize thewayinwhichmuchoftheactionofthetaleisdrivenbyBoraSheeleisattempt toconvincinglydisguiseherselfasaman,andthethreatthatanimperfectdisguise posestoher.Itisclearfromthisemphaticsuffixpatternthatthesuffixservesa muchgreater,moreimportantpurposethanonemightthinkfromsimplyreading thetaleandnotingsomeofthesurfaceaspectsoftheemphaticsuffix.LikeHymes expressiveprefixes,theTuvanemphaticsuffixservesastructurallyimportant purposebyguidingandstandardizingthestructureofthetale,inadditiontoits moreobviousroleofemphasizingimportantpiecesofinformation.Indeed,this suffixemphasizesinformationonthreedifferentlevels:onthesmallestlevelit emphasizespiecesofinformationoractions;atthemiddleleveltherepetitive

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structureofthelargestsectionofthetaleisemphasized;andatthemacrolevel,the emphaticsuffix[daa]emphasizesthedrivingforcebehindmuchofthetale,namely theconstanttensionbetweenthefunctionalityofBoraSheeleisdisguiseandthe possibilitythathertruegenderwillbediscovered.Thissuffixprovidesanimportant toolforboththetellerandthelistenertokeeptrackoftheeventsandstructureof thetale,atoolthatwillbecomeimportantinthenextsection,whenIdiscussthe cognitiveimplicationsofthesepoeticdevices.

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CognitiveImplicationsofSoundSymbolismandStructuralSuffixes Bothlinguistsandfolkloristshavelongbeeninterestedinthefeatsof

memorizationnecessarytolearnoralepicslikeBoktuKirish,orthemuchlonger epicsfoundinGreek,OldEnglish,andSouthSlavictraditions.Theseseemingly impossible(atleasttoamodernmind)featsareoftenaidedbypoeticandstructural devicessuchasthosedescribedintheprevioussections.Rubinsinparticularargues thatschemasexistforsurfaceformaswellasformeaning,despitethefactthat manytheoristsarguethatsurfaceformschemasareirrelevant,duetothefactthat oralepicsareveryrarely(ifever)transmittedverbatimfromtellertoteller.In addition,Rubinsarguesthatsuchschemasaidmemory,(Rubins72),aclaimthatI willbeexamininginmoredetailasitrelatestothesoundsymbolicalliterationand structuralemphaticsuffixesdescribedabove.Iwillarguefortheroleofthesepoetic devicesinthememorizationandtransmissionoforalepics,andspeculatethatthe waysinwhichthepoeticdevicesareconnectedtothemeaninginTuvanepicscould openupnewareasofstudyinthefieldofcognitivelinguistics,particularlyasit relatestofolkloreandoraltraditions. Rubindividesthepoeticdevicesoforalliteratureintothreeclasses:meaning,

imageryandsound.Rubindefinesthesethreedevicesasconstraints,arguingthat theyprovideformsoforganizationthatcuerecallandlimitchoices(Rubin88).I willarguethatalliterativedevicesandemphaticsuffixeswhichRubinwould classifyassoundconstraintseachinteractwithoneoftheothertwoareasto provideastrongaidformemorization,andthatthewaysinwhichtheseinteractions occuraresomewhatuniquetoTuvanoralliterature.Rubinhasnotedseveralcases

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inwhichconstraintsinteractintheHomericepics;forexample,henotesthatinthe Iliadtheuseofformulaicnames,suchasswiftfootedbrilliantAchillesandaged horsemanNestorareusednotonlytohelpidentifythecharacters,butalsoprovide additionalsyllablesthatcanbeusedtofitthetaletotheverystrictmetricalpattern requiredbyGreekconvention.Inthiscase,asoundconstraint(therequirementsof themeter)isworkingwithameaningconstraint(formulaicnames)tofitthetale intotherequiredform,andthusmakeiteasierforthetellertosingandthelistener tohear.Thisinteractionisalso,Ipropose,prevalentinTuvanoralepics. Tuvanalliterativedeviceswhich,aswasdiscussedabove,areoftenheavily

soundsymbolicinteractmostfrequentlywiththeimageryconstraint.Imageryas definedbyRubinasatale,orpassagefromatale,toldinaseriesofconcrete, imageableactions,accompaniedbyashiftintheactioneveryfewlinesthat providesaspatiallayouttohelpkeeptrackofthestory.Theexampleheusesisone fromtheIliadthatwillmostlikelyseemstructurallyfamiliartoanyreaderofBoktu Kirish: ConsiderthefollowingpassagefromtheIliadinwhich PatroclusiskillingoneofalongseriesofTrojan warriors.Eachofthesekillingswilloccurinaslightly differentpartofthebattlefield(Rubin39). Theparticularpassagealludedtoheredetailstheverystructuredwayinwhichthe talepresentsPatroclusrampagethroughtheTrojanranks.Specifically,eachdeath iscoveredinacertainamountoftimeanddescribedinastructurallysimilar, imagisticway.Thiskindofstructureisextremelysimilartothestructureofthe wrestlingsceneinBoktuKirish,inwhicheachwrestlerisdispatchedinthreelines usingastronglyimagistic,verystructuraldescription.Itseemsverylikelythatthis 62

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kindofimagisticdeviceisalsoatworkintheTuvanepic,andaccordingtoRubins, imageryisthebestpredictorofrecalloutofthethreeconstraints,whichwould implythatthisdevicehelpsthetellertorecallthetale. Inadditiontothestructuraluseofimagery,thewrestlingscenealsomakes

useoflineinitialalliteration,aswellassomewithinlinealliteration.Rubinsnotes thatalliterationisanextremelycommonmemoryaidthatisroughlyaseffectiveas rhymeinrecalltasks,despitethefactthatmanytheoristsfocusonrhymetothe pointofignoringalliteration(Rubin74).Thus,itisverylikelythatthealliterative passagesofBoktuKirisharestrongmemoryaidsontheirown,evenwithoutan interactionbetweenalliterationandimageryprovidedbysoundsymbolism. However,Iproposethatthealliterativedevicesarealsoworkingwithsound

symbolismtostrengthentheimageryofthetaleandprovideanadditionalaidto memorization.Forexample,thepreviouslydiscussedassociationswiththreeofthe alliterativephonemesusedinthewrestlingscene[d]withbreakingsounds,[x] withflutteringorflappingsounds,and[k]withimpactsoundsstrengthenthe imageryofthepassage,whichislargelyoffallingandcollision,bydrawing additional,soundsymbolicassociationswiththealreadypresentimageryofthe passage.Inthisway,thesoundconstraintofalliterationinteractswiththeimagery constraintinabeautiful,poeticwaythatdeepenstheimageryofthestoryforthe listenerandaidsmemoryofthepassagefortheteller. TheothermajorpoeticdeviceutilizedinTuvanistheemphaticsuffix[daa],

which,asnotedearlier,alsoservesanimportantstructuralfunctionbydelineatinga particularsequenceofeventsthatoccursthreetimesduringthecompetitionsection

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ofthetale,andbydrawingattentiontothepossibilitythatBoraSheeleisdisguise willbefoundout,amajorsourceofplotdevelopmentinthetale.Thestorystructure delineatedbythissuffixfitsRubinsdefinitionofascript,apredetermined, stereotypedsequenceofactionsthatdefinesawellknownsituation(Rubin24). Whilethescriptoutlinedby[daa]athreattoBoraSheeleisdisguise;the successfulcontinuationofthedisguise;areaction;andthestartofthecontestis notnecessarilyawellknownsituationinthesenseofacommon,everyday occurrence,itisasituationfairlytypicaloffolkliteratureandoralepic,andthusfits thedescriptionofascript,whichisanexampleofthemeaningconstraint. Inthecaseofthisexample,themeaningconstraintisconnectedtothesound

constraint,theemphaticsuffix[daa],throughthesuffixsroleasamarkerofthe importanteventsofthescript.Thus,thetellerisprovidedwithaconvenient phoneticmarkerthatindicatestheimportanteventsthatarerepeatedineachcycle ofthecompetition.Thecombinationoftheemphaticsuffix[daa],thesound constraint,withthescript,themeaningconstraint,islikelyanotherwayinwhich thepoeticdevicesoftheTuvantalecontributetotheabilityofthetellerto memorizeandtransmittheepictoothertellers,aswellastohisaudience. Theinteractionbetweenthemeaning,imageryandsoundconstraintsthat

occursinTuvanthankstothedeepconnectionbetweenpoeticdevicesandother aspectsofthetaleisaninteractionthathasnotpreviouslybeenstudied.Whileitis possiblethatthisisbecauseTuvanoralliteratureisuniqueinitsusageofthese constraintsafterall,theTuvansystemofsoundsymbolism,whichisextremely importanttothisinteraction,israreinitspervasivenessandproductivityitseems

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morelikelythatsuchsystemsexistinotherfolktraditions,butthatthesetraditions havenotbeenstudiedenoughtorevealthesepatterns.Veryfeworaltraditionshave beenwidelystudiedbyWesternscholars,andthestudyoforalepicsisevenrarer, largelylimitedtotheHomericepics,oldEnglishepicssuchasBeowulf,andsome examplesofSouthSlavicandSiberianepics.If,forexample,Westernscholarship weretotakeacloserlookattheKyrgyzManas,thelongestrecordedepicatoverhalf amillionlines,itseemscertainthatitsstructuresanddevicescoulddemonstrate manyuniqueusesofpoetics,aswellasmanypoeticdevicesthathaveapplications tofolklore,linguistics,andcognitivescience.Inaddition,becauseKyrgyzis,like Tuvan,aTurkiclanguage,anyexplorationoftheManaswouldbelikelytoyield TurkicspecificpoeticdevicesthatcouldbeappliedtothestudyofTuvanepics.

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ItisclearnowthattheTuvanoralepicofBoktuKirishdrawsheavilyon

certainpoeticdevices,specificallyalliteration,formulaicnaming,formulaicspeech, andtheuseofemphaticsuffixes,tobothmakethetaleeasiertomemorizeandplace itinapoetic,artisticmilieu,ratherthansimplyrenderingthestoryin conversationalTuvan.However,twoofthesedevices(andpossiblymore)alsohave significantcontributionstothemeaningofthetale,aswellastheform.Alliteration allowsforTuvansextremelyrichsystemofsoundsymbolismtodeepenthe meaningofapassageandprovideadditionalimagerytothetale,whiletheuseofthe emphaticsuffix[daa]notonlyemphasizesimportantinformationinthetale,but servesabroadstructuralpurposebymarkingrepeatedeventsduringtheKhans competitionandshowingthedevelopmentofBoraSheeleischaracter. Thestudyofthesedevicesmayleadtothediscoveryofotherapplicationsfor

alliterativesoundsymbolismandstructuralemphaticsuffixes,orfindotherpoetuc devicesthatcontributetothemeaningofTuvantales.Theremaybesoundsymbolic applicationstootherpoeticdevices;furtherstudyofTuvansoundsymbolismcould shedlightonthemeaningofformulaicspeech,suchastheextremelycommon Tuvanstorytellingphrase[jaanam].Furtherstudyofthestructuralfunctionofthe emphaticsuffixwillleadtofurtherinsightsintothewaythissuffixhelpsto structurethetale.AdditionalstudyofTuvantextscouldalsofindothermorphemes thatfunctioninasimilarwaytotheemphaticsuffix[daa]bystructuringthetaleand focusingthelisteneronimportantactionsorpiecesofinformation.

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Inadditiontotheconnectionbetweenphonologicallybasedpoeticdevices

andmeaningthroughthemediumofsoundsymbolism,thesepoeticdevicescould alsohelptoilluminatethecognitiveprocessesthatallowstorytellerstoorally performepicsthatarethousandsoflineslong.Itseemsclearthatalliterative patternscanhelpmemorizationbyprovidingeasilyrecognizablepatterns;itstands toreasonthat,ifthesepatternsareconnectedtothemeaningofthetale,thiswould furtheraidmemorizationandrecitation.Itisequallyeasytoseehowtheuseofthe emphaticsuffixtomarkthestructureofthetaleanddrawattentiontoimportant informationcanaidmemorizationbyprovidingaframeworkthatkeepstheteller focusedonthestructureofthetaleandpreventshimfromleavingoutany importantinformation.FurtherresearchintothepoeticdevicesofTuvanoralepics, aswellasthoseusedinotherunderstudiedfolktraditions,couldleadtonew insightsintohumanmemoryandlanguage;insightsthatwouldnotbepossible withoutarigorousstudyofepicsusingbothatraditionalfolkloricapproachanda lesstraditionallinguisticanalysis.Theseinsightswouldalsonotbepossiblewithout knowledgeofthelanguageofasmallbandofnomadicyakherdersinSiberia,who sharestoriesaboutamannamedBoktuKirishandhisheroicyoungersisterBora Sheelei.

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WorksCited Afanasev,Alexander.RussianFairyTales.Trans.NorbertGuterman.NewYork: Pantheon,1945.Print. Alalatu,Toomas.Tuva:AStateReawakens.SovietStudies.44.5(1992).Print. Ballis,William.SovietRussiasAsiaticFrontierTechnique:TanaTuva.Pacific Affairs.14.1(1941).Print. Diffloth,Grard.i:big,a:small.SoundSymbolism.Ed.LeanneHinton,Joanna Nichols,JohnJ.Ohala.NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,1994.107114. Print. Foley,JohnMiles.HowtoReadanOralPoem.UrbanaandChicago:Universityof IllinoisPress,2002.Print. Harrison,K.David.ATuvanHeroTale,withCommentary,MorphemicAnalysis,and Translation.JournaloftheAmericanOrientalSociety125.1(2005).Print. Harrison,K.David.SouthSiberianSoundSymbolism.Languagesandprehistoryof centralSiberia.Ed.EdwardJ.Vajda.Amsterdam:JohnBenjaminsPublishing Company,2004.Print. Hymes,Dell.InVainITriedtoTellYou:EssaysinNativeAmericanEthnopoetics. LincolnandLondon:UniversityofNebraskaPress,2004.Print. Hymes,Dell.NowIOnlyKnowSoFar:EssaysinEthnopoetics.LincolnandLondon: UniversityofNebraskaPress,2003.Print. LaPolla,RandyJ.Anexperimentalinvestigationintophoneticsoundsymbolismas itrelatestoMandarinChinese.SoundSymbolism.Ed.LeanneHinton,Joanna Nichols,JohnJ.Ohala.NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress.1994.130147. Print. Levin,Theodore.WhenRiversandMountainsSing:Sound,Music,andNomadismin TuvaandBeyond.BloomingtonandIndianapolis:IndianaUniversityPress, 2006.Print. Lord,AlbertB.TheSingerofTales.Cambridge,MA:HarvardUniversityPress,2000. Print. Propp,Vladimir.MorphologyoftheFolktale.Trans.LaurenceScott.Austin: UniversityofTexasPress,2005.Print.

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Rhodes,Richard.AuralImages.SoundSymbolism.Ed.LeanneHinton,Joanna Nichols,JohnJ.Ohala.NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,1994.276292. Print. Rubin,DavidC.MemoryinOralTraditions:TheCognitivePsychologyofEpic,Ballads, andCountingoutRhymes.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1995.Print. Thompson,Stith.MotifIndexofFolkLiterature.BloomingtonandIndianapolis: IndianaUniversityPress,1989.Print. Tsur,Reuven.WhatMakesSoundPatternsExpressive:ThePoeticModeofSpeech Perception.DurhamandLondon:DukeUniversityPress,1992.Print. Vendler,Helen.TheArtofShakespearesSonnets.CambridgeandLondon:Harvard UniversityPress,1997.Print. -. -, -. : , 1997. Print. , .. -, - . : , 1995. Print. .

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AppendixAProppianFunctions I. VII. VIII. THEVILLAINCAUSESHARMORINJURYTOAMEMBEROFTHEFAMILY (villainy) V. VI. THEVILLAINRECEIVESINFORMATIONABOUTHISVICTIM(delivery) THEVILLAINATTEMPTSTODECEIVEHISVICTIMINORDERTOTAKE POSSESSIONOFHIMORHISBELONGINGS(trickery) THEVICTIMSUBMITSTODECEPTIONANDTHEREBYUNWITTINGLY HELPSHISENEMY(complicity) III. IV. THEINTERDICTIONISVIOLATED(violation) THEVILLAINMAKESANATTEMPTATRECONNAISSANCE (reconnaissance) II. ONEOFTHEMEMBERSOFAFAMILYABSENTSHIMSELFFROMHOME (absentation) ANINTERDICTIONISADDRESSEDTOTHEHERO(interdiction)

VIIIa.ONEMEMBEROFAFAMILYEITHERLACKSSOMETHINGORDESIRESTO HAVESOMETHING(lack) IX. MISFORTUNEORLACKISMAKEKNOWN;THEHEROISAPPROACHED WITHAREQUESTORCOMMAND;HEISALLOWEDTOGOORHEIS DISPATCHED(mediation,theconnectiveincident) THESEEKERAGREESTOORDECIDESUPONCOUNTERACTION (beginningcounteraction) THEHEROLEAVESHOME(departure) THEHEROISTESTED,INTERROGATED,ATTACKED,ETC.,WHICH PREPARESTHEWAYFORHISRECEVINGEITHERAMAGICALAGENTOR AHELPER(thefirstfunctionofthedonor) THEHEROREACTSTOTHEACTIONSOFTHEFUTUREDONOR(theheros reaction) THEHEROACQUIRESTHEUSEOFAMAGICALAGENT(provisionor receiptofamagicalagent) 70

X. XI. XII.

XIII. XIV.

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THEHEROISTRANSFERRED,DELIVEREDORLEDTOTHE WHEREABOUTSOFANOBJECTOFSEARCH(spatialtransferencebetween twokingdoms,guidance) THEHEROANDTHEVILLAINJOININDIRECTCOMBAT(struggle)

XVII. THEHEROISBRANDED(branding) XVIII. THEVILLAINISDEFEATED(victory) XIX. XX. XXI. THEINITIALMISOFORTUNEORLACKISLIQUIDATED(liquidation) THEHERORETURNS(return) THEHEROISPURSUED(pursuit,chase) RESCUEOFTHEHEROFROMPURSUIT(rescue)

XXIII. THEHERO,UNRECOGNIZED,ARRIVESHOMEORINANOTHERCOUNTRY (unrecognizedarrival) XXIV. AFALSEHEROPRESENTSUNFOUNDEDCLAIMS(unfoundedclaims) XXV. ADIFFICULTTASKISPROPOSEDTOTHEHERO(difficulttask)

XXVI. THETASKISRESOLVED(solution) XXVII. THEHEROISRECOGNIZED(recognition) XXVIII. THEFALSEHEROORVILLAINISEXPOSED(exposure) XXIX. THEHEROISGIVENANEWAPPEARANCE(transfiguration) XXX. THEVILLAINISPUNISHED(punishment)

XXXI. THEHEROISMARRIEDANDASCENDSTHETHRONE(wedding)

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AppendixBMorphoSyntacticTags(takenfromHarrison2005) \ Boundarybetweentagsinportmanteauorzeromorpheme morphemeboundary = encliticboundary <> infixedelement 1(SG) firstpersonsingular 2(SG) secondpersonsingular 3 thirdpersonsingular ABL ablativecase(enclitic) ACC accusativecase ADJ adjectivalsuffix ADL adlativecase AGENT agentive ALL allative AMEL ameliorative AUX auxiliaryverb BEN benefactivevoice CAUS causative CLOC cislocative CNCL conciliatorymood COMP complementizer COND conditionalmood COP copula CV converb DAT dativecase DEIC deixismarker DIM diminutive DISC discourse DIST distal DUAL dual(1&2SG) EMPH emphatic EXCL exclamation F futuretense F\1 futuretense1SG FIG figurativeelement FORM formulaicspeech GEN genitivecase IMP imperative INCH inchoativeaspect INS instrumentalenclitic LOC locativecase LEX lexicalitemfoundonlyincompounds,hasnomeaning MOD modal NEG negation NOM nominativecase 72

AlexandraIsrael ORD PASS PERF PF PL PN POST PROB PST QUAN QUES QUOT RCP REC.PST RED SBEN SS SYMB TLOC VSF

ordinalnumber passive perfectiveaspect present/futuretense plural predicatenoun postposition probabilitivemood pasttense quantifier questiontag quotative reciprocal recentpastense reduplicant selfbenefactivevoice samesubject soundsymbolicelement translocation verbstemformant

TuvanEthnopoetics

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