PLAUSIBLE COGNATES OF THE OSSETIAN <i>LÆG</i> IN ENGLISH
The proof of the Indo-European character of the Ossetian læg "man, husband" is of fundamental importance for the interpretation of a number of phenomena outside of the Ossetian language itself. The word is traditionally considered a substratum loan and is usually discussed in the context of its Caucasian parallels. It seems relevant to reconsider the status of this root and explore it within the framework of the Indo-European paradigm. On the basis of semantic and phonetic consistency, it is possible to include a fairly wide range of words in the known languages into the group of its plausible cognates. Our study allows us to expand the range of the cognates by expanding the search area, with the inclusion of derivatives, archaic, reduced, or onomastic vocabulary. In the Germanic languages a large group of words, discussed as disparate facts, can be combined into a single derivational etymological nest. Modern English words lay, lag, fellow, bloke, blackleg, Jackleg do not belong to the core of the lexical-semantic group «man». On the contrary, most of them have been preserved in the bowels of a reduced vocabulary, which is distinguished by the etymological «illegibility», migration and short lifespan of its terms. The question about the nature of the coincidences of the Ossetian and English exponents suggests a number of answers - they can be homophonic random formations, or they can be signs of deep Sarmatian-Alanian ties with the Germanic tribes and other Indo-Europeans. The third answer seems to be the most probable: these lexemes are reflections of the independent development of a common root in the Indo-European languages, evidences of its archaization, whose functioning and peak of activity was during the pre-literate stage of development of the respective languages, this root have been preserved by the Ossetian language.