Analysis of Usage of Collocation Series of the Lexeme Kövtsg in the Epic Jangar
Studying the collocation series of a word provides important, additional information about the meaning of the word and its use, which allows researchers to solve various types of linguistic problems. The article deals with the collocation series of the word көвцг on the material of the epic Jangar. The etymology of the word kövtsg ‘pillion’ goes back to Turkic languages < Turk. cf. Old Turk. көпчүк ‘front and rear pillion’, Kirghiz көпшiк ‘the front mat under a saddle replacing a pillow’, Kazakh köpshik, Karakalpak көпшик, Nogay коъпшик, Uighur көпчүк, Uzbek кўпчик ‘pillion’, Tatar күпчек ‘pillion; small pillow’. The analysis of the most common set expressions in the epic text in diachronia reveals elements of the culture of the past Kalmyk people. For example, the collocation of the турмин алтн көвцг reflects the ancient contacts of the Oirates with the settled population, where Turm is reconstructed as toponym Turfan, one of the oases on the Great Silk Road. The analysis of the collocation series with the lexeme көвцг in the time continuum shows a simplification of the stylistics of late entries, when «obscure» archaic words even in stable fragments of the narrative were omitted or replaced with other lexemes. It means that the source text, a picture of the epic work is not static, and it can change, sometimes considerably.