The meaning of the Russian expression перемывать косточки (to be washing up the bones) (стр. 3 )

The structural variations of our expression, still observed at the end of the XIX century, by no means speak in favor of the late multiplication of phrase on the purely literary grounds, as was argued by V. Vinogradov. Using the expression на черный ноготь {to the black nail}, N. Tolstoy has convincingly demonstrated that the formal invariability of an idiom could be an evidence of innovation or copying, while the variability of form is frequently a sign of an archaism (Толстой, 1995, c. 388–390). Accepting Tolstoy’s version, we would propose that the case of our expression should also be seen as either an early Eastern Slavic formation, or proto-Slavic archaism, surviving exclusively on the Eastern Slavic soil, since it is possible that there had existed a “proto-Slavic phraseology, which has been reflected in one language group only” (ibid, 397).

3. Historical semantics of the кости {bones} lexeme and related words

In our opinion, V. Vinogradov and V. Kiparski were fully justified in relating the expression to the funeral rituals. The point of reference for such assumptions, most likely, was the study of the semantics of the second component of the expression, namely the lexeme косточки, кости {little bones, bones}.

Both old and contemporary Russian dialectic material shows the following archaic meanings of the word кость/-и {the bone/-s}: ‘a dead body, the deceased, the corpse’, and ‘the family, the tribe’ (СРНГ, 15, c. 87; СРЯ XI–XVII вв. 7, c. 373). The word кость {the bone} in the latter meaning is practically unknown on the rest of the Slavic territory. Exceptions are found in some Slovenian dialects. Numerous examples of the word кость {bone} meaning ‘the deceased’ are found in the Old Russian sources; below are only the most significant citations:

“…А инъ градъ чьтетъ; овъ же дрьнъ въскроущь на главŠ покладая, присягоу творить. Овъ прiсягы костьми человŠчами творить (i. e. over the remains, corpses ― A. Sh.). Овъ кобенi пътичь смотрить… Овъ на мощьхъ лъжею присязаеть…” {And some worshipped cities; and some made pledges putting dirt over their heads. And some made oaths on the human bones. And others told fortune by watching the birds. And some falsely swore over the dead bodies.} (Аничков, 1914, c. 94).

“А по костехъ и по мертвеци не платить верви, аже имене не вŠдають, ни знають его” {and no tax shall be paid for the bones and for the deceased, if his name is not known} (XIV C. ~ XII C.) (СРЯ XI–XVII вв. 7, c. 373)

“А какъ ожъ дастъ богъ пора будетъ и язъ Иванову кость отпущу и васъ отпущу” {And if god allows and when the time comes, I will let the Ivan’s (the deceased ambassador’s) bones go and I will let you go too} (1517) (ibid).

A very similar usage can be noted in the text of the fairy tale, recorded in the Novgorod region: “Ну, одним словом, ты мне отец, а я тебе сын, оставайся у меня жить, я тебя допою и докормлю и твою кость похороню” {So, to be brief, you are my father, I am your son, stay with me, I will feed you and give you to drink and bury your bones} (cited in СРНГ 15, c. 87). Identical usage is also found in the funeral saying “Упокой, Господи, душеньку, прими, земля, косточки!” {Rest, o Lord, the soul; accept, o earth, the bones!}(Даль, 1981–1982 II, c. 177).

The definition ‘the dead, the remains’ receives particular urgency in a series of lexical combinations and phrases, typical for the Old Russian, connected with the semantic field of “death”: кости схоронити, спрятати {to bury the bones, to hide them} ‘to commit the body of the deceased to earth, to bury’; лечи, пасти костью (костьми) {to lay down the bones, to fall with the bones} ‘to fall on the field of battle, to die in the battle’, 1. стати (стояти) на костŠхъ {to stand on the bones}‘to fight fiercely, until death’ (originally ‘to fight, while standing on the dead bodies’ ― A. Sh.), 2. ‘to overcome, to leave behind the field of battle’; and also костью не двинути {to not move the bone}‘not to act against the will or the desire of the deceased’ (i. e. ‘to not trouble the dust of the dead’ ― A. Sh.) (СРЯ XI–XVII вв. 7, c. 373–375). For example, “И реч<е> Сто}славъ… да не посрамимъ землŠ РускиŠ, но ляжем костьми (ту), мертвыи бо срама не имуть” {and Stoslav said… let not the Russian soil be put to shame, let us lay our bones down, dead are free from shame} (cited in Lavrent’evska Letopis’ {Lavrentev Scroll}, 1234); “И стал великий князь Дмитрей Ивановичъ съ своимъ братомъ с князем Владимиром АндрŠевичем и со остальными своими воеводами на костŠхъ на полŠ Куликове на речке НепрядŠ” {And the great prince Dmitri Ivanovich stood with his brother the prince Vladimir Andrejevich and with the rest of his army commanders on the bones on the field of Kulivove on the river of Nepriad} (“Zadonshchina” XVII ~ XIV cent.); “А ты сынъ мой Степане и внуцата мои костью моею не двиньте и брата своего Василья не обидьте…” {And you, my son Stepan, and my grandchildren do not move my bones and do not offend your brother Vasili…} (XVII cent. ~ 1435) (ibid).

Similar expressions can still be encountered at times in the vernacular. At the end of XIX–XX centuries we can still observe the usage of such expressions as пора бы ... костям на место {it’s time to put the bones in their place} ‘it’s time for the old man to die’, сложить/ положить свои кости {to fold / to lay down one’s own bones} ‘to die’ (СА IV, 6, c. 2417–2418), мешок с костями развязать {to untie the bag with bones} ‘to kill the old man’ (ibid: 2421).

The word кость/-и {bone/s} in the basic meaning of ‘the dead man’ applies well, both formally and semantically as the name for an extremely lean, sick, withered man, reflected in such expressions as: живые мощи {the living dead}, живой труп {the living corpse}, ходячий покойник {the walking dead} or even in an expression used in Saratov region кощии-мощи {boney corpse}, said about a very skinny, sick man (СРНГ, 15, c.159).

In our opinion, being interrelated in form, words such as кощей, Ukrainian кощiй, meaning ‘the infernal fairy personage, the walking dead’ (Соболевский, 1886, c. 152; Miklosich, 1886, p. 134; Berneker, 1908–1913 I, p. 583; Фасмер, 1986–1987 II, c. 362), Russian word кострома, Ukrainian коструб, ’the rite symbol and personage of the spring-summer ceremony of the eastern Slavs’ and костер {the fire}, understood as the platform for the burning of the deceased[3], ― all these words may obtain a more certain etymology if we admit a possibility of their two-fold motivation, based on the double meaning of the word кость {bone}as either ‘a part of the human skeleton’ or ‘the deceased’ (Штейнгольд, 1999).

Considering the fact that there are no traces of the secondary burial custom on the Eastern Slavic territory, as well as the active presence exceptionally in the region of the Eastern Slavic lands of the lexeme кость/-и {the bone/s} in the meaning of ‘the dead’ and its derivatives (Кострома, костер), we may conclude, firstly, that this phrasal verb must have existed at any rate at the moment of disintegration of the proto-Slavic community; secondly, that it may be connected with some heathen burial ritual, more ancient than the secondary burial rite.

4. Explanation of the inner form of the expression based on the archeological data

It is thus being postulated, that our expression (in its numerous versions such as перемывать / мыть косточки {to be washing up / to wash the bones}, разобрать по косточкам {to dismantle bone by bone}, перебирать косточки {to be sorting out the bones}, трясти косточки {to shake the bones}, meaning ‘to gossip, to discuss someone’s shortcomings’, трясти костями {to shake with the bones} ‘to laugh’, etc.) originally stood for an action or a series of consecutive actions conducted with the bones of the deceased. Moreover, from the inner form of the verbs it is clear, that in order for these procedures to be conducted, the skeleton of the deceased must have been by that time stripped of the muscle tissue, of the flesh, which would have decayed in the earth or have been cremated. The explanation offered by V. Vinogradov and V. Kiparski takes into account only the first possibility, since its clear ethnographical traces have survived to our days. However, at least purely theoretically, one cannot rule out the second possibility, consisting in the idea that the manipulations with the bones were done after the cremation of the body. Naturally, no detailed accounts of this funeral ritual can be found in the manuscript scrolls and chronicles, not to mention the ethnographical sources devoted to Slavs, since the custom existed in the epoch preceding literacy. However, existence of the custom can be “read” quite clearly in the archeological materials.