The meaning of the Russian expression перемывать косточки (to be washing up the bones) (стр. 1 )

THE MEANING OF THE RUSSIAN EXPRESSION ПЕРЕМЫВАТЬ КОСТОЧКИ (TO BE WASHING UP THE BONES)

Angelika Shteingold

The University of Tartu,

The Department of Russian and Slavonic Languages and Literatures

Abstract

The article presents the study of the roots of the Russian idiom перемывать/перемыть косточки (кости) кому-л. {to be washing up someone’s (little) bones}, meaning ‘to gossip, to discuss someone’. The expression has already been the object of interest among the linguists. V. Vinogradov and V. Kiparski linked its appearance with the so-called secondary (second) burial rite, noted according to the historical and ethnographical sources in the XI century in the Balkan region and on the Mount Athon Peninsula. Though seemingly transparent, such ethnographical treatment of the issue does not answer the question of why the expression was common only among the Eastern Slavs, who did not widely practice the ritual. The author sees the above rite as a local ritual event, which appeared under the influence of alien (non-Slavic) surroundings and therefore did not win acceptance in the remaining Slavic lands.

A more detailed investigation of the various versions of the idiom (not only перемывать/перемыть косточки (кости) {to be washing up / to wash up the (little) bones}, but also мыть/вымыть кости {to wash / to wash out the bones}, перетирать косточки {to rub the bones}, перебирать/перебрать косточки {to be sorting out / to sort out the bones}, разбирать/разобрать по косточкам {to be dismantling / to dismantle bone by bone}, etc.) proves that all those expressions were used to describe one and the same pre-Christian burial ritual. The author supposes that this ritual was founded on the ceremony of cremation, followed by the sorting, shaking out and washing of the bones with consecutive burial in the earth. This idea is confirmed by the archeological reconstruction of the elements of the pre-Christian burial customs in the X–XI cent., conducted on the basis of the material collected in the Eastern Slavic burial grounds. For instance, V. Sedov managed to prove that in many cases the calcinated remains found in the graves had been carefully sorted, cleared from the remnants of the burial fire and even washed prior to the burial. In author’s opinion, the sacral procedure of the preparation of the bones for the burial could have been accompanied by the readings of the texts with memorial pragmatics. Later the sacral meaning of the ritual was forgotten, which was reflected in the changes of the original inner form of the idiom, and consequently in the development of the secondary meaning of ‘to gossip, to discuss someone’.

KEY WORDS: history and etymology of Russian idioms, reconstruction of the original inner form, ethnolinguistics, archeology, pre-Christian Slavic burial rite, pagan ceremony of cremation.

Anotacija

Straipsnis skirtas rusų kalbos frazeologizmo перемывать / перемыть косточки (кости) кому – л „apkalbinėti, aptarinėti ką nors“ kilmės analizei. Šis posakis jau yra sulaukęs lingvistų dėmesio. V. V. Vinogradovas ir V. Kiparskis jį siejo su vadinamuoju pakartoto (antrinio) laidojimo papročiu, pagal istorinius ir etnografinius šaltinius egzistavusiu nuo XI a. Balkanuose ir Apeninų pusiasalyje. Tokia etnografinė interpretacija, nors iš išorės akivaizdi, neatsako į klausimą, kodėl toks posakis paplito tik tarp rytų slavų, kuriems tas paprotys nebuvo būdingas. Autorius mano, kad šis balkaniškasis paprotys yra lokalus ritualinis reiškinys, kilęs veikiant kitos (neslaviškos) kultūros aplinkai ir todėl nepaplitęs kitose slavų žemėse.

Detalesnė idiomos variantų analizė (ne tik перемывать / перемыть косточки (кости), bet ir мыть / вымымть кости, перетирать косточки, перебирать / перебрать косточки, разбирать / разобрать по косточкам ir pan.) įtikinamai parodo, kad jie visi skirtingai vaizduoja tą patį ikikrikščioniškąjį laidojimo paprotį. Autorius mano, kad šio ritualo pagrindas yra kremacijos paprotys, po kurio parinkdavo, tvarkydavo ir plaudavo kaulus ir po to atiduodavo žemei. Archeologinė ikikrikščioniškojo X–XI a. laidojimo papročio elementų rekonstrukcija, atlikta rytų slavų laidojimo vietose, tą prielaidą patvirtina. Pavyzdžiui V. V. Sedovui pavyko įrodyti, kad ne vienu atveju palaikai, aptikti ankstyvojo viduriniųjų amžių laikotarpio kapavietėse, prieš laidojant, buvo kruopščiai perrinkti, nuvalomos laidotuvių laužo liekanos ir nuplauti. Straipsnio autoriaus manymu, šventą kaulų paruošimo laidoti procedūra galėjo būti lydima paminėjimo paskirties tekstais. Vėliau ritualinės procedūros sakralinė prasmė buvo užmiršta ir dėlto išnyko pradinė idiomos vidinė forma, o po to atsirado ir antrinė apkalbinėjimo, aptarinėjimo reikšmė.

PAGRINDINIAI ŽODŽIAI: rusų idiomų istorija ir etimologija, vidinės formos rekonstrukcija, etnolingvistika, archeologija, slavų laidojimo apeigos prieš Kristų, pagonių kremacijos ceremonija.

The Russian set phrase перемывать косточки {to be washing up the bones / the little bones} (roughly equivalent to the English idiom to pull to pieces, to pick (tear) to pieces with the meaning of ‘to chew the fat’, ‘to be gossiping about’) has frequently been the object of study for the language historians, compilers of the dictionaries on Russian phraseology, linguists-popularizes. Large number of articles, dictionary entries and formal essays, mostly of the popular scientific study has been devoted to the subject (see detailed bibliography in ИЭРФ, c. 146; БМС, c. 308). The purport of all these articles comes down to reiteration of the two authoritative opinions, namely the points of view of V. Vinogradov (Виноградов, 1954) and V. Kiparski (Кипарский, 1974).

The above scholars agree, that the expression перемывать косточки {to be washing up the bones} is a distant linguistic echo of the so-called secondary (second) burial ritual, practiced in the past by the Slavs (comp. Old Croatian: двоструко сахрањивање, друго сохрањивање {secondary burial, second burial}). According to the historical sources, this rite has been known from the XI century, in Greece, particularly on the Mount Athon Peninsula. It has also been performed at different times in the Balkan region (by the Serbs, Croatians, Romanians, Albanians) and by the Eastern Slovenians. However, at present there is no information that this ceremony was ever practiced by the eastern Slavs.

V. Vinogradov and V. Kiparski used different tactics to resolve this problem, mostly leaning towards hypotheses. Their explanations are contradicted not only by the absence of the secondary burial rite in the practices of the Eastern Slavs, but also by the existence of our phrasal verb exclusively in the Eastern Slavic geographical Region ― a fact, which the respected scholars preferred not to stress ― in the languages of the same Slavs. Indeed, neither Western nor Southern Slavs are familiar with the phrasal verb перемывать косточки {to be washing up the bones}.

As we build our version using the method of negation, let us begin with a description of the secondary burial rite.

1. The secondary burial rite

There are several versions of the ritual, but its basic structure is essentially as follows: few years after the original burial (3, 5, 7, less or more than 9) the remains of the deceased would be ceremonially extracted from the grave by the relatives, cleared from the earth, washed in water and wine, dried out, put into a canvas bag and brought to the church. There a funeral prayer would be read over them. Next, the bones of the deceased would be returned to his grave (Толстая 1998, c. 92–93).

Contemporary ethnography traditionally supports a view of this ritual as a collective preventative measure against vampires – undecayed dead – a way to insure their recognition and neutralization (Виноградов, 1954, c. 9–10; Кипарский, 1974, c. 29; Толстая, 1998, c. 93). Namely, if in several years after burial the corpse of a departed did not show signs of decay, the peasant community insisted on its neutralization, i. e., puncture by a stake of cornelian cherry dogwood (cornus mas), followed by a second burial.

In the article of S. Tolstaya, “The secondary burial rite in the mirror of archeology and ethnography”, besides the above mentioned we also find other “internal” (i. e. accepted by the local folk) interpretations of the rite. The first version is pragmatically close to the above: the ritual is understood as a test of the body’s ability / inability to decay. A body decomposed only partially or not decomposed altogether was seen by the Eastern Slavic folk as a sign of sinfulness of the deceased, whose soul could not get “freed” from the flesh (Толстая, 1998, c. 93). In this case it was probably assumed that the soul of such a departed needed more praying and giving of alms. Only after complete decomposition of the body the grieving period would be over (ibid).

A different interpretation of the grave opening (especially in case when a recently deceased would be placed in the grave of his relatives) would be based on the memorial roots of the custom: the secondary burial rite can be seen as an opportunity for the relatives of the departed to once more see their loved one, and to give him the funeral honors (ibid, 94).