TY - JOUR AU - Witczak, Krzysztof Tomasz PY - 2021/12/31 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Rozważania nad genezą dwóch rosyjskich ornitonimów (ros. кукша oraz ронжа ‘sójka syberyjska’) JF - Studia Rossica Gedanensia JA - SRG VL - IS - 8 SE - Studia i artykuły DO - UR - https://czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl/index.php/SRG/article/view/6662 SP - 27–46 AB - <p>The article discusses two Russian terms for ‘Siberian jay’, кукша and ронжа, which seem to be foreign borrowings. The Siberian jay (Perisoreus infaustus L.) is a small bird belonging to the family Corvidae with a widespread distribution in the coniferous forests of Northern Eurasia. It can be suggested that the Russians borrowed both ornithonyms from Finno-Ugric tribes, who much earlier settled in Eastern Europe. The Russian noun кукша could be borrowed not only from the Permian language (cf. Zyrian kukša ‘Siberian jay’), but also from a Balto-Finnic language (e.g. Karelian kuukšo ‘id.’). There is no doubt that these Finno-Ugric nouns go back to Uralic *kokśi ‘Siberian jay (or spotted nutcracker)’, with close cognates in the Samoyed languages (cf. ProtoSamoyed *käsə̑rä ‘spotted nutcracker, Nucifraga caryocatactes L.’). The origin of Russ. ронжа. dial. роньжа f. ‘Siberian jay’ is less transparent. Most researchers assume a borrowing from a Baltic source. Ornithonyms recorded in the East Baltic languages (e.g. Lithuanian rą́šis, Latvian ruozis ‘spotted nutcracker, Nucifraga caryocatactes L.’ &lt; *ranšis / *ranžis) display a different meaning, as well as an unusual variation of stops (voiceless consonant vs. voiced consonant), which could have developed under the influence of Finno-Ugric languages. Indeed, a close equivalent can be found in the Mari language (e.g. West Mari ronγə̑ž ‘spotted nutcracker’). The Balto-Finnic languages display a different variant *närši (metathesized to or from *ränši) in the sense of ‘jay’ as well as a noun *räšni denoting ‘woodpecker’. Presumably Russ. ронжа. dial. роньжа ‘Siberian jay’ represents a loanword borrowed from an extinct Finno-Ugric language, e.g. Meryanic, Muromian or Meshcherian.</p> ER -