CHTHONIC SLAVIC MYTHICAL CREATURES (ETHNO AND LINGVO-CULTURAL OBSERVATIONS WITH A VIEW TO THE BULGARIAN, CZECH, AND RUSSIAN LANGUAGES)

Abstract

Low Slavic mythology is more than a collection of mythological characters, plots, and motifs; it is also a code of culture that enables us to understand the various layers of the Bulgarian, Czech, and Russian cultures. In addition, language, which preserves traces of different stages of the mythological assimilation of nature and society by human consciousness, is essentially a multi-layered myth. The present paper aims to examine some mythical chthonic creatures in linguistic and cultural aspects. The focus is placed on the onomasiological specifics and differences within the context of the different cultures of Bulgarians, Czechs, and Russians.

Keywords: chthonic mythical creatures, linguoculturology, Czech, Bulgarian, Russian