Birtalan Ágnes: Kalmyk Folklore and Folk Culture in the Mid-19th Century: Philological Studies on the Basis of Gábor Bálint of Szentkatolna’s Kalmyk Texts.
FOLKLORE GENRES
FOLKLORE GENRES RIDDLES (Bálint Täilyätä tüli, Kalm. tälwrtä tó/') 18 6 Bálint recorded twenty-three riddles and included them in his Manuscript under the title täilyätä tüli (Kalm. by KotviC tälytä tó/') 18 7 which differs from the usual Kalmyk genre designation tälwrtä tül' (by Kotvic also tälwrtä axr tó/'). 18 8 In addition Lőrincz listed the following designations, although these do not appear in Kalmyk text-collections as terms that designate tälwrtä tül': onsixa "Rätsel, listig zusammengesteckte Worte" (R. 286) and tämag Kalm.D. "erfinderisch, leicht erratend", Kalm.D. "id. od. Rätsel zu erratendes, Annahme, Mutmaßung" (R. 386). 18 9 Tül' or bätarlag tüli has the basic meaning: "narration, heroic narration" in Khalkha, Oirat and many Inner Mongolian languages and dialects and designates the long "heroic epics" (cf. Kalm. diilwr , bätrlg tül', ayisté tül', Bur. ül'ger). The attributive member of the expression is derived from tä- "open, reveal, interpret": täl- + -ly (deverbal noun suffix) + tä denominal noun suffix (formally identical with the sociative case marker), 19 0 the contemporary Kalmyk form is: täl- + -wr (deverbal noun suffix) 19 1 + -tä denominal noun suffix (as above). The genre designation literally means "explaining, revealing narration". Similar to the heroic epics, tales and proverbs, the genre of the riddle has various names in Mongolian languages: Kalmyk tälwrtä tül' lit. "narration with explanation", 19 2 Mong. onisqa, Khalkha on'sogo "guessing" Ordos onisxo üliger "case of guessing" Bur. täbari "guessing". 1 9 ' On the recording of the riddles, Bálint made the following remark: "Following the tales [I recorded] proverbs, riddles and samples of letters and official documents, ... 19 4 Here must be mentioned that confusion occurs in the numbering of the particular items: Nr. 12 appears twice, the first text under Nr. 12 is inserted after Nr. 7. Manuscript pp . 9-11 . 18 7 KotviC, V. L.: Kalmyckie zagadki i poslovicy. St. Peterburg 1905; KotviC, V. L.: Kalmyckie zagadki i poslovicy. Elista, Kalmyckoje kniZnoje izdatel'stvo 1972. p. 7. 18 8 KotviC: Kalmyckie zagadki. p. 8. 18 9 Lőrincz, l.(ászló): La terminologie du folklore Kalmouck. In: AOH XVIII. (1965) pp 149-158, on pp 157-158. 19 0 Szabó p. 57. 19 1 Szabó pp. 43-44. 19 2 Derivatives and expressions of tä- in W.Oir. tayilaxu "otgadat', tayilbur ob"jasnenije" (Pozd. 179), cf. Zwick 275, too and in Kalm tälwr "Lösung, das Lösen, tälwrte tül' "Geschichte mit Lösung, Kalm.D. Rätsel, Kalm.Ö. Fabeln mit der Nutzanwendung", tällyan "Lösung: Erklärung eines Wortes od. Ausdruckes" (R. 388), tälx "razgadyvaf, otgadyvat': tül tälx otgadyvat' zagadki", tälwrtä tül' (Mun. 484). Bitkejev translated tälwrtä tül 'as "skazki s otgadkami" (Bitkejev, N. C.: Svod kalmyckogo foFklora Original'noje izdanije pamjatnikov narodnogo tvorCestva. In: Kalmyckij fot'klor. Ed. Bitkejev, N. C. Elista, Kalmyckij NauCnoIssledovatclskij Institut Istorii. Filologii i Ekonomiki pri Sovete Ministrov Kalmyckoj ASSR 1985. pp. 3-16, on p II .). 19 3 For further genre typology cf. Kara, G[yörgy]: Mongol Uriankhai Riddles. In: AOH XLI (1987) pp. 15-39; Mészáros. Csaba Trópusok vagy jelek? (A mongol találósok osztályozásának lehetőségei). In: Bolor-un gerel. Kristályfény. The Crystal-Splendour of Wisdom. Essays Presented in Honour of Professor Kara György 's 7(f h Birthday. l-II. Ed. Birtalan, Agnes - Rákos, Attila. Budapest, ELTE Belső-ázsiai Tanszék - MTA Altajisztikai Kutatócsoport 2005. pp. 517-534. [Tropes or signs? Possible classifications of Mongolian riddles). 19 4 "A mesék után jöttek a példabeszédek, a talányok, levelek és ügyiratokból való mutatványok, . .." Bálint: Jelentés, p 12, Zágoni p. 151 39
