Thoughts on the Origin of Two Russian Ornithonyms: кукша and ронжа ‘Siberian jay, Perisoreus infaustus L.

• Published in: Studia Rossica Gedanensia
• Main Author: Witczak, Krzysztof Tomasz
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Polish
• Published: Wydział Filologiczny Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego 2021
• Subjects: bird names; Finno-Ugric loanwords; language contacts; Russian; названия птиц; финно-угорские заимствования; языковые контакты; русский язык; karelian; samoyed*
• Online Access: https://czasopisma.bg.ug.edu.pl/index.php/SRG/article/view/6662; https://doi.org/10.26881/srg.2021.8.01

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.’ < *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. 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 ...