Язык как символ. О языке надгробий Пружанского некрополя
Language and Symbol: on the Language Сomponent of the Gravestone Inscriptions at the Pruzhany’s Cemetery

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to the cemetery of Pruzhany. The object of the study were inscriptions and gravestone symbols. The text is based on the analysis of materials obtained during the field study. The article uses quantitative and qualitative research methods, as well as comparative and philological analysis. A special attention was paid to the language in the context of social prestige, which made it possible to reconstruct socio-cultural processes in this territory. The studied tombstones are dated as covering two centuries: from the 19th to the 20th centuries (the limitary dates being: 1830 and 1970). The analysis revealed the languages that dominated over the grave inscriptions in the period studied: Polish and Russian. At the same time, it was noted, that after 1939 the Polish language began to lose its position. The text positively confirmed the original hypothesis of a direct relationship between the language of gravestones and religious affiliation and confirmed the assumption of the mutual influence of various funeral rites.

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